Loading ...Attending an actual live game to see your favorite NFL team is something that not every fan is able to make happen – even the hardest of diehards out there have “make it to a game” on their bucket list. For those that have experienced it (and those that continue to also): how have you treated this honor?
This query is brought to you courtesy of the many folks that sit for most of those four quarters and gripe at the masses that participate by standing up, being animated and (gasp!) cheering for their team. Peacefully sitting down with snacks and scrutinizing is for movie time or the theater, by the way.
There have been arguments over the years for both sides. PSL’s and rising ticket prices have been the mainstay excuse for why the docile, serene fans sit in their assigned (owned) seats at least an hour before kickoff and become miffed at the boisterous fan base that comes in amped and ready for “Hell’s Bells” to be cranked right after the coin toss. This bunch of Big Blue Faithful feels it’s their duty to stand and cheer on the defense to perform to wrecking crew standards and annihilate anyone that touches the ball.
New York Giants enthusiasts are infamous for generating the “Deeeeeee-Fense” chant that brings life to the stadium and a vibe for the players to feed off of. They long for it and have voiced it in recent years that having the crowd into it with them – it’s what they want. Defensive Ends Justin Tuck and Jason Pierre-Paul wave their arms to the fans (to get involved) while actually on the field, playing, as do some of the defensive backs, including Antrel Rolle. But, when players like Long Snapper Zak DeOssie and Punter Steve Weatherford take it upon themselves to stand on the sideline benches and wave their towels for the fans to get up and be more vocal – there is an issue at hand.
Head Coach Tom Coughlin has even used his platform to request fans to become more active in games. Former players have verbalized their disappointment on social media as well. Perhaps the most memorable has been former Giants RB Brandon Jacobs when he spoke last season (November) with his usual passionate sentiment:
“I’m not saying I don’t care about our fans. I’m just saying we need them, there’s a reason we play at home, when we’re down and going through adversity we need them to lift us up, not kick us down. That’s all I’m trying to say. We do have great fans and I’ve witnessed that as well throughout my seven years here. The things we’re going through this year, as far as playing at home, the negativity, it’s hard to bring us up through that. We don’t want to hear things like that when we’re playing at home and we still got a chance to win. It’s really hard. That’s all I’m saying. I want them to cheer for us. I want our stadium to be super loud when the opposite offense is out on the field.’’
Old #27 was right.
Support should be there for the franchise you place your heart into each week, no? If such dedication includes: incessantly screaming unnecessary banter and heckling players when they’re not absolutely perfect – then kudos on a job well done to those “sitters.” Football is a violent sport that is played between two teams that have usually built up an animosity towards one another and hey, it includes a lot of heavy tackling on all sides of the ball. How does this type of grid iron action translate into sitting…or even leaving early, winning or losing?
Taking applications now for anyone that has it in then to stand up and be a part of this great team on game day. Must be vocal.
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Well, there’s some mutuality in this. When the team is playing intensely and especially when Fewell allows the defense to be aggressive rather than passive, the crowd gets well into it. But when the team is sloppy and seems half-asleep the crowds tends to respond in kind.
The other thing is that Giants fans are pretty sophisticated and know when they’re seeing quality play, and when that’s not the case. This isn’t some small town where the fans wear their jerseys all week. Whether anyone thinks it good or bad, the Giants crowd gets into games at critical times in critical games. The best crowds since the new stadium was built were last season against Green Bay, Dallas, and Atlanta, all critical games when the team rose to the occasion. The place was rocking at all those games, and it was every bit as crazy as the old days, wealthier crowd and all.
Even the most hardened of pros cant deny that a rousing fan base is a great motivator . If you are a loyal fan , in which group I would put posters and even lurkers on here as a prime example then knowing that standing up and yelling and cheering in a chemically induced fashion may help motivate your team then I dont see why anyone going to a game would NOT act in this manner .
I have been to very few games over the last say 50 years or so , Yankee stadium shea stadium , meadowlands is about the extent of it but I can assure you that I have come away from the games hoarse hungry and with the beginnings of a hangover and I assure you that I STAY til the end also .The idea is to hopefully see your team win and if I can be of assistance in even the slightest possible way then Im going to do it .
Some of it is the disconnect due to changing social status and race of the players.
The crowd at a football game is predominantly middle or working-class white males. Certainly most football fans fall into that demographic as well.
When the players rose from that stock … and made decent, but not rock-star money … there was more of an identification with them. They sometimes lived in the community. They even had jobs … real jobs … in the off-season. They were considered ‘us’ and not ‘them’.
Now they’re often blacks from impoverished upbringings. Or pampered, entitled whites. All wealthy beyond anything most people watching the games can ever aspire to. That inadvertently turns them into a ‘them’.
It’s much easier to boo ‘them’ than ‘us’.
*** Disclaimer … I’m not saying football fans are either racist or overly class conscious. Just speaking to the concept group dynamics.