Today's post is from a new contributor to our site; we'll call him "Gary" for now. As a Philadelphia Iggles fan, he is calling out all you New York Giant fans so please feel free to give it back to him in the comments.
Enjoy.
I’ll be the first to admit that I take almost as much joy in rooting against some sports teams as I do rooting for my own.
While 2004 was the greatest thing ever, part of that elation comes in knowing that tied along with breaking the ‘curse’, the Sox also stamped the Yankees with greatest choke job ever.
The curse is over. All curses will someday end. But the greatest choke job ever will always be there. And I feel it is my duty to make Yankee fans remember that every single day.Go ahead and win 80 more World Series. There will always be the one. Greatest choke job ever.
In football, I’m finding it harder to rib my opponents. Only because I can’t find any Giants fans who seem to give a crap. I’ve even gone out of my way to make it out to a public place the past couple of years anytime the Eagles play the Giants.
The win streak is currently at 5 straight for the Birds, dating all the way back to 2008.
I can vividly remember the playoff game that year played at Giants stadium. I was at a bar with some friends, smack dab in the middle of Giants territory.
Proudly sporting my Mike Mamula jersey, I received one single heckle when I walked in the room, and I’m pretty sure that was from Mike Mamula himself, who couldn’t believe somebody still had one of his jerseys.
But from there, it ended. The Giants, as happens the majority of the time, stunk up the joint that day, unable to score even a touchdown, despite home field advantage and a first round bye.
Then this year, again at a sports bar in the land of Big Blue. When Eli slid like one of Jerry’s kids, fumbling the ball and costing his team the game, Giants fans in the bar weren’t angry. They just turned to their girlfriends (you know, the ones with the unibrow and the mustache, wearing a Mark Bavaro jersey) and acted as if nothing had even happened.
And when both games ended, I had Giants fans coming up to me and shaking my hand saying ‘good game’ and ‘you deserved it’.
Forget that, you loser! Where is your heart? Where is your passion? Blame the referees. Make fun of Andy Reid’s parenting skills. Tell me again how many titles you’ve won. (A Yankees fan staple). I’m one of three guys in the bar rooting for the Eagles. There are 100 of you.
Now, you might think I am looking for trouble, but I’m not. This isn’t Oakland where if you wear a Chargers jersey to a game, you are going to get shanked.
But just give me something. Show me that you are angry with how those losers played. Maybe you’ll go home and kick your boyfriend’s cat.
Or maybe the first thing you’ll do is tear the Eli Manning poster off your bedroom wall, but quietly as to make sure you don’t wake up your parents.
Why even try to hide it? Let it out.
I’ll be out watching the Eagles-Giants again this weekend. And if the Eagles lose, I’ll be pissed. I won’t be shaking your hand. I won’t be saying ‘Hey, Eli played a great game.’ I’ll be telling you and your Phil McConkey looking girlfriend to shove it.
I despise Eli, Osi, Matthias and all the other frauds that you consider a team.And I fully expect the same out of each and every one of you.
Great article. With that said, however, as a die hard Giants fan, as someone whose week is determined by them winning or losing, as someone who still remembers LT's first game, as someone who feels like their stomach is inside-out during every game, I can relate to your passion. I've been to three Giants/Eagles games. Although you make a great case for passion, or lack of on New York's side, the bottom line is that those were a few individuals you were referring to, and not an entire stadium. If you go to a Giants home game with me in it, I can tell ya that on at least 10 occasions, I was the one who chanted "Eagles Suck" and got the entire crowd to follow. I booed the Eagles louder than most, and was ready to lose my mind. But I never lost it: why? Because Giants fans, although not as 'crazy' as Eagles fans, have more class, something that the organization takes a lot of pride in. They have made a few mistakes in some of the players of the past, but quickly disciplined them. On the other hand, the Eagles will take any thug off the street. The history of the players of the NY Giants are a reflection of the fans who watch them every game. Thugs like Vick, are a reflection of the crowd who cheers for someone with his history. Am I bitter with what he did? YES, and the Giants would never take someone like that into the organization. It's easy to say he payed his dues, but really he just HAD to, and therefore he's crap to me. He's an unreal talent, for sure, and when healthy, is potentially the best QB to every play the game. BUT, Giants fans or the organization wouldn't compromise integrity to obtain a great talent like him. Class is the answer to all of your questions. Go see the Giants at their stadium, and you'll see passion, but I guarantee the number of fights will be a lot less there than Philly. The Eagles are like school on Saturday, no class. I will be pacing for more than 3 hours, like all true Giants fans, because I DO care, I DO love my Giants, and on Sundays they are the only thing I truly care about. I anticipate many cheap shots by Philly defense, but I'm hoping the Giants DEFENSE makes Vick feel like the dogs he bet on.
ReplyDeleteHow many years did the Giants cover up all of LT's indiscretions? Just wondering. And that Dave Meggett was a real saint, too.
ReplyDeleteI know, I know...that's why I had to throw in that the Giants had a "few mistakes" of certain players that were not indicative of their conservative reputation. But for the most part, compared to the rest of the league, they stay away from trouble makers. With that said, Jackson is a prime example of Philly: Great talent, but has to show off before he hits the end zone; 10 yard penalty for no class.
ReplyDeleteHow can you claim you're "not looking for trouble"? You're anonymously instigating a "your team and fans suck" argument based on a select few Giant fans who didn't care about the fact you were wearing an Eagles jersey. When we lose I get pissed at the Giants, not the opposing team, especially when we lose like we did on the 21st. The Eagles didn't outplay the Giants, Eli literally dropped the ball. I was too busy being pissed at my QB to care about the Eagles fans at the bar. The distinction between you and the average Giant fan is made clear in your first sentence:
ReplyDelete"I’ll be the first to admit that I take almost as much joy in rooting against some sports teams as I do rooting for my own."
Nice attitude, sportsmanship at its finest. The first anonymous poster hit the nail on the head citing class, and your piece is a perfect example of the class differences between the teams, the fans, and the cities. Like Desean Jackson you're desperate for attention, and you'll do whatever it takes to get it.
Results matter, subjective isolated instances of lackluster passion don't. You may hate NYers citing championship wins as evidence of superiority, but your hatred of the constant reminder of your city's shortage in big wins doesn't disprove fact.
If you truly want a knee jerk passionate reaction, I'll oblige. Here are a couple of censored, "impassioned" words from comedian Bill Burr:
"You (censored) one bridge having piece of (censored) city that no one gives a (censored) about. The terrorists will never bomb you people ‘cause you’re (censored) worthless and no one cares about you...(censored) Rocky is your hero. The whole pride of your city is built around a (censored) guy who doesn’t even exist."
Is that what you were looking for?
That's actually the furthest thing from what I've been looking for, but I'll guess it will have to do. The comparison of the infrastructure of the two cities has nothing to do with the argument. New York is the greatest city on the planet. It has the most museums, culture, etc. The only bad thing about the city are those who live there and their superiority complex about the city itself. It's a cool town, you don't have to keep putting other cities down because of it. It would be a whole heck of a lot better if you didn't keep telling us how great it is.
ReplyDeleteThe sportsmanship argument makes no sense either. Every team has jackasses on it. Tell me Brandon Jacobs isn't one. I've got a helmet in a kids lap that begs to differ. Sportsmanship is a phrase that gets abused far too often. Desean Jackson diving into the endzone is not poor sportsmanship. How about that fat dude on the Giants who made a sack last week then acted like he was getting tased? Again, not poor sportsmanship.
Poor sportsmanship is Sal Alosi. And poor sportsmanship is even Brandon Jacobs, throwing a hissy fit and then tossing his helmet, possibly hurting somebody.
Rooting against your rivals, as a fan, is not poor sportsmanship. If you tell me you don't root for the Eagles to lose each week, I'll tell you that you are a fraud of a fan.
I'm all up for some ribbing from Giants fans. In fact, that was the whole aim of this post. I can handle the jabs and I encourage them.
The point I was making about the incidents in the bar was that the Giant fans were more into their chicken finger basket than the game. I whole heartedly encourage the breaking of balls.
But it's not as much fun doing it when the other guy doesn't seem to care one way or the other.
And lastly, whoever the hell Bill Burr is: Philadelphia has 5 bridges and Rocky would kick the shit out of Jake Lamotta.
Philly sucks!!! How many rings do you fools have??? Oh, an empty trophy case. Your just jealous. You and all your Eagles have nothing on the Giants. Enjoy your few Regular season wins. Will enjoy the Championships we have earned!!!
ReplyDeleteThis design is steller! You certainly know how to keep a reader entertained.
ReplyDeleteBetween your wit and your videos, I was almost moved to start my own blog
(well, almost...HaHa!) Great job. I really loved what you had to say, and more than that, how you presented it.
Too cool!
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