For anyone who didn’t already know this, New Englanders are pretty intense about their sports teams. I actually didn’t quite know the extent until moving here and living through two winning seasons for their teams. Sunday night was an ugly example of what can happen when their team loses, especially to a NY team!
As I said, we had plans to go to a Superbowl Party Sunday, but we didn’t really know the people who were hosting. Well, we definitely walked into Patriots’ territory. The house was decked from floor to ceiling in streamers, balloons and other decorations favoring the Patriots. All 20 people at the party had on their Patriots jerseys. These people were serious fans, but there are few living up here who are not. So, needless to say, we didn’t disclose that we grew up in Jersey and decided to cheer for the Giants.
For anyone who didn’t watch the game, it was low-scoring and pretty low-key until the fourth quarter. Still, preliminary findings show viewership was up 6 percent from last year’s Superbowl. During the fourth quarter, the score went back and forth a little until it favored the Giants. People at the party were pissed. We saw one woman down a whole bottle of Pepto because her stomach was just so upset. I understand the dedication and anxiety that goes with watching a sport. I do have a husband who enjoys sports. But I didn’t know the “New England” type until now. What’s more surprising to me is how much NE people hate NY teams! The people at the party last night did not at all recognize that the Giants put up a good fight and deserved to win. Only hateful words.
I had a friend (Shadow) visiting me back in September during baseball season. We were in a bar and they were showing clips of the Yankee game and some guys noticed that she was paying attention and reacting. Boy did they give her a hard time. I thought there was going to be a fight.
It is probably true that people in NY/NJ hate Boston sports teams equally, but I never experienced this when living there. I only saw the Mets/Yankee and Giants/Jets/Eagles rivalry.
All in all, it’s funny to me that we just came from living in a town where people really didn’t like New Jersey (well, the entire area above the Mason Dixon line, actually) because of the Civil War (never really understood their reasoning, but I won’t get into that). Now we are in a place that hates NJ/NY because of sporting rivals. I am in no way defending my home state because frankly, I am not a big fan, but it’s just crazy. When I lived in the Southwest, everyone loved everyone.
So that was our Superbowl Sunday and my introduction into NE sports. Oh, we didn’t win the score pool … such is life.