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For fans, it's screams and tears

BY BART JONES AND BRANDON BAIN | bart.jones@newsday.co

February 4, 2008

Inside the jam-packed Brickhouse Brewery in Patchogue, the Giants' down-to-the-wire victory was enough to bring the toughest men to tears.

Bob Baker, 54, of Ronkonkoma, started crying after Eli Manning's touchdown lob in the closing minutes put the Giants ahead. At game's end, as the bar crowd roared, he hugged his son Bob Jr., 22, and tried to make sense of what he had just witnessed.

"It's the biggest comeback in the history of the Super Bowl," Baker said. "Nobody ever had a record like the Giants went this far. Nobody gave them a chance. It says something about life."

"This is the greatest day of my life," said Bob Baker Jr.

In a game that never had a clear winner until the very end, things remained tense until the clock ticked down to just 35 seconds and Eli Manning's 32-yard pass to David Tyree put the Giants in the lead in the final seconds.

Diane Mussler, 38, of Sayville, had been temporarily transferred to Maryland by her employer, but flew back home just to watch the game with family and friends at Brickhouse Brewery.

"I said I had to come here to watch the Giants and the Giants won," she said. "Now I have to fly back with a hangover."

In preparation for the game, some fans relied on their superstitious rituals.

For Damon Hobbs, 34, of Corona, it was a pair of Giants boxer shorts. "They're always on," for Giants games, he said. "Those shorts don't go anywhere. But they do get washed."

For Tony Anderson of Northport and Teresa Cosolito, it was lucky Giants jerseys.

"My son said the Giants are going to win the Super Bowl, but you have to wear the jersey," said Cosolito, 53.

Anderson, 40, quadrupled his chances by relying on four jerseys. "They played great the whole game," he said.

In Seaford, about 40 patrons piled into the Sunset Grill for the nail-biter.

"It's unbelievable," said manager Ed Kaercher. "I wish the season could go on and on."

After the game, fans laughed and hugged as the jukebox blared "New York, New York."

"The Giants gave a tremendous effort and they deserve it," said Kim Horton, 61, from Massapequa, who has watched the last six Super Bowls at the grill.

By the end of the game, he was hoarse from yelling, screaming and weeping, and he could barely speak.

"I lost my voice, I've been crying," he said.

Staff writer Steve Ritea contributed to this story.