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Ultimate Standings: New York Giants fans maintain their optimism

AP Photo/Frank Victores

This story is part of ESPN The Magazine's Oct. 12 Owners Issue. Subscribe today!

New York Giants

Overall: 76
Title track: 14
Ownership: 24
Coaching: 26
Players: 69
Fan relations: 77
Affordability: 109
Stadium experience: 92
Bang for the buck: 97
Change from last year: +3

Even when the Giants look like they're down, their fans remain hopeful thanks to organizational stability and a glorious past. Jets fans might not recognize this foreign substance, but the rest of us call it optimism.


What's good

Giants fans rank their team just 76th overall and their players 69th, but this is a franchise that ranks 14th in title track. How to explain the optimism? Because it's always been rewarded: The Giants have won four Super Bowls in the past 30 years and two in the past nine. If you're a Giants fan over the age of 4, you've experienced the thrill of a Super Bowl title in your lifetime, and because of that, you have faith in the organization's ability to deliver one again while you're still alive -- no matter that the team has missed the playoffs in five of the past six years.


What's bad

There's no way Giants owners John Mara and Steve Tisch -- ranked favorably at 24 -- can go to a place like AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, and not be jealous of what Jerry Jones built on his own and without the help and partnership of another team. MetLife Stadium is bland, expensive and roofless. Even though it cost more to build than JerryWorld, the Giants' stadium experience (ranked 92nd, compared with Dallas' 34th) isn't much to recommend.


What's new

Not much changes year to year about the Giants and the way their franchise operates. They've had the same ownership basically since the beginning, and the same coach (Coughlin, though still with a good showing at 26th, earned his lowest rating since 2011) and same quarterback for the past 12 seasons. They've had only three different GMs in the past 37 years. The Giants' rankings don't change much because the Giants don't change much. Of course, if this playoff-free streak goes much longer, or if Coughlin gives way to a run of willy-nilly coaching changes, that could send them downward.

Next: Philadelphia Eagles | Full rankings