Jets fans angry about watching their team get massacred on Monday night might have just found themselves an outlet for their rage in the team that shares the New Meadowlands Stadium with their favored franchise.
The Giants have handed the keys to their practice facility to the Dolphins this weekend so that Miami can get an extra day to acclimate themselves to cold weather ahead of Sunday's game with the Jets. The deal was struck a few weeks ago, but it blew up on Wednesday morning when Craig Carton of WFAN ripped the arrangement as "despicable" on the part of the Giants.
That's pushing it a bit too far. As unnecessary as giving the Dolphins practice space might seem, the Giants owe the Jets nothing when it comes to helping them win football games.
That's the Jets' responsibility and simply having a few extra hours in a different climate isn't going to decide the outcome of Sunday's game. It's not particularly neighborly, but it is hardly despicable.
If anything, you'd have to like the Jets' chances in a game against a team that's so concerned with the weather that they are breaking out of their usual routine in an attempt to fight against it.
What's pretty silly, however, is John Mara's attempt to explain why they are allowing the Dolphins access to the facility. He told Judy Battista of the New York Times that they said yes because they would hope for the same kind of access if they asked another team for it.
When, exactly, is that situation going to come up? The Jets and Giants are the only teams in the NFL that share a home. The Raiders and 49ers are close to one another, but there's not really any similarity between playing at Candlestick Park and practicing in Oakland.
That kind of obfuscation gives rise to thoughts about other reasons why the Giants might have made the choice. It's been a pretty nutty football year in New York as the Jets' trip to the AFC Championship game, their rise as media darlings and the disappearance of Giants Stadium have all come together to change the playing field around these parts quite a bit.
With neither team able to sell out their stadium, the battle for fans and dollars has become a bit more pitched and it doesn't take much to follow that path to the Giants making a decision based on hurting the Jets' chances of making noise come playoff time.
It's a stretch, but conspiracy theories have been built on much less. The Giants and their fans would likely be offended that anyone would even suggest any nefarious intentions, but perspective is everything in matters like this. We wonder, for example, just how magnanimous they'd be if the Jets were throwing open their doors to the Cowboys before a big game late in a season?
It would be just as inconsequential and it would be just as frustrating if you were rooting for the other guys.
Sports
Josh Alper is a writer living in New York City and is a contributor to FanHouse.com and ProFootballTalk.com in addition to his duties for NBCNewYork.com. You can follow him on Twitter.
