The Star-Ledger is reporting that an MRI on Osi Umenyiora’s injured knee showed serious ligament damage that’ll require surgery, meaning he’s all but gone for the season. Cue an enormous sea of mustaches rioting in the streets of New York. Absolutely crushing news for the Giants.

I found this note on the decision for surgery pretty telling:

“There was some talk about whether to do the short-term rehab or the surgery, but in the end, the Giants opted for surgery to make sure Umenyiora will be better off in the long run.”

Funny, sounds a lot like the Merriman situation, doesn’t it? Yet the difference here is the team opted for the surgery and they made the decision quickly, no jerking around. Kind of symbolic of the organization, seems like the type of thing Coughlin would want a definitive answer on right away so he and GM Jerry Reese can figure out how the hell they’re going to address the situation.

However, out in San Diego we have Merriman dictating what he’d prefer to do and stupid Norv just reiterating what his player wants.

BUT, back to the Giants. I assume tomorrow Mike Francesa will be taking countless calls from panicked Giants fans, begging and pleading for their gap-toothed hero, Michael Strahan to unretire (what a concept!), as he’s by far the only available player that could replace a loss such as this.

And you know Strahan will milk this thing for all it’s worth, both literally and figuratively. There’s nothing he adores more than being showered with love; and panties.

It’s also safe to say that between slobbering gulps of Diet Coke, Francesa will firmly pat himself on the back for his “2 less preseason games/2 more real games” argument that was brought up on this very site last week.

Giants’ Umenyiora to undergo surgery, will probably miss season (The Star-Ledger)

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Quick note, Jason Taylor, who also went down last night, will only be out 10-14 days. All that dancing clearly paying dividends. (WaPo Redskins Insider)