By Michael Battista
Staff Writer
Well Philadelphia, you did it. Backup quarterback Nick Foles and the underdogs finally have a ring to call their own. It doesn’t matter that Eagles fans have pretty much destroyed the city and made their cars thoroughly “lit.” They can finally join everyone else in the National Football Conference East as Super Bowl champions. I’m glad some people are happy.
The past two weeks have been awful as a New York Giants fan. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. There was no right answer when I was asked who I wanted to win Super Bowl LII. Yet here at the College, I’ve seen more green than ever, and I’m fairly sure some of the fans who supported the city of brotherly love are defectors of the Big Apple.
The American Football Conference was terrible this season, so it was pretty much a guarantee that Bill Belichick, Tom Brady and the New England Patriots would be playing for the Vince Lombardi Trophy. When the Tennessee Titans, Buffalo Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars can all make the playoffs, every fan should realize something isn’t right in the world. Meanwhile, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Patriots were having off years and constantly playing down to their competition in regular season games. But, when the Cowboys failed to achieve their playoff expectations, leave it to Philly to have a franchise year.
Don’t get me wrong, I loved Carson Wentz as a quarterback before he got injured. He’s a nice guy. It’s also awesome to see running back Jay Ajayi getting a chance to play for a team that isn’t in the same division as the Patriots.
But in this championship game, no Giants fan should have taken a side. In fact, this game should have been watched with a golf clap mentality. No loud cheering, respecting the play on the field and hush discussions. The only exception I can think of was when Foles caught a touchdown off a trick play and the Eagles went for it on the fourth down from their own end of the field. I couldn’t help but applaud the guts it took to call those plays.
For those who support the Eagles because they are proud the team beat Brady, you’re only looking at the short term. Get ready to hear Philly fans boasting about finally winning a Super Bowl, and how their team is the future. Does an offseason filled with “Nick Foles is an elite quarterback” and “trust the process” sound fun?
If someone is quick to drop their allegiance to a team in support of a division rival, it brings their character into question. Memories of the second miracle at the Meadowlands in December 2010 may be fading after nearly a decade, but the scar still exists. Let it be known that being an Eagles fan is better than being a Cowboys fan, but being second worst isn’t anything to write home about.
If any Giants fan thought, even for a second, that they should support the Patriots, I don’t know what to say to them. Sure, Bill Belichick was a defensive coordinator for the team and helped the Giants win two Super Bowls, but times have changed.
The Patriots are the New York Yankees of professional football. No one should root for them unless they are from the team’s area. They are never an underdog and they are never a fan favorite story.
No matter who won the game, people lost. If I looked at the game in a utilitarian sense, a philosophical theory that bases actions on which causes the best outcome for the most people, than I believe the Eagles winning would cause less misery to everyone. But when I have to bring philosophy into Super Bowl Sunday, I don’t know if the game is even worth watching.
I hope you enjoyed game day as best you could, even if you raised false flags in support of the enemy. It was an incredible game from both teams, and it could have gone either way.
Even though Philadelphia won, the majority of people in northern New Jersey and New York weren’t happy, but you can’t win everything.
Am I overreacting a little bit? Sure. But after a 3-13 season, two front office firings and possibility of Manning leaving on the table, I can be as cynical as I want.
