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In a Super Bowl, no less.
The vitriol between New York and Boston might not be on the level of Yankees-Red Sox, but as the New York Giants and New England Patriots prepare for Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis on Feb. 5, the deeply ingrained disdain between the Eastern metropolises is in play.
“Look, Boston’s the capital of New England and we’re the capital of the world,” Giants fan and New York-based boxing promoter Lou DiBella said. “That’s what it comes down to. We’re superior to what they have to offer.”
Asked what Bostonians think of New Yorkers, Boston Herald sports columnist Ron Borges chose a swear word.
The Giants and the Patriots have a different edge than the bitter rivalry in other sports. Before the Patriots were born into the American Football League in 1960, the Giants were Boston’s team.
The momentum soon turned, of course, never more than when the Patriots shed their also-ran stature by upsetting the St. Louis Rams in the 2001 season’s Super Bowl, starting a run with Tom Brady as quarterback of three championships and now his fifth title game appearance.
Boston’s sports renaissance of the past decade has made it the envy of the sports nation, with the Celtics regaining an NBA trophy, the Bruins the Stanley Cup and, to the Hub’s greatest delight, the Red Sox’s 2004 and 2007 World Series titles.
Before those crowns, New York involved itself in Boston’s pain seemingly every step of the way, starting with Red Sox owner Harry Frazee’s 1919 decision to sell Babe Ruth to the Yankees.
The legendary Curse of the Bambino hung over the tormented Sox and an 86-year championship drought.
Finally, in 2004, the Red Sox overcame a 3-0 deficit in the ALCS to beat the Yankees and went on to claim the World Series. In 2007, the Red Sox won the Series again.
Yet, old misery revisited soon after when the Patriots tried to become the first team since the ’72 Miami Dolphins to complete a perfect season.
The Patriots were minutes away from a 19-0 record when Giants quarterback Eli Manning evaded a heavy pass rush and threw desperately, Tyree amazingly catching the ball atop his helmet with Patriots defensive back Rodney Harrison draped over him. Manning finished the drive by connecting with receiver Plaxico Burress for the winning touchdown.
The Patriots haven’t won a Lombardi Trophy since.
“That one is way up there on the metal platform of disappointments,” Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy said. “It’s why this (Super Bowl) is a Boston-New York thing, for sure.”
Anthony Salerno, a Los Angeles attorney raised in Boston, at first said he didn’t sense “the same bitterness” in anticipation of the Patriots’ meeting with their infrequent, nonconference opponent.
But then, as he began considering how his city “has this chip on its shoulder over this haughty, arrogant neighbor to the south,” he reconsidered.
“A Giants fan just drove past me in a Prius,” Salerno said. “I think I should flip him off.”
