For the second time this season, we have the New York Giants and the New England Patriots facing off. This time it’s for all the marbles; the Super Bowl. The first meeting took place during the last week of the season. The objectives for each team at the time were not as serious as they are now.
For the Patriots, it was to finish their season undefeated at 16-0. For the Giants, it was to make sure the Patriots went into the postseason with at least one loss on their record. As we already know, the Pats were the winners in the end. In this weekend’s game, not only will the Pats try to remain undefeated for the season, and not only will the Giants try to add a “1” in the Patriots’ loss column, but a Super Bowl title is up for grabs.
With these two teams facing off again under these circumstances, the question one has to ask themselves is this: Will this matchup be the latest in the rivalry between New York and Boston/New England?
My answer to that question: no. This game will not add any more fuel to the fire between the two cities.
The Giants rivalries lie not only with the NFC East, but with the NYC media. No matter what the Giants or any team in New York does, the media is all over them. The Giants can come out this weekend and annihilate the Pats this Sunday; and the New York media will find at least 10 things they did wrong. It’s never enough whether it’s a win or a loss for New York sports fans. Hey, what do you expect, it’s New York. You gotta love us.
The Patriots already have their “New York” rival in the New York Jets. And as far as other rivalries go for the Pats, well let’s just say that the rest of the NFL isn’t in their corner either and we all know why. That’s what happens when you win; everybody wants a shot at the title. With that comes hatred and at this moment, the Pats are the most hated team in the league. That hatred has fuel the Pats to go above and beyond the call of duty and while they continue to eat “humble pie”, they do it while listening to a little 2Pac (Me Against the World).
As you can see, both of these teams have more than enough rivalries that they can handle. Besides, these two teams meet every four years. For this to even be a rivalry, they would have to met up in the Super Bowl for the next three years before their next regular season matchup for a rivalry to be born.
The real rivalry is between the cities/areas these teams represent. Bostonians can’t stand New Yorkers and vice-versa. A rivalry that dates back to the American Revolution when Bostonians were fighting for patriotism and New Yorkers were still loyal to England, the two areas has been at odd since forever. Bostonians think New Yorkers are snobs, while New Yorkers feel Bostonians want to be like them. The funny thing is, neither of these teams actually plays for the cities they represent.
While the Pats represent a whole geographical area, the main location of operations is Foxboro, MA. For the Giants, they represent New York. But like their AFC counterparts, the Jets, their central location of operations is the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, NJ. So actually this is a football rivalry between Foxboro and New Jersey, if you look at it from that aspect. But for the sake of argument, we’ll keep it New York and Boston/New England.
The funny thing is that both areas are the same. Both have the lavish vacation spots, Martha’s Vineyard in Cape Cod and The Hamptons in Long Island. Both cities have a great night life in the downtown areas of their cities. And both have their working class areas where the “Average Joes” make it a ritual to teach their kids to continue the hatred for their rival teams because that same train of thought has been handed down to them through generations.
When it comes to sports, the rivalry between New York and New England is at it greatest when the month of April hits. Yankees/Red Soxs is the bench mark for any rivalry in professional sports. Next to the Ohio State/Michigan collegiate rivalry, the Yanks and Soxs are as heated as they come.
Considering the fact that the Yanks and the Soxs are in the same division (AL East), and the numerous times these two teams have faced off in the playoffs with some of the most memorable moments in MLB history, this heated rivalry has boiled over to any other sports matchup that takes place between these two cities. And of course, we can’t forget about the former “Curse of the Bambino.”
The bottom line is this, as long as the two cities have this dislike for each other, the rivalries will continue. It’s just not with these two teams. It’s not their time to form a rivalry between the two of them and it may never be their time.
It comes down to the people around the teams and not those involved to make this a rivalry, and this Sunday’s game is not a battle between the Pats and the Giants, but two cities/areas who forgot that this is sport – not life – and that a win or a loss doesn’t make either team or city any less than what they’re worth.
You can always check out new posts and past write ups on The Rowdy One’s blog at: http://outofbounds-therowdyone.blogspot.com/
