Garden Variety New Yorker

Why I'd make a good Giants Fan.

I'm not a big football fan, although I'm a sports fan in general and I do enjoy watching football occasionally, I just don't have a network of friends nearby to go watch football with on Sundays. It's much more of a social spectator sport than baseball. So I don't 'have' a team yet. I'm a Mets fan first, an Islanders fan second, but that's really where it ends. I dislike the Dolphins, and the Eagles(In fact, I'm beginning to despise all sports related Philadelphia events.). I kind of like Roethisburger and Peyton Manning, but not necessarily a big fan of their teams. I dislike the Cowboys when they try to play as 'America's Team'. I went to school in Buffalo, so I do sorta like the Bills, and prior to moving out of New York, I was one of the fans that used to joke about them being New York's only team.

Now that I live in New Jersey, I can take the same approach. The Jets and the Giants both play here, despite the 'New York' title. I take the train past Giant Stadium on my way to work. I can't see myself rooting for the Jets, despite their Mets ties, them previously playing at Shea, or being named for the planes at Laguardia airport. Could I be a Giants fan? It's possible, I was definitely rooting for them in the Super Bowl, despite half-wishing that the Patriots _would_ go undefeated and the Dolphins who get whiny whenever anyone comes close could be silenced. I don't envision me going to any Giants games this year, and I've been listening to WFAN a little less so I'm not even fully entrenched in the week to week Giants banter and storylines. Still, I do kind of like the team, and I like Eli Manning. It'd be nice to be rooting for a team with a legitimate shot, and defending champs at that. Sure would be different than watching the Mets choke success away, or the Islanders continue to be pathetic. The most exciting thing about the Islanders is that Howie Rose calls the games, and that reminds me of the Mets, and baseball.

I don't follow basketball, so I don't have any delusions about being 'converted' to being a Nets fan. Besides, they're moving to Brooklyn. Maybe anyway.