The email, phone calls and comments keep pouring in. And I can tell you, it ain’t pretty. Everyone needs a Giants grief counselor right now, including yours truly.
Here is one from Arnie V., a diehard Giants fan for 7 decades. Arnie was interviewed by the blog a while back, and I felt it appropriate that his perspective be shared with the ultimatenyg giants blog.
In trying to get over the frustration of yesterday’s game, I thought that I would take the long view of Giant disappointments. I have been a Giant fan since 1940, and we have only won 4 championships in those 68 seasons (1956, 1986, 1990 and 2007). Before the Super Bowl in that span, the Giants lost 8 Championship Games (1941, 1944, 1946, 1958, 1959, 1961, 1962 and 1963). They therefore were 1 and 8 in that era in playoff games.
Since the Super Bowl started in the 1960s, the Giants have been in the playoffs by my count 14 years (1981, 84, 85, 86, 89, 90, 93, 96, 2000, 02, 05, 06, 07 and 08), with a record of 16 and 11. However, 10 of those wins were in the 3 Super Bowl Championship years. They therefore lost their last game 11 years out of the 14. Some of those losses were very painful:
1989- The Flipper Anderson TD to end OT
1993- The 44-3 loss in SF, which was LT and Simms’ last game
1997- Blew the game to Minn. at the very end
2000- Terrible loss to Baltimore in the Super Bowl
2002- The 39-38 loss in SF, maybe the worst of all
2005- Blowout loss to Carolina
2006- Close loss to the Eagles by a late FG
2008- Giants were the better team and should have beaten the Eagles yesterday
With this summary, you have to conclude that being a Giant fan will most times result in end of season frustration and disappointment. That is why you have to particularly savor the winning seasons like 2007. Lets hope another one comes along sooner than the 17 years between 1990 and 2007.
We all are smart enough to know that you cherish the wins. I think the thing that is most painful about this loss is that we beat ourselves A LOT MORE than the Eagles beat us. You cannot take away anything from the Eagles. But you have to accept the fact that the Giants let one get away. The Flipper Anderson game for me was cured only by the 1990 championship. The SF 39-38 loss was cured by the 2007 SB XLII title. Call me a poor sport, call me in grief ‘denial,’ but it is going to take more than time for me to close this chapter. Right now I would settle for Gilbrown being booted. That is not happening, for the same reason that Fassel stayed and Fox went. The Giants love that loyalty. I love that thing called championships. This New York Giants Blog is about championships, and when you do not close on a year like this, it is a sin far greater than Detroit 0-16. I never ‘accepted’ the Flipper Anderson result. Neither did Parcells or his players. That gave them plenty of hunger to climb back for a title. Maybe that is what this team needs right now- to not “accept” the outcome in the sense of rededicating themselves to not wasting their opportunities this coming season and to remember the feeling right now as a motivating factor for next year.
Yes, I saw the interview by Michael Strahan of Earth, Wind and Fire on the Fox pregame. And when Bradshaw answered truthfully (with a coy smile) that he did not want BOTH Jacobs AND Ward back, I had a coy smile too. Bradshaw may or may not be the answer next season, but at least we are going to TRY and FIND OUT, which is a lot more than our friend Gilbrown did THIS season.
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