" NYC reclaims from Boston its rightful place " ~ ~ ~

NYC reclaims from Boston its rightful place
By Sam Borden ? Journal News columnist ? February 6, 2008

NEW YORK - Statistically speaking, it's a virtual certainty that some sports fans somewhere in the city had a bad day yesterday. Surely there were a few. After all, there are the Jets fans to consider.But then again, even the greenest of those Jets backers was probably smiling. Truthfully, how could they avoid it? If there's one thing New Yorkers can always get behind, it is seeing Boston brought low.And so it was on this chilly, drippy, gray and glorious day in Manhattan, a day when New York threw a party to celebrate a championship, yes, but even more a reclaiming of a label that had migrated north for much of the past decade. Three Super Bowls for the Patriots. Two World Series for the Red Sox. One sudden inferiority complex for New York that was lifted yesterday, along with the Vince Lombardi Trophy, as the Giants floated up the Canyon of Heroes.

Super Bowl champs, to be sure, but also this: City No. 1 once more.

Outsiders might view the New York-Boston rivalry as over-hyped or even a media fabrication, but those on the inside know it is most assuredly real. It was real when Manny Ramirez giggled as he held up that sign at the 2004 Red Sox parade, the one that said, "Jeter is playing golf today - this is better." It was real yesterday, when Gov. Eliot Spitzer began his remarks by clearing his throat and saying, in a not-at-all distinguished way, "I've got one question: Eighteen and what?" The crowd cheered, laughed, roared in satisfaction. It didn't matter that it was raining or that it was cold or that more politicians stepped to the microphone than did Giants. It didn't matter that shredded paper was everywhere, sticking to hair and coats and feet. All that mattered was that it had been seven years and three months since this city's last sports celebration, a drought that was the longest New York had endured in nearly a century. And now it was over.

There was joy in the city yesterday. Cynics will say that there are much more serious issues in the world, and everyone knows that there are; it still doesn't change the fact that the Giants gave us a story better than any this area has seen in a long time. It still doesn't change the fact that the Giants beating the Patriots was something worth celebrating.The party began early because people woke up happy. Metro-North trains going into the city were packed with Strahan jerseys and Manning jerseys and Burress jerseys. Even the occasional throwback Taylor jersey, with the big 56 on the back, could be seen now and again. One businessman wore a suit and carried a briefcase, his Shockey jersey draped over his right arm like a linen napkin; he put away his Wall Street Journal and slipped the shirt on as the train pulled out of Mount Vernon.The crowds were giddy. "Let's go Giants!" chants broke out sporadically, and a straw poll of conductors seemed to indicate this might have been the most alcohol seen on pre-noon trains in a long time (non-St. Patrick's Day division, of course).

On the subway platform, cheers met the arrival of each train headed downtown. A woman with a heavy European accent kept softly asking which stop was the one for Chinatown, only to be drowned out by the shouts. A compassionate fan (in a Manning jersey) finally told her to just follow the crowd at the City Hall station.If she did, she was likely swallowed up by the bedlam near the Brooklyn Bridge. In addition to the city-provided confetti, people threw their own version out the windows of surrounding buildings, littering the masses below in a hail of what appeared to be anything from old tax forms to junk mail to chunks of the Yellow Pages. Not that anyone cared much.

"Spy on this parade!" read one sign, a dig at the Patriots' "Spy-gate" scandal from earlier this season. Another read, "18 wins but one Giant loss," and it felt like there was nearly as much joy over the Giants having denied the Patriots a perfect end to a perfect season as there was over the Giants having won the Super Bowl themselves."We would like to extend this to every other team in the NFL and particularly for the last team we defeated, the New England Patriots," Giants defensive co-captain Michael Strahan said during his turn at the podium. "Because you know what we did to you? We stomped you out!"

Strahan then leaped in the air and stamped his foot down, hard, just as he did during team huddles during the season. Then he did it again. And again.The crowd screamed and Strahan stepped back, his speech concluded. His teammates were going wild behind him, the fans were shouting in front of him, and there were still a few wisps of confetti floating in the air like blue and red streaks of lipstick on the city's face. Strahan thrust his hands up, each index finger raised.

The message was simple and understood.

City No. 1 again.