15 years of lousy football - Dec 10, 1978

Fewer entertainment alternatives, much worse TV viewing experience, cheaper tickets, newish stadium.

not really comparable to today's fan situation, but still a loyal bunch.

.

3 weeks after the Fumble...we beat the Cards 17-0. My Uncle was in from Virginia. He took the program and starting counting players. He stood up in a vastly Italian-Irish section and declared the score would be 17-0, as by his count that was the melongena factor. I was looking for a nearby rock to hide under, and the entire section started laughing. People started buying my Uncle beers. When the clock hit 0:00 we got invited to several tailgates and ate like royalty...those were the days...
15 Year of Lousy Football - ( New Window )

10 years old, my dad passed away when I was 5 so I didn't get to go to too many sporting events live back then but The home game before that vs. the Rams was the first Giants game I ever went to live. A good friend's dad had season tickets and he dumped them to us and a friend of the family took me and my brother. We had a good time even though we lost to the Rams so He gave them to us again for the Cards game. I found out the night before and couldn't sleep I was so excited. I remeber seeing the banner and everybody roared I looked up and it was like surreal, so I joined in and roared. I remember back in those days the people sitting around us were diehards. They rooted like we had a chance. I get there must have been anger, but I didn't see it so much. Then again I was an excited kid.

from that NYT link by STLGiant...

Quote:

George Young eventually was signed as general manager, and he selected Ray Perkins as the coach. Neither had a Giants background. ''That's all we ever wanted,'' Ron Freeman says. ''Just some sort of professionalism, instead of the Giant family ties.''

In comment 14715183 bw in dc said:

Quote:

from that NYT link by STLGiant... Quote: George Young eventually was signed as general manager, and he selected Ray Perkins as the coach. Neither had a Giants background. ''That's all we ever wanted,'' Ron Freeman says. ''Just some sort of professionalism, instead of the Giant family ties.''

Shurmur didn’t have Giants ties and neither did McAdoo when he was brought in to redesign the offense. They were just plain bad hires

Will have to find that banner and hire a plane if these morons keep this up...

Great memories of that day for me, Ray. I was 12 years old and had pestered my Dad to take me with him to the game. I had been to a game against the Jets in the Yale Bowl earlier, but always considered this to be my first. My Dad had to plead with a guy not to put his ticket into the pot for burning. If I remember correctly, it was the one and only start for Randy Dean at QB. He was a running QB who took off at the drop of a hat! (and probably goes down in Giants lore as mainly being Bill Belichick's handball playing partner.)

Don't some of you younger BBI'ers have drones you can use?

:-)

In comment 14715187 Les in TO said:

Quote:

In comment 14715183 bw in dc said: Quote: from that NYT link by STLGiant... Quote: George Young eventually was signed as general manager, and he selected Ray Perkins as the coach. Neither had a Giants background. ''That's all we ever wanted,'' Ron Freeman says. ''Just some sort of professionalism, instead of the Giant family ties.'' Shurmur didn’t have Giants ties and neither did McAdoo when he was brought in to redesign the offense. They were just plain bad hires

True. I was referring more to the front office - Gettleman, Chris Mara, etc. The people making critical decisions that are giving us the coaches, players, contracts, etc.

In comment 14715156 STLGiant said:

Quote:

3 weeks after the Fumble...we beat the Cards 17-0. My Uncle was in from Virginia. He took the program and starting counting players. He stood up in a vastly Italian-Irish section and declared the score would be 17-0, as by his count that was the melongena factor. I was looking for a nearby rock to hide under, and the entire section started laughing. People started buying my Uncle beers. When the clock hit 0:00 we got invited to several tailgates and ate like royalty...those were the days... 15 Year of Lousy Football - ( New Window )

Great story. Forgive my ignorance. What is the "melongena" factor?

In comment 14715197 CMc in 342 said:

Quote:

Great memories of that day for me, Ray. I was 12 years old and had pestered my Dad to take me with him to the game. I had been to a game against the Jets in the Yale Bowl earlier, but always considered this to be my first. My Dad had to plead with a guy not to put his ticket into the pot for burning. If I remember correctly, it was the one and only start for Randy Dean at QB. He was a running QB who took off at the drop of a hat! (and probably goes down in Giants lore as mainly being Bill Belichick's handball playing partner.)

You're absolutely right (see link below) That's amazing the QB had 24 yards passing, 29 yards rushing, and yet the team won 17-0. Different times for sure. I love reading all these stories. Just awesome you all were there at the same time without knowing and reminiscing here all these years later. That game was almost 9 years before I was born.
Giants vs. Cardinals box score - Dec. 10, 1978 - ( New Window )

In comment 14715199 Del Shofner said:

Quote:

Don't some of you younger BBI'ers have drones you can use? :-)

haha- these days I'm pretty sure we'd go to prison for 20 years even just for using a mini drone to get the job done.

In comment 14715226 Leg of Theismann said:

Quote:

In comment 14715199 Del Shofner said: Quote: Don't some of you younger BBI'ers have drones you can use? :-) haha- these days I'm pretty sure we'd go to prison for 20 years even just for using a mini drone to get the job done.

I'd settle for some kind of .gif (or just a graphic) of a plane flying with the message "7 years of lousy football - we've had enough"

we all started laughing our asses off. The second pass over the whole section stood up and cheered.

yes it was a different time. Still... it feels the same right now.

It was a poorly run organization from a football perspective but a classy organization when it comes to how they treat their people, etc.

In comment 14715100 RobCrossRiver56 said:

Quote:

.

yeah that is true. I know a lot of guys who had seats all around me who just did not go for the PSLs. I did it because the Giants was something that my father and I had together and I did not want that legacy to end.

However, I already made up my mind to sell the PSLs once the Giants show some promise and begin competing for a playoff spot again.

Like many I lived through it. There are some parallels to say the least. But the biggest for me is the no light at the end of the tunnel syndrome. If you look at the way Mara and Tisch have orchestrated things since 2011 the choices they make heading into this off season are more critical then ever. If they make the wrong decisions these past eight years of futility may be compounded by and owners who can't seem to get out of their own way. As a died in the wool Giants fan that is the most disheartening thing about this whole situation.

Fun times at the Meadowlands!

Here are the accounts form the local newspapers the day after each fan protest.

Ticket burning - 12/3/78 at the Rams game

NY Daily News
https://i.imgur.com/dd3iIvq.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/YUOZiAN.jpg

NY Times
https://i.imgur.com/h41sy0v.png

Airplane towing sign - 12/10/78 at the Cardinals game

NY Daily News
https://i.imgur.com/sO9M76j.jpg

NY Times
https://i.imgur.com/nRCCjrS.png

I love it especially reading about the Rams game seeing as like I said that was the first game I ever went to in person. I love the quote by Jack Youngblood after the game about injuring Pisarcik. "I thought I hit him high as we both lay there on the ground. Tell him sorry"

I was at the Rams game it was my second Giants game ,I remember my dad bought me one of those Goalpost/mini helmet gimmicks where you could put the Mini Helmets on the goalposts .

of people trying to sell tickets in the parking lot. They would give up and leave the 2 tkts in their car windshield wiper. When they came back after the game there would 4 tkts in the wiper.

In comment 14715224 Leg of Theismann said:

Quote:

In comment 14715197 CMc in 342 said: Quote: Great memories of that day for me, Ray. I was 12 years old and had pestered my Dad to take me with him to the game. I had been to a game against the Jets in the Yale Bowl earlier, but always considered this to be my first. My Dad had to plead with a guy not to put his ticket into the pot for burning. If I remember correctly, it was the one and only start for Randy Dean at QB. He was a running QB who took off at the drop of a hat! (and probably goes down in Giants lore as mainly being Bill Belichick's handball playing partner.) You're absolutely right (see link below) That's amazing the QB had 24 yards passing, 29 yards rushing, and yet the team won 17-0. Different times for sure. I love reading all these stories. Just awesome you all were there at the same time without knowing and reminiscing here all these years later. That game was almost 9 years before I was born. Giants vs. Cardinals box score - Dec. 10, 1978 - ( New Window )

Thanks for the box score -- Leg!

It was all about running the ball in those days. Good to see the big day Doug Kotar had rushing. (I actually got a Kotar "#44" jersey the next year for Christmas!) He was very underrated. Other articles mentioned that Csonka, Billy Taylor (enigmatic 4th rd pick from Texas Tech) and Bobby Hammond (scatback) were all out. Also mentioned Dan Doornink at fullback - was brief but promising runner before being traded away to Seattle for far less than he was worth.)

It was actually fun rooting for the Giants in those days. You really had to be a die hard fan. My dad had tickets with a group of friends going back to the Polo Grounds. That era was about the same as we are in right now. They had seen the glory years and were paying the price for the next rebuild. Though even in '78 the defense was very good. That's why "The Fumble" was so devastating. That team was having a decent year and were on the verge of a possible playoff appearance when it crumbled. Perkins and Young and the defense got them there soon enough in '81 and you probably heard all about the LT/Simms era from there!

Giants @ Eagles from DEC 1977 and they mentioned before the game that Jack Gregory and John Hicks got into a fight at a night club .Jim Brown was on commentary for the game too .Anyone know anything about that fight ?

He rudely said Eggplant, in Italian, however he wasn’t referring to vegetables.

Also, Dan Doornick the FB asked Mara to trade him to Seattle so he could be closer to med School last as he wanted to become a MD. Wellington got it done....

Here is the Jack Gregory vs Hicks fight article...
2rounds - ( New Window )