Nah, it's definitely a Jets/Mets thing. You can make all the excuses you want, but the bottom line is the Jets used to play at Shea, the Giants used to play at Yankee Stadium, and the Jets are basically like the Mets of the NFL except I guess even a little more dreadful.
This needs a bit of a history lesson... The Yankees have been around since the early 1900's and the Giants first played in New York in 1925. From 1925 to 1956 they played in the Polo Grounds. The Giants were the team in the BRONX - starting in 1957 sharing the field with the Yankees at Yankee Stadium. That solidified the relationship between Yankee and Giant fans...especially after the baseball Giants and Dodgers moved to California. The Mets and Jets didn't show up until the early 60's - and starting in 1964 shared Shea Stadium. So, it makes the most sense that the two Bronx Teams' from the older established fan base shared fans - and the two newer Queens-based Teams would share the fan base with one another. The same goes (generally) for Hockey - the Rangers (who also share uniform color scheme with the football Giants) have been around since the 1925 season - the same year as the Giants BTW - and the Islanders only sprouted up in the 1972 season. The Rangers are the established franchise, and played in Manhattan, while the upstart Islanders played on Long Island near the Jet training facility. It only makes sense that the MAJORITY - not all fans - either side with the combination of ... Yankees - Giants - Rangers or... Mets - Jets - Islanders. There are always exceptions. My father hated baseball - after the Dodgers left Brooklyn - my Grandmother and Mother were Yankee fans going back to DiMaggio and Mantle so I became a Yankee fan. My Grandfather loved the Giants (baseball and football) but when my folks couldn't get Giant tickets - and with Jet tickets available in the Joe Namath era - my folks became Jet fans and I did too. Growing up on LI I played Hockey and joined the Islander youth hockey league - and became an Islanders fan...so I'm Yankee - but Jet/Islander an odd mix...
I'm pretty much in the same boat. My father was a Giants/Jets fan, so I just took on that same attitude. I eventually settled into the Jets as my favorite team though. My father was a die-hard Yankees fan, but he didn't hate the Mets. Except for '86, he was mostly indifferent to them during my lifetime. I never discussed anything before that with him in terms of the Mets. I'll root for the Mets to have success in the playoffs because they're a NY team. If it comes down to them playing anyone but the Yankees in the World Series, I'll root for them too. But the Yankees are far and away my priority. I openly root for the Giants on Sundays during the season though. Unless they're playing the Packers. (But I rooted for the Giants in the NFC title game because I think they're the only team that can beat the Patsies.) I semi-follow the Nets. I was a Knick fan growing up, but after they spit out Sprewell and Dolan became an ultra-douche, I gave them up for good. (I've explained my Nets affiliation before around here, but to sum it up, it's because their games are played on YES.)
Yankees, and Jets Obviously. I'm not sure how I avoided the Mets/Giants Hype as a kid in NY, but I'm glad I did.
Jets, Mets, Isles and before Dolan/Isiah, Knicks. Many great points about the historical relevance of rooting interests, and I tend to think that you start rooting for the teams you watch with family as a kid. My uncles were huge Jets and Mets fans, so my earliest memories are watching those teams at 3-4 years old. Those were the games that were on in my house, the first games that they brought me to, so it stuck (like glue) and taught me how to root for those teams through good and bad times... Growing up on LI the Isles were an easy choice, but I have stuck with them and remain a pretty passionate fan for the Isles. Boy, a championship for one of them sure would be nice...
Life long Jets and Mets fan here. I think the Mets and the Yankees has the same amount of "real" fans. But people likes to be Yankees fans because its the "cool" team and they don't want to be a "loser" like the Mets.... For most people with deep roots of being Jets fans are Mets fans and vice versa.
My dad is actually a Giants fan, but to my dad, baseball was much more of his "main sport", and I my favorite sports team was always the Mets. I loved the team a lot as a little kid, so I think when I started getting into football a lot more, I chose the gritty underdog team that was similar to the Mets.
Nice work. This is true for most jet fans growing up around that time, but this is a different day, and age. People have different reasons for being drawn to certain NY teams, breaking the traditional stereotypes. All you have to do is read some of the posts of some of these fans, and that is evidence within itself. Look at the poll, and you can see that most jet fans are split when it comes to baseball. The stereotypical Jets/mets probably does not even apply to most jet fans anymore. I think it's more in the middle grounds when it comes to baseball nowadays. I'm sure if this poll was done in a giants website, the results will not be anymore different than this one.
Sorry about that. When I realized my screw up, it was to late to fix. I know the chant J-E-T-S sound much better than J-E-T- ' -S.
What's my allegiance? To the flag, of course. And then there's always the Jets. Only God knows why, but apparently I like getting kicked in the teeth. So let's see...Jets/Rangers/Knicks. I would throw the Yankees in there, but Baseball is not a sport.
