Tell me again why we do this?

[Ed Vette]

Once the games are no longer relevant, it's hard to care as much, even for a passionate fan. I would even suggest that if you care as much about this Sunday's game (from a winning standpoint) as you did week one at home against Dallas when everyone had an 0-0 record, your sense of priority may be a bit off. Plus, you have this conflict now of winning perhaps not being the best thing for the franchise, given we're likely in the market for a QB, which means you want as high a pick as possible.

I will certainly be watching on Sunday and rooting for them (as I always do during games), plus I'm kind of curious to see how DeVito handles this challenge, but in no way do I care as much whether they win or not as I did earlier this season when the games mattered. Once they lost the Seattle game in spectacular fashion the way they did, I kind of knew the season was over at that point. I guess I was hoping it wouldn't go completely off the rails the way it did, but let's face it, this is nothing we haven't seen before. Plenty of times. Sadly, Giants fans have become used to this type of season.

In years past I would never hope to be the worst team for draft purposes and that goes back to Eli. I still root on Sunday but in this era of the NFL, there is a clear advantage in having an elite QB. Of course the Draft is also clearly a gambling proposition.

The damage done to the more mature generations of the fan base is evident just by looking at the Members List and seeing those who were enthusiastically posting years ago and now no longer post, although some just read to keep up with the news. Their passion has waned.

My emotional level before and after the game has been tempered and jaded. I've become more of an NFL fan and less of a Giants fanatic. Appreciation is more accurate than fan.

[TDToomer]

This is a good thread. I am very down on my sports fandom and it is not just the Giants. I am a Yankees and Islanders fan. All 3 of these teams have given me 4+ championships in my lifetime which is more than other teams fans could ask for. But lately it has become joyless to be a fan of these teams.

The Giants had 2 nice seasons in the past decade surrounded by some of the worst football I have ever seen.
The Yankees manage to make the playoff or at least finish above .500 but always seem to underachieve and play a boring style of baseball compared to the top teams in MLB. I expect better.
The Islanders like Yankees are fine just making the playoffs and hoping for the best but also play a boring style of Hockey and in the past 2 week have blown 3 period leads for a loss.

Usually one or two of my teams keeps me happy while the others are struggling but it's just depressing to be me as a sports fan today. I watch and follow sports to escape from life in addition to being entertained. And if I tune out and they suddenly become worth watching again then I become a fan that I despise. A fair weathered frontrunner.

End rant.

[kartanoman]

Thus again the idea that the Giants are basically the same as the Lions (teams that won in the 50s and collapsed afterward due to inept ownership), except we were lucky enough to have LT and Eli save us from ourselves, and the Lions were not.

Bobby Layne be damned, wow!

[LennG]

A comparison span of time.

So we have 6 more years bad football to look forward to?

In comparison

[LennG]

I do this because I am a fan. As has been said it is painful to be eliminated before Halloween and the energy of watching a game is gone. I wonder how I might feel if the Giants beat a team them should not beat and ruin a good draft?
While I never really root for them to lose, something about winning a game like that just wouldn't be as sweet as it should be.

I am also a fan that goes back to Connelly and I have lived thru tremendous teams in the late 50's and early 60's to the entire mess of 20 years of just bad football. For those that remember to those years it is so eerily similar to what we are experiencing now it is remarkable.
We were always fed the story of maybe next year, we acquired many bad players and the mantra was always the same
 We went thru a firth of coaches, GMs and ownership was basically the root cause. It took an unheard of intervention by Pete Rozelle to get ownership to accept a new GM who knew what he was doing, not someone hired by ownership to get us going.
Like it or not we are doomed to repeat history. We have a decent season sandwiched between several terrible ones and we believe the garbage that we are continually fed, maybe next year, we are rebuilding etc. etc.
When will we learn.

[miss86]

Watching the Giants offence is like watching paint dry. I watch the Giants because I'm a diehard, not a bandwagon fan. Although, it gets harder each week. Such a disappointing season. I though their record would be something like 7-10 because of the brutal schedule, but not the total dumpster fire that they are. They are not even remotely competitive. I had hoped that DJ would build on last season, but he has regressed. Although, that OL would make any QB run for their life and become shell shocked. They got stomped by the Raiders! Come on!  But, I will still watch because... I really don't know why. Glutton for punishment Maybe. 

[Jclayton92]

I think we can watch games the rest of the season and be excited as hell about a few things.

A) That we found 3 starting corners in 2 drafts and their development

B) That we have the cake in Wandale and Hyatt we just need a monster to be that icing of that trio.

C) Our defensive front, with Bobby and McFadden we likely have two Mike's, Thibs is a good pass rusher, and we have Dex. We are a DE, Edge 2 and Edge 3 from a really good to great front 7.

D) While less exciting we need Belton, Pinnock, and McCloud to get as many safety reps as humanly possibly to see if safety is an overhaul position or 1 plug and play guy away.

E) The Oline has been bad but it isn't bad off, Thomas and JMS as anchors, 1 of Pugh/Brederson at LG, and a plug play RG and Rt/ swing tackle is really all we are missing but I think Neal us actually making progress.

The real overhaul this offseason becomes Changing the face or faces of the franchise. We need a Qb, we need a new medical staff, and we need a couple of cheap Rbs.

I'm actually genuinely excited about the future.

[AZGiantFan]

Perhaps I'm a bandwagon fan, but I look at it more like they have to EARN my attention.  There is no other area in life where I would continue to buy a mediocre to bad product, so why should I do that in sports?  I've given the Giants a free pass for too many years.  If that makes me an inferior fan then so be it.  Like many here I am deep into the back nine of life and I'm more concerned with my quality of life than proving I can suffer like a true fan.

[AYM]

Bobby Layne be damned, wow!

I don't believe Bobby Layne had supernatural power, sue me 

[MagicRat]

Perhaps I'm a bandwagon fan, but I look at it more like they have to EARN my attention.  There is no other area in life where I would continue to buy a mediocre to bad product, so why should I do that in sports?  I've given the Giants a free pass for too many years.  If that makes me an inferior fan then so be it.  Like many here I am deep into the back nine of life and I'm more concerned with my quality of life than proving I can suffer like a true fan.

I don't think you can remotely compare team fandom to real life scenarios, such as repeatedly investing in bad products.
Logic goes out the window when it comes to your team.
I'll be watching this Sunday, probably not having a good time, probably pretty miserable.
But I'll do it.
And I'll do it again.....and again.
Why?
There's no answer that makes sense on any logical level.
I can only say, because they're my team.

Maybe, trying to be logical, it's because the "No good......wide right" and "17-14 is the final, believe it and it will happen" moments feel that much sweeter because of all the crap Sundays we endure in between.

[kartanoman]

I don't believe Bobby Layne had supernatural power, sue me 

Tell that to a Lions' fan and be glad we're not one of them!

Peace!

[B1GBLUE]

You've seen this team win 4 Super Bowls. Many fans of other teams would sign up for that.

very true. theres times i would trade 1 of those for giving me a reason to annually give up 17 sundays a year though. i know i know, crazy statement. but honestly... its been a devastating 12 years, with no real hope in sight. i just want to be competitive again. year in and year out.

[Stringer Bell]

Perhaps I'm a bandwagon fan, but I look at it more like they have to EARN my attention.  There is no other area in life where I would continue to buy a mediocre to bad product, so why should I do that in sports?  I've given the Giants a free pass for too many years.  If that makes me an inferior fan then so be it.  Like many here I am deep into the back nine of life and I'm more concerned with my quality of life than proving I can suffer like a true fan.

This pretty much describes my fandom of all sports, not just the Giants. I go into each season excited. I follow my teams in the off-season, during the draft, etc. And early in the season, I'm "all in" and supporting them 100%.

If the season goes south or the team just stinks / lacks effort, then I tune out. Sometimes I make it halfway through the season, sometimes less. On the flip side, if the team is competitive then I ride with all season long.

As AZ said, I'm not about to waste my precious time on an inferior product - that goes for sports, TV / movies, anything. I'll give things the benefit of the doubt and try them out, but I know a bust when I see one.

And if that makes me a fair-weather fan, I'm totally fine with that.

[Ed Vette]

This pretty much describes my fandom of all sports, not just the Giants. I go into each season excited. I follow my teams in the off-season, during the draft, etc. And early in the season, I'm "all in" and supporting them 100%.

If the season goes south or the team just stinks / lacks effort, then I tune out. Sometimes I make it halfway through the season, sometimes less. On the flip side, if the team is competitive then I ride with all season long.

As AZ said, I'm not about to waste my precious time on an inferior product - that goes for sports, TV / movies, anything. I'll give things the benefit of the doubt and try them out, but I know a bust when I see one.

And if that makes me a fair-weather fan, I'm totally fine with that.

You gentlemen are a lot smarter than me. I must be a sucker for punishment.

[AZGiantFan]

I don't think you can remotely compare team fandom to real life scenarios, such as repeatedly investing in bad products.
Logic goes out the window when it comes to your team.
I'll be watching this Sunday, probably not having a good time, probably pretty miserable.
But I'll do it.
And I'll do it again.....and again.
Why?
There's no answer that makes sense on any logical level.
I can only say, because they're my team.

Maybe, trying to be logical, it's because the "No good......wide right" and "17-14 is the final, believe it and it will happen" moments feel that much sweeter because of all the crap Sundays we endure in between.

That's fine.  Everyone doesn't have to do it like me.