A friend of mine asked me how it was that some tri-state area people are Giants fans and others Jets fans. I broke the question down the best way I could by explaining that there were many factors: it matters if you went to any games growing up, who your parents were fans of, where you grew up, if you constantly show off how proud you are that you know how to spell a four-letter word, if you have manners, if you have a criminal record, or if you are a masochist.

The Giants do have four times as many hall of famers, have been around for 35 more seasons then the Jets and there are actually Giants fans in parts of New England.

Unfortunately, there is no formal socio-economic and regional study for such an obviously meaningful inquiry to fully determine what makes a Giants fan and what makes a Jet fan.

And there are also always the bandwagon fans. Although some bandwagon fans stay on the bus for longer than the trend, many are just interested in a team for short term gain. However, right now both Jet and Giant fans have found bandwagon fans thanks to the impressive Superbowl 42 victory for Big Blue, and the addition of Mark Sanchez to the J-E-T-S spelling section.
Jets versus Giants is not an intense rivalry but there is certainly pride at stake. I’m sure there is a similar sentiment with Oakland vs. San Francisco, maybe? Well, that seems like it would breakdown that the ex-cons in the Bay area are Raiders fans and everyone else misses when the 49ers were good.