Football Quandary
I am in a quandary. As most people who know me are aware, I am a huge New York Giants fan. If you follow football, you know that the Giants started this season pretty strong, but have played absolutely miserably in the last half of the season.
At one point this season, the Giants were 6-2 and were seriously being considered a legitimate chance at playing in the Super Bowl. Since then, they have gone 1-6 and are barely alive in the playoff race.
Here's the reason for my confusion. I loathe Tom Coughlin, the Giants head coach, and would love it if he was let go after this season. The only problem is, if the Giants make the playoffs, it will be the two years in a row they made the playoffs, which makes it difficult to rationalize firing the guy. So, if the Giants make the playoffs (which will probably end like their playoff run did last year, with an embarrassing loss) odds are Coughlin will be around another year.
To really muddy the waters, I have tickets for the Giants game this weekend in Washington (the first time I am going to a Giants game since we left New Jersey over 3 years ago) which will also be my wife's first time at a professional football game.
So, what would you do? Live in the 'here and now', and hope they win and make the playoffs which pretty much guarantees you get another year with a less than stellar coach , or hope they lose and miss the playoffs, which pretty much guarantees a new coach (who may also be less than stellar). I think the Giants currently have more talent than any Giants team since the mid to late 80's, but think this talent is being wasted with the current coaching staff.
Fortunately, I am not alone.
best case scenario is that they win and get into the playoffs, but management still realizes that it was a freakish anomaly that got 'em in and not the coaching staff.
hell, rumors are already swirling about possible replacements. hopefully that train of thought has been set in motion and won't be stopped regardless of the outcome.
you know that even if they make the playoffs, they didn't deserve it. i know that even if they make the playoffs, they didn't deserve it. gotta assume somebody in management knows more about football than you and me (lordy i hope so) and also knows it.
go to the game. have fun. root for your team. then root for management to do the right thing.
So relax, enjoy yourself and have a beer or two. As Sean points out, a football game is nothing to get worked up over. Its not as high intensity as a cat show, now is it?
Now, if you want to argue that the quality of their play was not as good as other teams in the playoffs, well, then, I would have to agree with you.
The Giants did have one of the toughest schedules in the league this year. However, I feel they can play better than they did at times, and should have a record better than 8-8 and limping inti the playoffs.
As for last night's game....wow! Tiki sure did put an exclamation point on his amazing career. I have to say, FedEx Field is a really nice stadium, and the fans were a lot more tolerable of us Giants fans sitting in their stadium than Giants fans would have been had the roles been reversed.
So, CJ, who would you like us to play in the first round? I say, bring on Dallas!.
Tiki's retiring. Isn't Accorsi also retiring this year? I'd expect a new GM would want to bring in his own "guy". With any luck, it will be a coach who specializes in mentoring young quarterbacks.
(p.s. I'm also a transplanted New Jerseyan and I'm living in the DC area. I couldn't get tickets, though.