Mike DiMauro: Giants losing by winning? Somebody make it stop
Dec. 12—Today's column is sponsored by H.L. Mencken ("Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public"), with perhaps the Cranberries belting out "Zombie" as musical accompaniment.
Because I've got to say that while nobody should ever mistake the depth of a sports argument for Lincoln v. Douglas, the concept of The Original Thought is creeping up the endangered list.
This is mentioned because my fleeting bout with happiness should have lasted longer late Monday night, what with the New York Football Giants pulling out a beauty over the Packers. The win came punctuated with a classic call from Giants' play by play voice Bob Papa, who called the game winning field goal good and then said, "Kansas City may have the Swifts, but New York has the DeVitos! Mangia!"
Beautiful. I'm loving this DeVito thing. The Giants have won three straight. They've become entertaining. I nearly keeled over in laughter Monday night when cameras panned DeVito's agent, Sean Stellato, a man clad in black from head to toe, except for the gold chain. Straight from central casting.
But then here is where the fatal mistake occurred: A few minutes after the game ended, I checked out antisocial media to see the various reactions. And I encountered an alarming number of mammals chastising the Giants for actually winning the game.
An example:
"This 'good story' dropped them from the fourth pick to the 10th pick," one guy wrote, echoing what many others felt. "I've also seen 'fun' thrown around a lot. To me a meaningless win that costs them six draft spots isn't very 'fun.'"
Somewhere, this narrative that the Giants (and the Patriots, too) will ultimately win by losing — it's called "tanking" — has gained popularity. I mean, I think I've heard something dumber in my life, but it'll take me a while to think of it.
Can we stop? As that sage Herm Edwards once advised, "you play to win the game. Hello? You play to win the game."
So here we have this emerging story about the kid quarterback ... and yet we have legions out there who are more miserable now that the Giants are winning than they were when the Giants were losing. It invites the questions: Where do we find these people? And can we send them back?
I've been in enough locker rooms to know the quizzical reaction you'll get for merely suggesting that a proud, professional football player, who sacrifices his body on every play, should stop caring through the end of the season. Draft choices, you know. And we in the media wonder why the general population thinks we're a bunch of dopes? It's because we perpetuate this stuff.
First, the idea that you're doomed if you don't have the first pick in the draft is absurd. Gazillions of players over the years have come from all directions in the draft and through free agency. So while yes, the Giants and Pats need help at quarterback, the idea that only Caleb Williams and Drake Maye become Tom Brady and Dan Marino is a knee-slapper.
But then there's this: All we should ever want from the players on our respective teams is to care as much as we do. Or as much as we think we do. Exhibit A for me is the night Derek Jeter went face first into the stands to catch a pop up in extra innings. There is no greater play I've ever seen. Not because of its significance to that particular game, but because of a player who showed that he cares THAT much.
And so if you are a member of the Giants right now, what must you think when you hear some nitwit in the media or blatherer on antisocial media suggest they're not supposed to care the rest of the way? That you're supposed to "tank" when you're a game out of the playoffs? That the whole DeVito phenomenon isn't supposed to be any fun because it's ultimately detrimental?
Sorry. You watch sports because they're fun. A distraction. For stories like DeVito. And for nights like Monday, when you hit one at the buzzer. The next day, the sun shines a little brighter, coffee tastes a little better and all the day's chores are a duller ache.
Until you hear that you're doing it all wrong. Lose by winning. Win by losing. And we close the way we opened. With H.L. Mencken: "Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public."
This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro
