The Dolphins are using the Giants’ practice facility on Friday and Saturday in preparation for their game against the Jets. For some reason, this benign item created a media storm in New York.
Giants co-owner John Mara doesn’t see why there was any controversy about the issue and we agree.
“I did not consider it a big deal,” Mara said Wednesday. “I have been in business a long time and I would not consider it a big deal if another team was using the Jets’ facility. In retrospect. I wish I would have called [Jets owner] Woody [Johnson] and asked him about it first because my relationship with him and the Jets is far more important to me and this organization than my relationship with the Dolphins.”
It’s not like the Dolphins are getting to test out the winds at the New Meadowlands Stadium. The only reason they are even showing up a day early is so that they can see the play “Lombardi” as a team on Broadway Friday night.
The issue is overblown, but does point out the awkward relationship between the Jets and Giants. They are partners, yet rivals. And the Giants haven’t been above taken little pot shots at Rex Ryan’s Jets.
Mara and Johnson spoke on Wednesday and the issue appears settled. Mara calls loaning the facilities a “common courtesy.”
“We [the Giants and Jets] have a long partnership that is going to last for many years, and the last thing in the world I want to do is get them upset about an issue like this,” Mara said. “Again, I did not consider it big deal. Apparently, it is a slow enough news day that it has become a big deal.”