The lame-duck week between Christmas and New Year’s limps to the finish line, as all of us look to continue last week’s holiday weekend.  I am sure everybody has been beaten to death with end of the year lists, recaps, resolutions, and all the like.

It can get redundant, but it is still a rite of passage for the end of the year. It is one last projection of the year that was before we hit the reset button and start it all over from scratch.

New Year’s Eve/Day happens to be one of my favorite holidays of the year.

Sign me up for any day that centers on hanging out with friends and family, and culminates in football.

New Year’s Eve will be spent at a friend’s party with some of my closest friends, but New Year’s Day has taken on a whole different identity.

For anybody that has read my past blogs, I have not hidden the fact that I am a die-hard Giants fan. When the schedule came out, and Dallas was on the bill for the final game of the season (originally 1PM), everybody assumed the game would have some significance. But how much, we did not clearly know?

It comes down to a winner-take-all battle for the NFC East in a year that has been as up and down for the Giants as I can ever remember.

On the line, the division title, the #4 seed in the NFC, a home game in the playoffs, but most importantly….a PLAYOFF GAME.

The proud franchise has stumbled the last few years, and as Defensive End Justin Tuck has said, it feels like years since the Giants have been in the playoffs. That’s because it has been years…since 2008.

As a lifetime fan, I will be the first to admit that a certain part of the franchise’s soul was lost with the destruction of old Giants Stadium. So far, Met Life Stadium has not had that signature game to christen the new digs.

Well, that opportunity comes on Sunday night at 8:20 PM.

This has not been the prettiest season by any stretch, but we have all learned that once you get into the dance, it means nothing what your regular season record says. You get there, and hopefully go on a roll from there.

Ask the Giants from a few years back, and ask the Green Bay Packers of last year.

So while, many are relaxing around on New Year’s Day, Giants fans will see the stress and angst of an entire football season build to a crescendo on what is supposed to be a day of cleansing and starting anew.

That will not be the case at Met Life Stadium.

The flexed 8:20PM start will make life easier for those going out late the night before to wake up for the game. But it will certainly not make it easier for those of us working on Monday morning (yours truly).

However, the odds and stakes are worth whatever fatigue I or others may feel on Monday morning.

There is nothing better than living in this area of the country, when one of your teams is in the playoffs.

With one victory, the Giants can wipe away an inconsistent season, while creating buzz and hope of another run reminiscent of the Super Bowl run of 2007-2008.

Between this showdown on Sunday night, turnpike and parkway toll hikes, and Governor Christie’s upcoming State of the State address, 2012 is ringing in with a BANG!

I wish everybody a happy and healthy New Year’s weekend. See you in the New Year.

 

More From New Jersey 101.5 FM