Giants have chance to join New York's most beloved teams

Steve Serby
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New York is a tough town that demands tough teams. Teams that get knocked down, get back up, and stand tall as a tower again. But we’re romantics, too. We can fall head over heels for the long shot that came out of nowhere against all odds. Teams that believed, when no one else believed in them. They can capture our imaginations and steal our hearts too.

My message for these Giants is this: Win this last game. Beat Tom Brady and Bill Belichick in Super Bowl XLVI and leave one of those forever footprints on the soul of this city.

Because there is no better place to win than New York.

Paul J. Bereswill

NY ♥ BIG BLUE: Big Apple fans love a winner, some more than others. The 2011 Giants have captivated the city, and could win eternal glory with a win over the Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI.

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And no worse place to lose. No one remembers the loser. Ask the Super Bowl XXXV Giants about that.

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This is the game that gets you a parade up the Canyon of Heroes. This is the game that gets you that precious Super Bowl ring. This is the game that changes lives.

Your chance to make history. Don’t blow it. Seize the moment. Let New York embrace you as only New York can, and has. Of the 55 New York teams that have won championships, some stand above the rest:

1955 BROOKLYN DODGERS

Johnny Podres shuts out Yankees in Game 7, and it’s no more “wait till next” year for Dem Bums.

1968 JETS

Broadway Joe Namath guaranteed the monumental upset that changed his life, and the course of pro football. The AFL joined the NFL establishment. Men immediately began growing Fu Manchus, or rushed out to purchase fur coats and were no longer afraid to wear white shoes, even in the dead of winter. If you were a Jets fan on Jan. 12, 1969, you don’t have to be reminded that you still are waiting for your second championship.

1969-70 KNICKS

The Team of Teams, offering a clinic on the right way to play the game. Share the ball. Hit the open man. An inspirational Willis Reed hobbling onto the court and the Garden rising as one and Goliath Wilt Chamberlain sagging. Clyde Frazier seizing the inspiration and dominating Game 7.

1969 METS

Cubs fans, and Ron Santo, were certain this was going to be the year. The Amazin’s had other ideas. Only seven years after Casey Stengel kept asking, “Can’t anyone here play this game?” the Mets became lovable for something other than the misadventures of Marvelous Marv Throneberry. The Franchise, Tom Seaver ... Tommie Agee’s Game 3 World Series catches against the Orioles ... Ron Swoboda’s Game 4 catch ... Cleon Jones catching Davey Johnson’s flyball in left field and kneeling with the championship in his glove.