From The Womb to The College Dorm

The New York Giants are truly a part of my family.

Ever since I can remember, every Sunday during the fall and winter was time for my dad to sit down with his two sons so we could watch the game together.

Sitting on his lap, I gathered in as much information as I could. My dad recalls how I was too young to realize what was going on. But when he would yell, I would scream too because I knew that’s what I was supposed to do.

Most kids watched Disney movies growing up. Well, I didn’t. Plain and simple

It was strictly sports. Baseball season was the Mets but, more importantly, football season was the Giants.

I still play baseball today in college, but don’t get me wrong. Football is far and away my favorite sport. I’m just too everything-wrong for football.

I played pee-wee football and got my first major injury. Ever since then, my dad never let me don the pads again. It was probably a good decision because I am just too slow, small, not athletic enough, etc…

It goes on and on, but you get the picture.

Every day I came home from preschool and eventually elementary school, I turned the VCR on and I would cue up the Giants' season tapes after the ‘86 season and ‘90 season.

I would try to talk like Harry Kalas, who was the voice for the NFL Film Videos I watched. It drove my mom nuts, and it still does because I still do it.

I always knew I was a die-hard Giants fan, but it really set in during their Super Bowl run in 2000. When Jim Fassel came out with his famous post game quote, I somehow felt it was directed towards me.

“I am raising the stakes right now… If this is a poker game, I am shoving my chips right in the middle of the table. I am raising the ante. Anybody who wants out, can get out.  This team is going to the playoffs, okay? This team is going to the playoffs.”

I was 11 years old, and thought that was the greatest quote I had ever heard. As the Giants made it to the playoffs, the beating they gave to the Vikings (41-0) was the best day of my life (to that date).

Everyone said the Giants didn’t stand a chance against one of the best offenses of all time, and look how that turned out. Greg Comella rumbling for a touchdown anyone?

The Giants unfortunately lost to the Ravens in the Super Bowl, and I remember laying on the floor for over an hour after the game crying in tears. My mom had to promise me that life would go on and everything would be okay.

It was tough for me to believe her, because I knew Super Bowl appearances weren’t that common. She had even baked a cake that deserved to be on the show “Ace of Cakes” as there was the green field, white lines, and two goal posts with the Ravens and Giants written out in the end zones in their respective colors.

That was the first time I had ever cried over the Giants. Unfortunately, it had to happen again.

Two years later, the Giants were serious Super Bowl contenders. They went out to Candlestick Park and laid a whooping on the 49ers. That is until halfway through the third quarter.

It all turned after Jeremy Shockey dropped a sure-to-be touchdown in the back left corner of the end zone. I remember it perfectly.

That’s when the momentum began to shift. The Giants went into a prevent defense and stopped moving the ball on offense.

Eventually, Trey Junkin (a name that will always be logged in my brain) had two poor snaps, and cost the Giants the game. Once again, I laid on the floor and was in tears—this time at my friends house.

He too was a big Giants fan, and he just sat there in astonishment. We were 13.

Then fast forwarding to the 2007, when it came time to pick my college. A big part of my decision was if I would be in the TV zone to get the Giants' games.

I didn’t miss one game the entire season. By the time the playoffs came around, I was home for the first round against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

I wore my red hat, a blank white t-shirt, red Santa pajama bottom pants, and white sneakers. After the win, I knew I had something to do with it.

I made sure to wear the same exact outfit for the rest of the playoffs, and look how that turned out. I remember at one point leading during the playoff run, the big news I read about was whether or not Eli Manning would wear a glove on his throwing hand, due to the frigid temperatures at Lambeau Field.

February 3, 2008 was the best day of my life. No doubt about it.

I cried again, but this time for joy. I jumped up and down in the halls, as kids looked at me like I was crazy.

I remember we had baseball practice the next morning at 5:00am. I didn’t sleep at all because I was too excited about the Giants. My roommate always has to ask how I am able to read so much about the Giants.

My girlfriend says if the Giants were a girl, I’d get rid of her for the Giants. Good thing we don’t have to come to that.

The Giants have always been a part of my life, bringing my family together. Every time we eat dinner together, relax on the couch, it somehow involves the Giants.

I can’t imagine my life without the Giants. I truly bleed blue.