Was It Fate? Boy Born One Month Before Super Bowl XXI

As I look back on a life dedicated mostly to sports, I can reflect on my journey that ended with me being the biggest New York Giants' fan I know (it helps I live in Texas).

It all started out with me being born during the magical 1986 season in December of that year. The 1986 season would prove to be the most successful for the boys in blue in terms of not only regular season success, but getting the ring as well.

As a young boy not much of my life was spent in front of the TV. Living in Houston I was lucky enough to have outside weather pretty much every day of the year. As a result, I had played organized football, baseball, basketball, soccer, tennis, and even roller hockey all by the age of 11.

So while I did not watch sports very often, few Sunday afternoons were spent watching my older brother and father rooting for the Houston Oilers. I was too young to understand it, but I always marveled at their passion for the game.

Then came the dreaded 1997 off season. After the 1996 season, Owner Bud Adams up and moved the team to Tennessee, taking the logo and name with him. Selfish as he was, he wouldn't even let the team use either when they unveiled the new football franchise in Houston.

I was eight years old.

My brother and father were torn; ripped from us were the days we could spontaneously get tickets and go to a football game. Among other things, we felt betrayed, abandoned, and helpless.

Then my father said something to me I'll not soon forget; "It's OK son, we still have the Giants."

You see, while my father has spent the last 35 years of his life in Houston, he was born and raised in Elmira, NY, and with that comes an undying sports loyalty to the Giants, Yankees, and Rangers.

He has passed the legacy on to me and I have suffered through all the lows and soared through all the highs. Even though the NFL gave us back our Houston team, we shall never again show loyalty to any other team, for we are Giants fans, to the end.