The **Giants ** victory over the Packers was the highest rated TV show since the last Superbowl. It was the highest rated Championship game in over a decade.
Don’t underestimate the draw of the **Giants ** , for the Superbowl, they will pick up a huge number of very casual football fans in the ‘Giant’ NY Metro Area. There is a strong dislike/hatred around the league for the Patriots, and only a small hatred for the Giants, mainly by the other divisional teams and some Jets fans.
In a very informal poll, every Miami fan I know is very interested in this game and rooting hard for the upset. The four Bears fans I know are rooting for the Giants as is the Steelers fan. The Jets fans I know are 6 to 1 for the **Giants **, they really hate New England and mostly don’t care about the Giants anyway. The Cowboy fan I know is rooting for the terrorists. (Cowboy fans really are assholes apparently) The Eagles fans I know decided to root against the Patriots and this surprised me. They cannot say they are rooting for the **Giants **, but all 3 said either they are rooting against the Pats or for the ‘underdogs’.
I only Red Skin fan I talked to is rooting for a good, fun game. Geez, he is like the anti-cowboy fan.
Exactly what I was thinking Sunday night. A bit jealously too; They already got it for baseball… and now for football too?
This Cowboy fan wishes the Giants well. Cowboys and Giants don’t seem to be too tolerant of the other two teams in our division but we don’t seem overly resentful of each other either. Good luck, Giants, as you represent the NFC East.
Cite? How large is the Favre fan base, the word I hear most with Favre since he broke the records is “Overrated”.
Don’t forget that Bears and Viking fans hate him. My one friend was rooting as hard for the Giants as I was.
Fox gets to play up the underdog theme for the Giants. The original football family still running it. The fact the coaches, coached together under Parcells.
We already know the hype of the “Greatest Team Evah” will be going full tilt for the next 11 days.
The Giants played the Pats closer than any team this year.
The Pats at Giants game for week 17 pulled down a huge rating.
I know I’m supposed to as a Giants’ fan, but I never could work up any real antipathy toward the Cowboys. I mean, sure, I root against them during the season because they’re a divisional rival, but once the Giants are out of it, I can’t see any particular reason to hate the 'Boys. I mean, seriously, you want me to hate Emmitt Smith? Before he became the worst football analyst in history, that guy once won a football game with one arm basically hanging off. Nah.
I’ll save it for the Eagles. I’d gladly trade championships with the Cowboys every year if it meant the Eagles would never win another game.
Here’s hoping that Brady is out of that walking cast or whatever by next week. I don’t care if he’s healthy, but the “He’s playing through A MILDLY SPRAINED LEFT LITTLE TOE - YOU’VE GOT TO ADMIRE HIS COURAGE!” coverage will be unbearable if he doesn’t heal in two weeks.
Ditto from this Giants fan. As I’ve said just recently, if the Cowboys were in the Superbowl instead of the Giants, I’d be rooting for the Cowboys. (Pride of the division and all that.) I even went to the mat arguing that the Eagles are the hated rival of the Giants, not the Cowboys. (And as another data point in that debate in case What Exit would like to continue it here, in 1990 the Giants lost to 3 teams on the way to their second Lombardi trophy: the Bills, 49ers, and …?)
Consider it from their perspective. How would you feel if the Eagles (Cowboys in your case) were playing the Ravens in the Superbowl?
If it was the Boys, I would root for the Ravens. If it was the Eagles, I would probably root for the Ravens. Why would I particularly root against the Ravens?
We beat the Pats the last game of the season, the 3rd loss was the … I don’t remember without looking it up… The Eagles.
Cite. The Harris Poll, where the Packers are consistently ranked in the Top 3 of favorite NFL team nationwide, Giants nowhere near the top. Giants are big in NY/NJ, not nationwide- Favre and the Packers are. Grandmas know who Favre is.
Pats vs. Cal Poly Pomona would have drawn the same rating, maybe a bit less in New York- people outside of NY were watching for the whole making history with 17-0 thing, not the matchup.
This Cowboys fan is rooting for the Giants. I guess it comes from the having the Giants beat the Cowboys in the Divisional. Getting beat by the team that goes on to win the Superbowl is less embarrassing. Also, as stated above, the Cowboys and Giants aren’t really rivals. Now if the Redskins were in the game I’d be watching to see them get crushed. I actually think that the Giants have a chance to win - it could be an exciting game.
Thanks for finding that. I knew that the Cowboys and Packers had the largest fan base, but I couldn’t google-fu as well as you. I don’t know where that statement about the Giants having the largest fan base came from.
Part of the Cowboys popularity simply comes from NFL expasnion broadcasts in Mexico, and Central and South America, where they tended only to broadcast Cowboy’s games for 20 years or so, which created a huge latino fan base that rides in with the immigrant population. Go Vaqueros! Of course the dominance of the 1970’s and 1990’s didn’t hurt either.
Ok. My original assertion was that the primary rivalries in the NFC East are the Cowboys-Redskins and Eagles-Giants. I think we can all agree that this doesn’t apply to 100% of fans; it’s simply a generalization that would appear to hold true for most NFC East fans. The exception would seem to be those who first became Giants fans in a (very narrow) 8-year window of the 80 year history of the (NFC) East.
As a Giants fan since before 1990, you really should have known the answer to that question without looking it up. Here’s a couple more to restore my faith in your credentials:
Who knocked Joe Montana out of the Conference Championship game?
Who did the Giants first lose to, what was their record at the time, and what happened the following week?
And being a Giants fan in 2000, how could you not hate the Ravens?
That cite is from 2003. The statement about the Giants having the largest fanbase came from me [post=7460810]saying[/post] and then [post=7464381]citing[/post] that the Giants were the most-watched team in 2005:
Yes, but most watched due to having the largest population for regional games. If every NFL game was broadcast nationally, I’m pretty sure it would be different.
As you (correctly IMO) characterized them, Green bay is more popular with the general population, ie the “Grandmas who know who Favre is.” The thing is, though, that those Grandmas (et al) won’t sit down and actually watch a game; they just know enough to answer a poll question.
The Superbowl is a different animal, so I’m not even sure this line of reasoning is relevant.
I will concede the Giants vs Cowboys/Eagles thing for now, reminding you that for generations of fans older than me, the Redskins were the rivals instead of these two.
I don’t hate the Ravens, we were ridiculously lucky to make the Superbowl that year. Even as a Giants fan, I think we were one of the worst Superbowl teams ever. I guess I just lost all kind of fan points on that one.
Joe Montana was put in the hospital by Leonard Marshall. It ended Joe’s 49’er career and it was an awesome thing to see. I think you are referring to Phil Simms being lost.
Disclaimer: I am a Giants fan, but it pales in comparison to my baseball knowledge. I am a Yankee fanatic, they are an obsession for me, the Giants are more of a hobby.
…and as a Niner fan, I knew the answer to this, but couldn’t bring myself to type it.
I suspect you are far from alone - hence the assumption that this Super Bowl will be linked into the baseball rivalry. I am not sure about SenorBeef’s observation about ESPN’s coverage - being in the Metro NY market, I part of that geography anyway…
Yes, yes you did. The Giants were the #1 seed in the conference. By what definition can that possibly be considered luck? I guess you must be referring to how they just squeaked by the Vikings in a game they clearly should have lost? Maybe it’s because the defense was a shitty #5 ranked against the pass and a pathetic #2 ranked against the run?
