SZVETITZ COLUMN: Cheering for the (Giant) underdogs

By Mike Szvetitz
Sports Editor, Opelika-Auburn News
Published: February 2, 2008

I never thought I’d say this. Ever. Never, ever.

But (gulp) GO GIANTS!

(Quick, I need a bucket.)

As anyone who’s been raised on the NFL’s National Football Conference can attest, I’ve got rules.

Never do you cheer for another NFC team, unless it will help yours. That’s Rule No. 1.

Rule No. 2 — at least in my house — is never cheer for the Giants.

NEVER.

You just don’t do it. Maybe because my dad’s been a life-long Philadelphia Eagles fan ... I still have a picture of me and my older brother rocking Ron Jaworski jerseys when we were kids. Tragic, I know.

Or, maybe I don’t like the Giants because when I was a kid Jeff Hostetler’s mustache gave me nightmares.

Or, maybe it’s because my best friend is a die-hard Giants fan. And we all know, Rule No. 3 is to hate your best friend’s team with a passion that could break glass.

But, today, in Super Bowl XLII, the Giants are my team. Really. No, really.

Why?

Well, it’s the same reason I cheered Zach Johnson at last year’s Masters in the same breath I booed Tiger Woods.

It’s the same reason Muggsy Bogues is my favorite basketball player, while Michael Jordan is my least.

It’s the same reason I always cheer for the tortoise against the hare.

I love the underdog. And so do you. It’s in our DNA. It’s as American as Chevy, apple pie and loathing another New York team — the Yankees.

There’s just something about it. Watching a team or player, who is given no chance, rise up and do the impossible, is poetic.

And that’s why I’ll be pulling for the Giants tonight. No one, except Plaxico Burress, thinks the G-Men can knock off the greatest franchise in the last decade — the New England Patriots.

By now, you know the stats (and if you don’t, I’m calling 9-1-1, because that means you’ve been trapped in a closet for the last 14 days). This is the Patriots fourth trip to the Super Bowl in the last seven years, winning the previous three. A win today would give the NFL it’s first 19-0 team, ever.

Yada, yada, yada ...

Let’s go underdog!

And the Giants are the underdog ... by 12 points.

How great would it be to see them upset the Patriots, ruining the perfect season?

And let’s be honest, the same reason I and everyone else are cheering for the Giants, is the same reason we started loving the Patriots in the first place.

Remember Super Bowl XXXVI? The Patriots beat the 14-point favorite St. Louis Rams.

That win was the biggest Super Bowl upset since Super Bowl III, when Joe Namath guaranteed a victory over Johnny Unitas and the Baltimore Colts.

Remember that?

Burress did.

Rule No. 4: Never pick against a guarantee.

MIKE SZVETITZ is sports editor of the Opelika-Auburn News. He may be reached at or 737-2513.