Better Off Jed

One day recently I came home from work. My son says,  “Look what Grandma and Pop Pop bought me.”  He’s holding a red and blue football. I said, “Oh, wow, that’s really cool.” Then, he slowly rotates the ball and smiles. I was horrified to see the New York Giants logo on the ball. “What is that?!?” I ask him. He proclaims that the Giants are his favorite team. WHAT?!? When did this happen?

Isn’t a son supposed to look up to and emulate his father? If so, then please somebody tell me why my son roots for the New York Giants.

He told me that he likes them because they won the Super Bowl. I don’t even know if he really knows what that is. He’s only 4.

I had been planning on buying him a Chris Cooley jersey to match the one I have. He doesn’t want one. He wants a Giants jersey instead.

In August, my family went to the beach with my in-laws. We went into a sports memorabilia store and my son was going nuts trying to find everything with a Giants logo. I kept trying to steer him to the Redskins stuff, but he was adamant that he wanted something with the Giants on it. We left. There is no way in hell I would pay money to buy him something with a Giants logo on it.
Later on, my father-in-law took him back into the store. My son comes running out with a small bag and huge grin on his face. He pulls out a New York Giants toothbrush. I look at my father-in-law and say, “What are you trying to do to me?!?”

It may seem funny and cute, but it’s not funny and it’s not cute — at all.

Last Thursday, he was excited that the Giants and the Redskins are playing each other in the season opener. I let him watch the first quarter with me Thursday night before he went to bed. He’s watched football with me before and he really has no clue what’s going on. I try to explain the game, but I think it’s still a bit over his head. However, he is smart enough to figure out when the Giants do something good: every time I got upset, he cheered.

My son knows that I’m not happy about this and has tried to convince me that he likes the Giants and the Redskins. I keep telling him that’s just simply impossible. You can’t like both. You just can’t.