The owners of the New York Giants and New York Jets are playing nice these days. What, with the opening of the shared New Meadowlands Stadium coming this fall and a potential Super Bowl on the horizon they need to.
All of that camaraderie among the suits is nice. It does not, however, extend to the on-field combatants.
On the field there is an intense competition brewing between the two teams. The upstart Jets are feeling pretty good about themselves, having made the playoffs last season and having HBO's 'Hard Knocks' focus on them this summer. Oh, and maybe finally owning a piece of their own stadium has something to do with their current giddy attitude.
Giants' running back Brandon Jacobs said the other day that no matter what the records the city's heart will always be blue -- not green -- when it comes to football.
"This city is always going to be blue," Jacobs vowed. "The Jets had a good year last year and they're a good football team this year. But this is a new season and we're going to bounce back. ... We'll never be the other team, for the simple reason that we won a Super Bowl. We didn't stop when we got [to the NFC Championship]. We got past people we needed to get past. We beat teams nobody had beaten and got want we wanted. We're Super [Bowl] XLII champions. Last time I checked my watch nobody has done that in New York."
This is where the Jets, and their fans, need a reality check.
Yes, the Jets had the better season in 2009. I know they reached the AFC Championship Game, even if they did only make the playoffs because their final two regular-season opponents -- Indianapolis and Cincinnati -- basically laid down.
So, sure the Jets and their brash coach
Rex Ryan have a lot to feel good about. But, you know,
Joe Namath played a loooooong time ago. It was 1969 when the Jets beat the Baltimore
Colts for their only Super Bowl title -- 41 years ago.
The Giants were the big show in town when it came to football for decades before that -- in fact, for most of that time the only show in town. And, umm, it seems like they have been the big show in town most of the time since. For the last three decades, anyway.
Maybe the Jets are the Belle of the Ball currently. That does not suddenly make them the ruler of the city. That won't change even if the Jets are the next New York team to win the Super Bowl.
Face it, the Jets are football's version of the Mets. They will have their moments, but they will never be the Yankees. They will never HAVE the city.
The Mets have won the World Series. They have had seasons -- and stretches of several seasons -- where they have been better than the Yankees.
That really has not mattered. When it comes to baseball in New York, the Yankees are still first and the Mets are still second.
I can't see how football will be any different. Fans are not going to change allegiances, the Giants will always be one of the NFL's original franchises and will always have a richer history and more deeply-rooted fan base.
I don't begrudge the Jets any success they may have though, of course, I want to kick Jets' butt if the Giants should someday meet them in the Super Bowl. I don't begrudge the Mets success even though I'm a Yankee fan.
I am secure in knowing that my teams will always be in the hunt for the prize. No Jets/Mets fan inferiority complex here.
Enjoy your time in the sun, Jets fans. In the end, though, remember this. You're still not No. 1.
