Sport
Expat New Yorker Rich Carriero recaps the 2008 season of football American and reviews a few options for taking in the playoffs.
As a New Yorker, I’m the definition of fair-weather fan. I watch my teams when they win and I tune out when they lose. That’s not to say I’m disloyal--no amount of Nike or Gatorade commercials could ever make me, a die-hard Patrick Ewing guy, love Michael Jordan—I just can’t stand watching a losing team. The end of 2007 was a trying time for me. The Yankees were once again ignominiously eliminated from the playoffs in the first round while the Red Sox, the epitome of evil in the athletic arena, won another world championship. The New York Knicks haven’t been good since the Clinton administration while the Boston Celtics won yet another New English championship. Football promised more of the same a year ago for while the New York Giants struggle to 10-6, barely making the NFL playoffs, the New England Patriots completed the NFL’s first 16-0 regular season, capping it with a road win over, you guessed it, the Giants.
Then a miracle happened. The Giants got hot out of nowhere and dispatched three of the best teams in the NLF and made it to the Super Bowl where they matched up against the Patriots for a second time. This time the boys in blue, with a wicked pass rush and opportunistic offense, shocked the world and won their third Super Bowl, 17-14.
During the off-season, pundits immediately ceased their accolades and began casting New York as a fluke that would flop in ’08. Certainly history was on their side; a New York team had never repeated in the Super Bowl and the Giants had never even managed a playoff berth after one of their previous triumphs. In addition, key defender Michael Strahan, the team’s charismatic leader and one of the most prolific sack masters of all time, retired and another major linebacker, pro-bowler, Osi Umeniyora, tore a ligament in his knee and was lost for the season.
2008 would not, however, be a repeat of post-championship hangovers past. The Giants won their first four games and eleven of their first twelve while perennial powerhouses New England, Dallas and Indianapolis struggled with injuries and got off to slow starts. The Giants won their first NFC east championship in week 14 when Dallas failed to beat AFC north leader Pittsburgh.
The victory has been somewhat marred by injuries, however and the off-the-field drama of wide receiver Plaxico Burress, who, the night before a key division game against Washington, shot himself in the thigh with a concealed handgun while out on the town with teammate Antonio Pierce. Burress, who caught the game winning catch in last year’s Super Bowl, earned himself a season on the bench as a result of his injuries and conduct. He might end up in jail, as the gun he was carrying on the night in question was unlicensed and Pierce faces questioning for failing to report the incident to the NYPD. The Giants lost December games to the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys and it remains to be seen whether or not the team can regain championship form in time for the playoffs.
The rest of the league is a tale of feast and famine. Some divisions—the AFC west and east are packed with mediocre teams faced with either winning their division or staying home for the winter. Others—the NFC east and south as well as the AFC north and south—are packed with talent and seem poised to send two or even three teams into the NFL playoffs. The Giants and Tennessee Titans were midseason favourites to meet in the Super Bowl but recent losses have muddled the picture. A host of hungry pretenders—the Cowboys, the Brett Favre led New York Jets and the Indianapolis Colts—have used last year’s unlikely championship run by the Giants as a symbol of the maxim that in sports, hope springs eternal and look to shock one of the favourites.
If you’re looking forward to this season’s playoffs, there are several options for taking in the big games. The easiest is to simply purchase the games online at the NFL’s website. Games can be bought individually or as a part of larger and more expensive packages. If you don’t want to spend the cash, you can pool friends together and do the same thing or you can listen to the games via online radio stations. Pretty much all radio stations in the US now stream online and many carry local sports games. If you have trouble tuning into a US station because of licensing agreements, you can use V-Tunnel (everyone’s way around the Turkish YouTube ban) to conceal your location. In addition, many bars in Istanbul—notably Sokak in Beyoğlu where I watched last year’s Big Dance—stay open late and have the necessary satellite capabilities. The US consulate also plays the game, assuming you can get in.
NFL 2008
Writer: Rich Carriero
Expat New Yorker Rich Carriero recaps the 2008 season of football American and reviews a few options for taking in the playoffs.
As a New Yorker, I’m the definition of fair-weather fan. I watch my teams when they win and I tune out when they lose. That’s not to say I’m disloyal--no amount of Nike or Gatorade commercials could ever make me, a die-hard Patrick Ewing guy, love Michael Jordan—I just can’t stand watching a losing team. The end of 2007 was a trying time for me. The Yankees were once again ignominiously eliminated from the playoffs in the first round while the Red Sox, the epitome of evil in the athletic arena, won another world championship. The New York Knicks haven’t been good since the Clinton administration while the Boston Celtics won yet another New English championship. Football promised more of the same a year ago for while the New York Giants struggle to 10-6, barely making the NFL playoffs, the New England Patriots completed the NFL’s first 16-0 regular season, capping it with a road win over, you guessed it, the Giants.
Then a miracle happened. The Giants got hot out of nowhere and dispatched three of the best teams in the NLF and made it to the Super Bowl where they matched up against the Patriots for a second time. This time the boys in blue, with a wicked pass rush and opportunistic offense, shocked the world and won their third Super Bowl, 17-14.
During the off-season, pundits immediately ceased their accolades and began casting New York as a fluke that would flop in ’08. Certainly history was on their side; a New York team had never repeated in the Super Bowl and the Giants had never even managed a playoff berth after one of their previous triumphs. In addition, key defender Michael Strahan, the team’s charismatic leader and one of the most prolific sack masters of all time, retired and another major linebacker, pro-bowler, Osi Umeniyora, tore a ligament in his knee and was lost for the season.
2008 would not, however, be a repeat of post-championship hangovers past. The Giants won their first four games and eleven of their first twelve while perennial powerhouses New England, Dallas and Indianapolis struggled with injuries and got off to slow starts. The Giants won their first NFC east championship in week 14 when Dallas failed to beat AFC north leader Pittsburgh.
The victory has been somewhat marred by injuries, however and the off-the-field drama of wide receiver Plaxico Burress, who, the night before a key division game against Washington, shot himself in the thigh with a concealed handgun while out on the town with teammate Antonio Pierce. Burress, who caught the game winning catch in last year’s Super Bowl, earned himself a season on the bench as a result of his injuries and conduct. He might end up in jail, as the gun he was carrying on the night in question was unlicensed and Pierce faces questioning for failing to report the incident to the NYPD. The Giants lost December games to the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys and it remains to be seen whether or not the team can regain championship form in time for the playoffs.
The rest of the league is a tale of feast and famine. Some divisions—the AFC west and east are packed with mediocre teams faced with either winning their division or staying home for the winter. Others—the NFC east and south as well as the AFC north and south—are packed with talent and seem poised to send two or even three teams into the NFL playoffs. The Giants and Tennessee Titans were midseason favourites to meet in the Super Bowl but recent losses have muddled the picture. A host of hungry pretenders—the Cowboys, the Brett Favre led New York Jets and the Indianapolis Colts—have used last year’s unlikely championship run by the Giants as a symbol of the maxim that in sports, hope springs eternal and look to shock one of the favourites.
If you’re looking forward to this season’s playoffs, there are several options for taking in the big games. The easiest is to simply purchase the games online at the NFL’s website. Games can be bought individually or as a part of larger and more expensive packages. If you don’t want to spend the cash, you can pool friends together and do the same thing or you can listen to the games via online radio stations. Pretty much all radio stations in the US now stream online and many carry local sports games. If you have trouble tuning into a US station because of licensing agreements, you can use V-Tunnel (everyone’s way around the Turkish YouTube ban) to conceal your location. In addition, many bars in Istanbul—notably Sokak in Beyoğlu where I watched last year’s Big Dance—stay open late and have the necessary satellite capabilities. The US consulate also plays the game, assuming you can get in.