LI Giants fans converging on Indianapolis

INDIANAPOLIS -- If it's Friday, the Hoeys of Centerport must be in Chicago, on their way to South Bend, Ind., while the Codys from Holtsville must be in Lexington, Ky. Or at least those are the schedules that will bring those two Long Island families (separately) to this city for Super Bowl Sunday.

A whirlwind of flights, layovers, long drives and stops for warm-up sporting events is bringing die-hard Long Island fans here for the Giants-Patriots faceoff.

For the Hoeys, the marathon starts Friday, when Chris, a senior at Saint Michael's College in Burlington, Vt., boards a plane to Chicago to meet his dad, Steve, a chief financial officer for a turnaround investment firm in Manhattan, who is leaving from Kennedy Airport, also for Chicago. From there they'll drive two hours to South Bend. They plan to attend two Notre Dame hockey games Friday and Saturday, then a basketball game.

It's part of a graduation present Steve Hoey is giving his son, who finishes college in the spring.

Sunday, they drive to Indianapolis to attend their first Super Bowl.

"It's going to be a lot of bouncing around," said Chris Hoey. "It's going to be special."

For the Codys of Holtsville, tickets came through in just the past week, a gift from a friend of a friend who owed Richie Cody a few big favors.

He and his wife, Theresa, spoke from a car on their way to Kennedy Airport. Lexington will become their base through the weekend. It's a three-hour drive to Indianapolis -- a trip they plan to make each day for events leading up to the game.

Despite all the miles, the Codys say they're happy to have the extra time to do it all. "This is the most excited I've been about a Giants' offense in a long time," said Richie Cody, a longtime Giants fan.

Theresa Cody is happy for the Giants, but for the most part is along for the ride.

While some take roundabout routes, others travel here directly.

"They're going to start rolling in now," said Joanne Gerenser of Staten Island, who won the trip, game tickets and room in a raffle. "I know people back home who are trying, trying, trying to get here."

Brad Burnstein drove from Astoria. He arrived in Indianapolis Thursday and was thrilled to be in town. "I came to get the whole experience," he said, wearing an Eli Manning jersey.