It's NY civil war: Blue vs. Green

Antrel Rolle has spent almost all of his football-playing career being on the only team in town. When he was at the University of Miami, there were no other college squads to vie with for the attention of the area. And playing in Arizona, well, it was hard enough to get fans excited about the Cardinals, even though they were the only oasis in the desert.

But now that he's in his second season with the Giants, Rolle is getting used to competing with another team not on the field but off it. In this area, football fans are divided into green and blue. They root for the Giants or the Jets. So when Rolle runs into fans, there's at least a 50-50 chance he'll be taunted rather than asked for an autograph (although sometimes both take place in the same exchange). "I've never had to share a town," Rolle said. "It's kind of cool. It brings out more fans. You have more interaction and you always have somebody to compete against at the end of the day."

Monday night-- finally! -- the Giants and Jets will get to compete on the field. The game originally was scheduled for Saturday but was postponed until Monday evening because of Hurricane Irene. The weekend weather built up not only the anticipation for but the importance of this annual preseason meeting, which has been dubbed the MetLife Bowl by the company that last week slapped its corporate name on the stadium the two teams share.

Because both teams will have to play their preseason finales Thursday, this will be the last true chance for the starters to see game action before the regular season. Roster spots could be won or lost on any snap of the ball Monday night. An already disjointed preseason has become even more of a whirlwind of scheduling chaos and rushed decision-making.

Then there's the usual bragging rights. This is a meaningless game in the standings, and it is dwarfed by the regular-season clash scheduled for Dec. 24. But the teams want to win, even if it means they can lay claim to the best team in the metropolitan area for less than four months.

"These guys go to the same places to eat and all that kind of stuff," Jets coach Rex Ryan said. "I always tell them, some of you single guys are fighting for the same girlfriends and things. It is a preseason game, but I think if there were some T-shirts [awarded to the winner], we'd be fighting for them."

After MetLife unveiled a trophy that will go to the winning team Monday night, Ryan even joked that he'd play his starters for four quarters. At least everyone assumes he was joking.

As for Rolle, he feels as though he and the Giants are playing for more than a Snoopy trophy. "The more Jets fans we can win over, the better,'' he said, "and I'm sure they think the same way about us."

Win them over? Does Rolle think there are fans on the fence who will switch allegiances based on the outcome of a preseason game?

"No question about it," he said. "After [Monday night], hopefully we'll have more on our side."