A Bitter Giants Fan Reacts to the Jets' Playoff Run

Up is down, black is white, cats and dogs are living together: the New York Jets are in the AFC Championship game.

My Giants, meanwhile, are gone. Kaput. Exiled to the offseason after failing rather spectacularly, quitting where they would have won the past two seasons and looking nothing like the world-beating team that upset New England in ’07 and rampaged through the league in 2008 before their unceremonious belly-flop in the playoffs. And I, meanwhile, am lost at sea in this topsy-turvy version of New York City where the Giants choked in high style and the Jets (!!!) have a legitimate shot at winning a world championship.

I’m Manhattan-born, New Jersey-raised and now I go to NYU. My mom worked at the Meadowlands back in the day. I have deep ties to this city, and having been to the mountaintop with an NY team before (the Giants’ big win was during my freshman year), I love the idea of a New York team going deep into the NFL postseason, not to mention right after the Yankees added World Series No. 27 to the shelf. I wouldn’t even mind if it was the Jets, but did it have to come in a year where my beloved G-Men completely blew it? It’s like seeing your on-friendly-but-shaky-terms ex-girlfriend out with a guy far better-looking than you in the same month you two break up while you’re still striking out on the rebound.

Side note: I have yet to see my actual ex-girlfriend out with a better looking guy than myself, but her team is the Denver Broncos. So, if nothing else, I can at least hang my hat on the fact that my football team is better than hers. Thanksgiving Day game? Never happened. They lost to the Raiders and Chiefs. My logic is undeniable.

So here I am, torn, waking up every day unsure whether to support my city or my team. I’ve heard of “Jets-For-Giants” or “Giants-For-Jets” fans, and I even know a Jet fan or two who gamely stumped for Big Blue during their miracle run to the championship a couple years back. But the overwhelming consensus among J-E-T-S Nation is that Giants fans are a bunch of white-collar wimps, while Jets supporters are the salt of the earth; blue-collar men hardened by 41 years of failure. Success, they seem to think, has made Giants fans soft. I just read an article in the New York Times about a guy, a real hardcore Jets fan, who wouldn’t even speak the word “Giants” when referring to Giants Stadium. He called it “G-Stadium.”

So, yeah. I’ll admit it. Our team is generally good, while yours is generally bad. If that makes us wimps in someone’s eyes, so be it. Besides, nobody’s ever accused me of being a fair-weather fan and never ever will. I’m rocking my Osi Umenyiora jersey every Sunday when my boys take the field to play, win or lose. And this season it’s been rough. A Jet fan should know that feeling, right?

OK, maybe that was a cheap shot. Like I said, I’m torn. But in all honesty, I’m thoroughly impressed by the Jets this year, have been since Week 2 (anyone who beats Bill Belichick is OK in my book). True, they had a so-so season by anyone’s standards and only got to the playoffs because Indy laid down in Week 16, but since the wild-card round they’ve been a different team. Thomas Jones rumbles like Brandon Jacobs was supposed to this past year. Darrelle Revis lives up to every inch of his hype. And Sanchez, God help me, is transforming into the Sanchize before our very eyes. Not necessarily in completions. His numbers are still eh. But he’s a leader out there, skanky playoff beard and all.

And for the first time in a long time, they believe. I’m no football scholar, but I know a miracle team when I see one. Even if the Jets lose, to the Colts or in the Super Bowl, I don’t see a Same-Old-Jets meltdown coming. They’ll go kicking and screaming, and Brees, Peyton or Favre will be lying exhausted on the turf at the end of it all from the effort of putting them away.

That’s if the Jets go at all. I love teams like this, and wouldn’t be so unsure about supporting them if it weren’t for the fact that most Jets fans, if Mr. NY Times is the prototype for a Jets fan, would rather give Rex Ryan a sponge bath than openly support the Giants in anything.

So while it pains me to see the Empire State Building lit up green instead of blue these last couple of weekends, I have to suck it up with the knowledge that, whether or not they got into the playoffs because Jim Caldwell basically let them (they did), the J-E-T-S-Jets-Jets-Jets are playing dangerous, unpredictable football. The Giants played it safe (Jacobs up the gut on first, second, and third downs) and it got them embarrassed. Gang Green might not have seemed like the better team at first, but they played like champs and continue to do so, and now they’re two games away from the Canyon of Heroes. Like I said, I know a miracle team when I see one. Dealing with a Jets championship wouldn’t be tough. Like I said, I’m a New Yorker. I love it when my city beats all other cities, especially in football.

Dealing with Jets fans after a potential championship? I guess that, as a Giants fan, that’s going to be my biggest test.

My first NFL post

I used to play football once upon a time, but since NYU has no team, I've channeled all my repressed energy into the NFL. I'm trying to get into sports writing a little more, so here's my first shot at an NFL post. I'll start with my own team: the New York Giants.

My boys just lost their second straight, which is what tends to happen when you fall asleep on the field in the 3rd quarter against a Super Bowl team from the previous year. Goodness gracious. I can see losing to the Saints, who will be in the Super Bowl barring an act of God or a hit on Drew Brees (my realistic pick for the Super Bowl right now is Saints/Colts). That team is unquestionably legit and is as close to the '07 Patriots as we're going to get this season. But the Cardinals? Certainly beatable, although nobody expected a cakewalk. This was a statement game for New York and they came out swinging early. But after a lethargic 3rd quarter it took the Giants too long to get their mojo back and the rust cost them two turnovers: one on Ahmad Bradshaw's fumble and the last on Eli Manning's pick in the final minutes, both of which came during important, and up till then, textbook, drives. Big Blue has the Eagles next week, a game that has me nervous to no end. On the one hand, Philly did just drop one to Oakland. But on the other hand, the Eagles knocked off the Giants in the playoffs last year, AND they hate the Giants to begin with, AND the NFC East is in kind of a tailspin right now, so the teams in it are going to be scrambling against each other to determine who's top dog. I'll never give up on my G-Men, but they've got more questions than answers at this point; they've got some tough games coming up that will show their true colors. This is still a playoff team, but they coasted for too long on gimme games and they need to get used to earning their wins again. I see a good, not great finish and a likely shot at the wild card spot and conference title, provided the next few games go well.

In other NFL news, Brett Favre finally got knocked off his 6-0 pedestal by the Steelers, who I had pegged as too inconsistent to slow down the stampeeding Vikings. Shows what I know. Favre goes to Lambeau next week to play Green Bay, a game even people who hate football might tune in to watch. Peyton Manning and the Colts devoured St. Louis 46-6, but Peyton did NOT throw his 6th consecutive 300-yarder, which analysts and talking heads are pegging as an act of mercy. But...the Rams still lost by 40, so I'm not sure if they'd exactly agree right now.

The Bengals destroyed the Bears in Cedric Benson's revenge game, and the Cowboys dominated Atlanta in Tony Romo's vindication game. The Patriots also murdered the Bucs in London, which is just what happens when Bill Belichick loses to his division rivals and former underling within 3 weeks: he hits the kill switch hard.

Speaking of which, Denver has a bye and the Jets beat up on Oakland, who finally switched quarterbacks to minimal effect (kudos to JaMarcus Russell for keeping his hat on and not sitting on the bench. If nothing else, he is certainly a professional with a lot of heart - it takes a lot of heart to get thumped on live TV and in the press week after week and still show up for more beatings). Mark Sanchez needed a pick-me-up game, and I'm sure the win feels good for a New York team that just dropped 3 in a row, but as any Giants fan can tell you, crushing the Raiders does little to prepare you for competitive games.