There have been champion New York teams who relished playing in front of Giants fans, in their house.
There were the 1969 Knicks, when the Garden exploded at the sight of Willis Reed limping out of the tunnel, and Game 7 against the Lakers was won right there.
There were the 1986 Mets, who with the assistance of Bill Buckner, who set Shea Stadium afire in their Game 7 against the Red Sox.
There were the 1986 Giants, who used the howling wind and an take-no-prisoners defense to intimidate and whitewash Washington in the NFC Championship at Giants Stadium.
There were the 1994 Rangers, ending their 54-year curse in Game 7 against the Canucks at a forever Garden party.
There were the 1996 Yankees, who broke an 18-year championship drought with a win over the Braves in Game 6 at Yankee Stadium.
There were others, of course, and they all reminded us that there is nothing sweeter than the love affair between a team and its town, no greater place to win than New York.
Then there are the 2021 Giants — and too many of their recent predecessors — who have learned there is no worse place to lose than New York.
When you give the vibe that you would rather play in Siberia with no heated benches than at MetLife Stadium, you get a question like the one Logan Ryan was asked on Thursday: Is playing at home becoming psychological at all for this team? … Is playing at home almost becoming a disadvantage for the Giants?
The storyline on Sunday, once you get past Daniel Jones versus Sam Darnold, the quarterback the Giants drafted versus the quarterback they didn’t; and Joe Judge versus Matt Rhule, the head coach the Giants hired versus the head coach they didn’t; and Giants versus Panthers, could very well be:
Giants versus Giants fans.
Giants versus boobirds.
As much as it pierces some of their souls, the Giants have earned their derision. Or did you think losing 26 of their past 35 games at home would earn them a standing ovation?
Win a damn game, for crying out loud, then maybe you’ll start earning the respect of your fans. And who knows? Maybe they’ll be convinced to stay for the fourth quarter for a change.
A fish that stinks from the head down includes the trunk and the tail.
We have witnessed individual players and coaches who did not have the temperament to play in New York. A Yankees pitcher from Tennessee named Ed Whitson, who wound up in a bar fight with manager Billy Martin, comes immediately to mind. … Bobby Bonilla, who wanted to show someone The Bronx, his hometown. … Ray Handley ring a bell?
Oh, and Javy Baez of the Thumbs Down Mets, who infamously said: “When we don’t get success, we’re going to get booed. So they are going to get booed when we get success.”
Maybe we shouldn’t give these Giants any ideas.
It is safe to assume Jones won’t flash the ’ole thumbs down to Giants fans following a touchdown pass or rushing score, because he is one of the mentally tough ones, same as Eli Manning. Leonard Williams volunteering that the boos bothered him last Sunday won’t prompt fans to cut him any slack.
So it would behoove the Giants, who have looked in more mirrors lately than any Kardashian, to start fast, and show up as the smart, tough, fundamentally sound team that Judge was able field last season … and only last season.
It would behoove the Giants, who have been challenged by their head coach, to show up snarling angry. Show up with the pride you would expect from a team ridiculed as a laughingstock, a team that has disgraced the uniform time and time again in what should be the friendly confines. Show up as tough and tough-minded as the people of this area that Judge embraced at his introductory press conference. Show up playing defense ferociously enough to stop Rhule’s promised smashmouth assault and the long-lost chorus of “dee-fense, dee-fense, dee-fense” rattles Darnold’s eardrums.
If they don’t, if they can’t, the Fighting Joe Judges won’t only be fighting the Panthers, they’ll be fighting to block out the cruel, demoralizing sounds of a fan base that expected so much more, and deserves so much better.
The football gods can be fickle, but it is probably too late for the 2021 New York Football Giants to give Giants fans a season.
So how about giving them a game? Because if they don’t, the next time they see Giants fans, they’ll be wearing bags over their heads. Or they won’t see many of them at all.