Last weekend New York sports fans were placed in a sticky situation by the outcomes of both the NFC and AFC Championship games. The Philadelphia Eagles have earned the right to play in the Super Bowl against the defending champions, the New England Patriots. Even though these two teams seem set to give us one of the more interesting Super Bowl match-ups in several seasons, I can’t get past one thing: either Philadelphia or Boston will win the Super Bowl this year.
Maybe it’s my fault that I cannot get over this, but, to be blunt, it was just how I was raised. Walk with me, New York. My whole life, there have been two cities in sports that I have been driven almost to the point of delirium rooting against. Now, because of the inadequacy of the NFC, I have to deal with Philadelphia in the Super Bowl. That wouldn’t be such a problem had the Patriots not made Peyton look like Eli, and Big Ben stop ticking. I remember, sort of, sitting in Rhino that weekend and understanding the fate that now faced me. I would have to choose to root for either the city whose fans were too busy complaining about not beating the Yankees to notice their football team was awesome, or the city whose fans hate me. They hate you too, but you aren’t a Giants fan, so it’s a slightly different hate. What is a New York sports fan to do?
It seemed so simple at first. New York Giants fans do not root for the Eagles. That is the bottom line. But wait, Boston just won the World Series, and now they want me to root for them in the Super Bowl? That is just not going to happen. I can’t stand to see the Eagles win anything, but to cheer for the one city I’ve been so prejudiced against is just unthinkable. Not to mention the fact that the Patriots may be on the verge of becoming the Cowboys of this decade. So, on principle I should root for the Eagles, right? E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES! Not on your life. GO PATS! I know where they can go.
Well New York, it’s almost game time, and there is a choice to be made. I guess it comes down to which city you’ve been trained to dislike the least. This might be an easy one for you if your team lives in someone else’s home and wears green and white, but for the rest of us it’s not so simple. I have, however, figured out what I’m going to be doing this Super Bowl Sunday. I’m going to put 50 bucks down on the Devil to beat Satan, then I’m going to go down to the bar to have a few drinks with some other disgruntled New Yorkers.
