New York Giants Fans: The 30th most devoted fan base in the country!?

Times have been tough for the New York Giants. After two straight losing seasons is tough to swallow for a fan base -- and franchise -- who hold the team to the highest standards.

But even so, the results of a new survey from Nielsen Scarborough published by the Kansas City Star are shocking: The New York Giants have the 30th most-devoted fan base in the league. Sure, the Giants are down, but 30th!?

It has only been three years since the Giants took down the New England Patriots for the Championship for the second time in four years. Perennial punch-lines the Jaguars Lions, Browns, and Bills, who have largely occupied the basements of their respective divisions for the last decade (or more) rate better, ranking 21st, 15th, 13th, and 8th respectively.

If it makes everybody feel better, the Jets rate as the 31st most-devoted fan base in the league.

Nielsen Scarborough got their results by the percentage of adults in the team's respective markets who have attended, watched, or listened to the team in their market in the past year. The 38 percent of the "New York" market responded that they had in some how followed the Giants this year, while 31 percent reported that they had somehow followed the Jets.

And that could explain why the Giants, with one of the longest and most storied histories in the league and a fan-dom that is as often as not a family tradition, have such an apparently disinterested fan base. While the "New York Market" (New York, NYC, New Jersey, etc.) is one of the largest markets in all of sports, it is also one of the most crowded. No other NFL team has to share their city with another team like the Jets and Giants, not to mention the other seven teams that vie for the public's attention every year. 30th and 31st were the positions the two teams held last year.

Taken as a whole, New York fans would rank 10th at 69 percent devotion to the sport in general.

So, what say you? Are Giants fans a bunch of disinterested brats, or is the unique nature of the market skewing the results?