Strange question, I know. I have been a maniacal fan since 1956 and have lived and died with this team, oft times to sickening excess. Theyve given me much joy and pain. They have been my number one sports priority since the beginning.
I lived and breathed the Knicks during the elite Holzman era and though we never won it all, I loved the Riley era. Will always love the Rangers and enjoy it when the Mets win. That said, i made a decision a decade or two ago, to narrow my rabidness down to just the Giants, albeit I enjoy it when the aforementioned teams do well. Im just no longer an avid rooter/follower in the other sports. My emotional health thanks me.
So, its now effectively just the Giants. I have mellowed somewhat, which is good. Some of you guys are amazing in that you have installed more important priorities in your lives and I respect and envy your resolve toward that end. I am much better than I was, say, 5-10 years ago, but not FULLY there yet.
I still stick to my belief that this team will strongly compete this year, in this parity age we live in, even if we lose tonight. This puts me in the minority here. I am anxious to see both sides of the ball develop and perform on all cylinders. When that happens, I have little idea, but it will, this year, imo.
Still, I wake up these game days with more angst, more trepidation, than excitement. My wife and I are having a great weekend, but when I did awaken, I felt the knot in my stomach and said to myself, shit, Im really not ready for this, for tonight, though Ill be there, per usual, in full Giants gear. But, sometimes, more than in the past, I wish there was no game (sport) to follow.
And no, this is NOT ABOUT taking a break from them. That wont happen, theyre in my blood. But sometimes, I wish they didnt (temporarily) exist. Can anyone relate? Am I alone here?
Oh and lets kick ass tonight. :)
Lol. Btw, this can be for any sport you follow so closely
Then again, Id probably play more golf.
😂😂😂
I say life events, being very ill (technically clinically dead at one point last year) the consistant losing and acceptance of that for most part, has detached me from most of my most emotional attachment.
Last, say 4-5 years, giants have damaged my excitement for them and the game
For me, the game tonight starts at 5:20, so that helps. 😎
The great memories of Bavaro knocking over 49ers and 4th & 17 vs Minnesota ended with LT and Simms kicking ass vs the Broncos.
Or Reasons running with the fake punt and Ingram with the incredible SB play ended with Giants upsetting Buffalo.
Eli to Tyree and Plaxico are remembered forever in beating the unbeatable 18-0 Patriots.
And the 2011 run where it all came together as Cruz made huge plays each week, and Eli to Manningham was just an unreal catch.
Being a Giant fan is just kind of cool...
I mean don't get me wrong I still follow the team religiously but a Giants loss used to literally affect me negatively until about Tuesday morning. I made a decision a while ago to just treat it as what it is: Entertainment. I made a 15 minute rule, that no matter how much it pisses me off I won't let myself mope for more than 15 mins and then I just flip the switch and move on.
You captured it. 👍
I do not ever wish that I wasn't a Giants fan. Besides who else would do the laundry on Sundays between 1 and 4.....
Same with the unlike able recent Giants and Handley-Reeves Giants. Team is much better to root for with players like Armstead, Sehorn, Jacobs, Snee, Diehl, McKenzie, Ohara....
I understand both sides of the equation and get it is way different for others. I feel like I am in a batter place when I look forward to the Giants as a topic of conversation with friends and 3 hours of entertainment on Sunday, but not something that means the world to me like it did.
My solution, which works okay, is to occupy myself with something else until kickoff, and then afterwards, if the Giants lose, to dive into something else that demands my attention and force myself not to think about the game. Or the team. Or football. And then I avoid any Giants-related news for the next day, or few days, or even the whole week if the loss was bad enough.
I wasn't around for the wilderness that was the 70s, but the past few years have been lean years. With that said, this team has given us a helluva lot to be happy about. 4 Super Bowls in 4 decades. No one else can make that claim. It's been rough lately but taken as a whole, at least in my lifetime, Giants fans are way ahead on points.
So, no Giants simply means that aspect of your being oozes out through some other pore.
Anyway I used to live and die with the Giants, Knicks, Rangers(Gump Worsely) and Dodgers (even the move to LA)
I started filtering my affections as the teams started to get average and my daughter was born.
As recently as 15 years ago how the Giants did would really affect my mood for a few days in the week.
Now I only follow the Giants closely but win or lose I am in a great mood every day. Retirement can do that for you.
So I understand your sentiments about them not existing. I have a number of friends who have no sports interest at all. Not sure if I am ready for that yet.
Go Big Blue!!!
Due to work I was only able to watch 4 games live the rest I dvr'ed. There were some that I didn't even bother watching. That's the first time I ever did that.
But I agree, most Giant fans live/die with the Sunday outcomes....there is a sense of depression for a day or two after a loss....
It's amazing that I did not go into therapy from 1964 to 1981.....although many on BBI, think I should have....
So, no Giants simply means that aspect of your being oozes out through some other pore.
Interesting and salient take. I do not gamble, mostly because Im such a sore loser, it would probably kill me, so thats a positive. I have an addictive personality, which is why I had to give up cigarettes 40 years ago and alcohol, 25 years ago. My only addiction of note now is black coffee.
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bc happy or bummed about their game, id rather be going to bed earlier on Sunday night
For me, the game tonight starts at 5:20, so that helps. 😎
Ah I miss living in California during football season!
Ha! I was a race car in the red mushroom cloud laying MFer Guns of the Navorone after THAT debacle!
I dont know why i love this fucking team so much. Im a die hard Knicks, Yankees and rangers fan too. I live and die with those teams but the giants are different. Its personal. From the age of 7-8 or so I just saw those blue unis on the field, the fans, the stadium.... and fell in love. Fucking wack job.
Bite your tongue, bastid!!
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Meaning wed all be Jets fans?
Bite your tongue, bastid!!
Lol... hey, I may actually turn the Jets game on today... sort of curious to watch Darnold
The Giants are basically a part of my family, from my grand uncle on down to my niece and nephew. We have a lot of great memories tied up with this team. No way would I ever wish they didn't exist or wish to be a fan of a different team.
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But maybe after the SF 2002 playoff game.
Ha! I was a race car in the red mushroom cloud laying MFer Guns of the Navorone after THAT debacle!
Buddy of mine predicted we were going to lose that game when we were up big. Must have sensed something I as a Giants fan didn't see.
With the Giants, though, I'm sometimes so invested in the outcome of the game that it makes it hard to actually enjoy watching it.
I used to enjoy watching for the beauty of it all AND for the win. NOW, its about the WIN MOSTLY.
Im forever grateful for team, the great (and meaningful) connection my family has to the team, all the glory, and even the dark years (I grew up watching in the 70s). I get over a crappy season easily. I dont see me ever not being a Giants fan.
But the prospect of game days just stresses me out really more than it should.
Definitely
Then, I walk into the stadium on opening day and something happens-
Im 10 years old again, with my dad, heading to Yankee Stadium
On balance, this team has brought me more joy than grief-
LOL, nice Joey...
Actually I used to feel like this until about 5 years ago... Which totally coincides with the birth of my son.
If the Giants lost, everybody knew to avoid me and my grumpy mood the rest of the day... It would gnaw at me until Thursday or Friday.
After trying for 12 years to have a child and going through hell and back to do it... I can't look at him and be upset...
Perspective.
Me, Im grateful for all the entertainment the Giants have provided for me and my family. Love Giants football
I treasure these moments, I my be a bit off kilter in may priorities but I am not going to play anaylist.....
Lol. 3/4 of mine. Seriously.
I still need two days to recover from Giant losses and I'm in my mid-fifties, I thought having a wife and kids would soften the blow. but it only seems to be getting worse.
Pathetic, that what it is...