Giant Fans And Pat Fans Mix Like Oil And Water

John Harris is a big New York Giants fan. His mom's boyfriend backs the New England Patriots.

They will watch the Super Bowl together at home in Stafford Springs, with $10 on the line.

"I give it to him every day," the 16-year-old Harris said. "I tell him the Giants are going to win. He gives it right back."

The mix of Giants and Patriots fans in Connecticut is good news for the state's sports bars and retailers.

Tim Howley, a co-owner of Rookies Sports Bar & Grille in Cromwell (110 miles from Foxborough, 109 miles from the Meadowlands) is moving out six pool tables to make room for the crowd of about 900 customers he expects on Super Bowl Sunday.

He's anticipating an even divide between Patriots fans and those rooting for New York, and has no plans to keep them separated.

"They've got to mix together, that's part of the fun," Howley said. "You've got to be able to nudge your buddy in the side and say, 'Hey, your team screwed up."'

At BC Sports, a collectibles store in the Buckland Hills Mall (128 miles from Giants Stadium, 92 miles from Gillette), Giants jerseys and NFC championship T-shirts fill one rack, while Patriots jerseys and AFC championship shirts occupy another.

Having two local teams in the big game has been great for business, said sales clerk Juanita Ortiz.

"We're selling a lot of both, but a lot more Giants stuff, their fans seem more excited," the 30-year-old Ortiz said.

"That's because Patriots' fans already have their stuff, they're used to winning," chimed in co-worker Tom Tackett, 18, of Vernon.

Customer Donna Ennis, 51, of Manchester, said she can't understand why anybody in Connecticut would root for the Giants.

"We're in New England right?" she said. "It's beyond me why they even sell Giants stuff here."

Others wonder how anyone in Connecticut could root for the Patriots.

After all, New York played its home games at the Yale Bowl in New Haven in 1973 and 1974, while Yankee Stadium was being renovated.

Tom Ritter of Hartford, a lifelong Giants fan, remembers when New Yorkers would stream up to Hartford's bars on fall Sundays when the games were blacked out in the New York market, because they were not sold out.

Ritter was speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives in 1998 when Patriots owner Bob Kraft agreed to move his team to Hartford, then backed out of a deal. The hardest part of that process, Ritter said, was trying to figure out how he would possibly root for the Patriots.

"I know I can't now," he said. "Anyone who was rooting for the Patriots then should now be a Giants fan. It would be great if the Giants beat 'em. Can you imagine that, we take their undefeated season from them? That would be the ultimate vindication."

 

like i said before, this is an extention of the yankees/red sox rivalry.

 

What, so Giants fans sit on top of the Pats fans and do not sink at all? :icon_cheesygrin:

 

ahhhhhh, can't wait for Sunday. My dad's a born-and-raised Giants fan. :icon_cheesygrin:


(P.S. if you go to BC Sports' website, they've got NFL gear at a wicked price cut... it's NICE!)

 

i can not think of a repsonse to this that would not land in the smack talk forum. :icon_cool:

 

My older brother is a Pats fan

 

Should be fun if you live in the East Coast. I can't wait for it to be done and OVER with.

 

any real football fan is flat out pumped for this game.

 

QFT

 

You need to be like me when the Superbowl comes up: If it's not my team, I am not going to watch it. Last year, the only interest I had was Manning winning the big one and rightfully so because Chicago had a bad QB. I'm amazed that you ignore the fact that the Pats did not do this honestly. Oh sure to you it's only one minor infraction, but that to me takes away the VALUE we are all taught in life NOT TO DO! The Pats winning takes away that value that a team that is dishonest in the league has a right to play for something sacred and win it, even though they committed a wrong. The superbowl is about honesty, and if I can't have that from a team that cheats and a team that has NO CHANCE IN HELL to WIN, my TV will remain OFF. Too bad other distractions may come up like NFL.com or some other media outlet on the INternet broadcasting the pats * perfect * season*******.

* Pats! And I'll always say that to them like I say to Bonds, ******. I feel very strongly that fans should protest the Pats.

 

i think that's the last thing i need to do.

genius - again - i am requesting that you stay on topic. this thread is not about the pats ruining football and brining about a jihad.

 

It's one thing to say the Yankees/Red Sox have a rivalry, but I don't believe there is such a rivalry with Giants/Pats because they only play each other every 4 years. The rematch may be good, but I feel the intensity of game 17 will not be anywhere in the Superbowl.

 

the rivalry isn't about the teams, it's about the fans.

 

I can understand the baseball version of New York vs. Boston, but I don't feel it exists in football. First off, the venue is not in either area, and there won't be a huge amount of New York or Boston fans coming to Glendale because this Superbowl is about the 'bandwagon' fan, as in the so called Cardinal fan may root for either Giants or Pats. Secondly, Pats=American League AFC and Giants=National League NFC, and they only meet every 4 years, not each year like Sox/Yanks. If the Giants/Pats don't have contests frequently like the Pats play the Jets, there's no rivalry amongst the fans if you don't know the team that well.

 

the rivalry isn't about the teams, it's about the fans.

 

I'm sorry Smeagle, but I don't see a rivalry when 2 football teams meet every 4 years. Any rivalry will be cardinal fans rooting for either New York or New England in the :sleep: superbowl. It's a nice venue, but just the wrong teams from the East Coast are in it.

 

you're alone in your opinion.

 

Let's say this, you and I both had to watch the Superbowl, what team would you be forced to pull for? I'd pull for Giants, even though I know the Pats probably have this game in the bag. Would you be willing as the Eagle fan to let the enemy in the Giants be your friend for one day, or would you throw your support to the Pats?

 

I'll go with the NFC, no matter who is the contender.

 

I have friends who are Giants/Yankees fans. They most certainly have something against the Pats because of the Red Sox fans that root for them, but they say that this game is not even close to the venom if it were Yanks/Sox. If they were called the Boston Patriots there would be more hatred.