By Ann von Dehsen, December 5, 2019 — A life time North Jersey resident, my father had a love/hate relationship with the New York Giants. My mother had mostly a hate relationship with the Giants because first, she hated football in general, and secondly, their frequent slow or overtime games on a Sunday afternoon often delayed her carefully prepared 4:00 Sunday dinner. “Paul,” she would call into the living room, “Is that game almost over??” To which Paul would respond, “Yes Jean, it’s time for the 2-minute warning.” Somehow, my mother never learned that the 2-minute warning never means that the game will be over in 2 minutes and preceded every Sunday to have dinner ready exactly 2 minutes after the warning. This caused a little tension at the start of our Sunday meals, but my parents’ mutual humor and love got them thru the season.
When I was in high school I went to a few Giants game with my father and learned the rules of the game, eventually becoming a Giants fan and understanding my father’s frustrations. This frustration often resulted in my father calling the team “those God Damn Giants” which later at my mother’s insistence became shortened to the “those G.D. Giants.”
Fast forward to several years later…now married with children and living in the Philadelphia area, I had defected to the Eagles camp though I still root for the Giants when they’re not playing the Eagles. When there were classic Eagles/Giants games my parents would come to my house. My father would wear his Giants hat and I would wear my Eagles sweatshirt and we would engage in frequent friendly arguments and small bets. My kids, then in kindergarten and second grade would wander in and out of the room and my mother would admonish my father to stop saying the G.D. giants in front of the kids.
So one Monday, my daughter’s kindergarten teacher was talking about how well the Eagles were doing and asked the kids if they could name any other football teams. Sure enough, my petite little daughter in her pigtails and striped leggings piped up, “Well my Popi sure loves those G.D. Giants.” Luckily her teacher and I were friends and called me, laughing hysterically over the incident.
