The long and short of it is that this baseball season hasn’t really given me much that I want to write about. Now that I’m back, to keep myself from writing an entire column on my bitterness with the Mets (they’re becoming the Knicks of Major League Baseball!), I’ll take up the subject of the next sport on tap: football! Yes, it’s that time again!
“Knock-knock!”
“Who’s there?”
“It’s football!”
It’s been a while since I’ve greeted the advent of the NFL season with quite this much enthusiasm. After all, my basketball team has been wandering in the dysfunctional wasteland for about a decade now. Suddenly, after three years of painful and embarrassing failures of one type or another, it’s become more apparent than ever that one of my baseball teams is headed toward that same purgatory.
Why not welcome the chance to watch my New York Giants play for 16 or more games now? The G-men represent one of the classiest franchises in professional sports, and let’s not forget that they have played only 16 games since they captured arguably the most exciting Super Bowl championship ever. They are everything in sports that the Knicks and Mets are not.
It’s true that there are no guarantees, and Big Blue could have a lousy season—most everyone is picking the Eagles or Cowboys to win the NFC East—but I’ll stick with my boys any day, and I will bet that Eli will help lead his crew to a winning record, a playoff berth, and the division crown. In fact, with their reloaded defensive line, the Jints have a chance to win the NFC. As long as everyone stays healthy, the sky’s the limit. A shaky start might be in the making, due to some injuries in the secondary, but by midseason, I expect the Giants to be in fine form.
But I shouldn’t get ahead of myself. I’m just thankful that tomorrow, at 1:15 pm, I’ll be able to plant my butt in front of the TV and watch the start of the football games that matter to me this year. Win or lose, it will be good to see the greats of the gridiron break out the ol’ pigskin once again.
Go Giants!
