Giants/Steelers

It's really hard to be a Giants fan.

I mean, it's hard for numerous reasons, not just the obvious one: they blow nearly every game even when they have been outplaying and outscoring in the first 3 quarters. Or at least the first half. There is never a time as a Giants fan that I feel safe, like: Ok, they are up by 20 in the 4th quarter, I can rest easy now. Nope. I was at the Meltdown at the Meadowlands, after all, and watched the meltdown in person. So I understand heartbreaking football and the inconsolable pain that comes with blindly supporting a disappointing team.

The reason I am finding it harder and harder to be a Giants fan is that I have no one to watch Giants football with. My husband is a die-hard Steelers fan, and so is my daughter. My brother in law is also a Steelers fan, and so is his family (to include my niece and occasionally my sister - although she supports the suckass Redskins with their suckass racist name, so the Steelers are at least an improvement there).

Growing up, we were a Giants and Yankees (and later, Devils) house. My dad taught us about football by watching every game with us and walking us through the plays (and teaching us how to say "The Giants suck" in a variety of ways). It was a part of my Sunday to watch my team with my family. When my sister became a turncoat Skins fan, it was an unacceptable betrayal and something we rarely talk about even today (other than during Skins/Giants games where we still bet $1 as we did back in the day).

Now, I have a house full of Steelers fans. I have black and gold all around me and I'm missing the Blue and Red. They watch the games together and I watch too, of course, but I don't have the same rooting interest so I'm not as into it. I see my husband teach TJK about football, and use the methods I taught him for teaching kids about sports (which my dad used to teach me), and I feel sad that she isn't learning about Giants football. When they cheer, I want to cheer with them and be super into it. I want to wave a Terrible Towel along with them. I feel left out and like I am missing something. Because I am. I'm missing the camaraderie that professional sports watching provides.

I can't become a Steelers fan because I bleed blue for the Big Blue Wrecking Crew and have done so my whole life. I can't steal TJK away to be a Giants fan because it's part of the blood-sworn contract between my husband and me: TJK is a Yankees fan for me and a Steelers fan for him and a Devils fan for both of us. So I'm at a strange crossroads of loving my team but being so lonely in loving my team, and hating my team for sucking and having no one to commiserate with about it.