J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets...Giants?
Except for the Jets’ win at Tennessee, which I missed since I spent the day with family at Sea World, I’ve now watched two weeks of New York football. I arrived home in time to see the second half of the Manning Bowl, then spent last Sunday absorbing the pursuits of both teams. Before the hundred or so gathered at Fox Sports Grill in Irvine, the Jets fell behind New England by a score of 24-0. They rallied on the strength of two fantastic plays by receivers Jerricho Cotchery and Lavaranues Coles, then kicked a field goal to bring them within a score. Sadly for me and the fan across the bar wearing a Pennington jersey, this was as close as the Patriots’ offense would allow, as Brady and company ran out all but about a minute of the clock on their final drive.

Still, the story of the day was the Giants. The men in blue were coming off a tough loss to Indianapolis, which featured a more than questionable call late in the game, and New York hardly looked improved during its first two quarters in Philadelphia. However, an insane fumble play in the third resulted in Tim Carter falling on the ball in the end zone for his second career touchdown. A comeback was in progress, although I missed some of the live action since I was in transit to the Grill. After I ran across the street, my eyes turned to the screen in the lobby which almost seems intended to welcome visitors hungry for food and football. I almost immediately saw the Giants tie the game, and seated myself at the bar in time to realize to notice that the Jets were three minutes underway.

My Curtis Martin jersey notwithstanding, I proceeded to divide my attention between the small Jets display on the right hand wall and the Giants, which suddenly became the front and center story. I knew this because the restaurant operators decided to put the game, now in overtime, on the large panel directly behind the bartenders. I concluded last year that the Giants had been my mistress, since I watched many of their games en route to the playoffs on FOX, while the Jets had a forgettable campaign that rarely saw their games televised anyway. Today, it would be the same story: Philadelphia flirted with getting into field goal range, coaxing several Eagles supporters to cheer after each play. However, the Giants regained possession of the ball and with surprising quickness moved into chip shot distance. Suddenly, a holding penalty and subsequent sack of Eli Manning put their potential win in jeopardy. It took a surprising pass from Manning to Plaxico Burress give me my biggest reason to cheer all day. I wonder if the man sitting next to me wearing an Elway jersey saw this as traitorous to my Jets allegiance. Not that I didn’t stick around after Gang Green looked miserable in periods one and two, an act for which the offense rewarded me somewhat.

I’ve been able to reconcile the fact that the Jets are first, and Giants are a sentimental second in my heart. The Jets fandom is largely derived from my dad’s devotion to Joe Namath. Additionally, I have great memories of their 1998 run to the AFC Championship, attended their 2005 first-round win in San Diego, and was heartbroken when they missed several opportunities to beat the Steelers in the next week. Similarly, I still remember the Giants’ playoff loss in San Francisco with bitterness, love watching Tiki Barber, and recall the days of Lawrence Taylor, when I watched one of the first Super Bowls that impacted me as a viewer. I’m certainly a Jets fan foremost, but I relish the chance to witness the exploits of either team.

I’ve been reading a book titled Wrigleyworld by Kevin Kaduk, in which the author admits to rooting for Chicago’s White Sox as well. I find the baseball season too long to root for a second team with much enthusiasm, and the competitive nature of the Mets/Yankees games in recent years has made it even more difficult for anyone considering backing both franchises, and I’ve grown to regard the team from Queens as a rival. Furthermore, the Yankees have enjoyed so much success; in contrast, Kaduk figured that supporting a duo of clubs would double his chance at a championship. For the record, the Sox had not yet won their title at the time of publication. This whole scenario made me feel a little better, even if I never had much insecurity about taking an interest in a second team. Even in hockey last year, I followed the Ducks more than ever due to the number of free tickets I received to their games. Nevertheless, we all know what jersey I’ll be wearing at their November 1 matchup with the Rangers.