He wasn’t just any Giants fan. He was the only Giants fan watching Super Bowl XLII at a little outpost on the southern edge of Baghdad, a little more than three months after Captain Adrian Gennusa of Holmdel, N.J. had begun leading a tank platoon of 16 soldiers and four M-1 Abrams tanks.
“It took me completely out of that environment mentally for those couple of hours,” Gennusa told The Rumble.
When Eli Manning escaped the clutches of Patriots and David Tyree made that catch, Gennusa jumped out of his chair. “He caught the ball! You gotta be kidding me! They’re not losing this game now, there’s no way!”
Gennusa was still standing when Plaxico Burress caught the pass that won Super Bowl XLII. When his Giants survived Tom Brady, Gennusa raced to a little phone center and called his parents. It was 4:30 in the morning in Baghdad. His parents shouted in unison: “They did it! Can you believe it?” And Gennusa replied, “I can’t believe it!”
He had a similar reaction when he learned he would be one of 10 Giants fans whose face will be on one 2011 game ticket.
“Very, very excited,” Gennusa said. “Actually very humbled at how much support I got from friends and family.”
He lost friends in Iraq, but thankfully no one from his platoon was hurt. Two months after Super Bowl XLII was the worst time.
“We were in several significant firefights and encountered numerous IEDs,” Gennusa recalled. He currently is stationed in Syracuse and will be transferred to Newark in the fall, where he is taking command of the Army recruiting Center there. He spent 15 months in Iraq.
“I’m very proud to have gone over there and do the things we did over there,” Gennusa said.
A true giant. Read all the stories at facebook.com/newyorkgiants
Skateboard stars in Flushing
The Maloof brothers haven’t yet sealed the Kings as a long-term fixture in Sacramento, but at least their premier skateboard event is growing.
The $300,000 Maloof Money Cup, which began in 2008, will be staged at Flushing Meadows Park next Saturday and Sunday with 48 elite pro skateboarders competing for the $160,000 top prize. The top 12 finishers will qualify for a new event — the first World Skating Championship that will be staged in Kimberly, South Africa on Sept. 30 and also will be run by Joe and Gavin Maloof.
Mac’s team strong again
Sportime Randall’s Island has had a landmark year, with more than 400 kids from the city taking part in the John McEnroe Tennis Academy. This July the kids and all fans of tennis will get an even bigger boost when a parade of former top players come to Randall’s Island for World Team Tennis.
The defending Eastern Conference champions will have Martina Hingis and Kim Clijsters joining McEnroe for their season, while opponents will include Lindsay Davenport, Anna Kournikova and on a special July 14 night, Jimmy Connors, who will challenge Mac for the first time in more than 10 years, with all proceeds going to the Johnny Mac Tennis Foundation. For details go to nysportimes.com
Straight shooters
YES Network’s “Yankees on Deck” today features David Robertson and ex-Yankee David Wells traveling to an archery range to play a game that Wells calls “Bow Shoot,” a combination of archery and baseball. . . . Brian France, chairman and CEO of NASCAR, received the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum’s 2011 Intrepid Salute Award on Thursday night.
Block-busters
MSG Network held its “Summer Block Party” to celebrate its new programming lineup. Sports Illustrated supermodel Kate Upton, who will be co-hosting MSG’s “Music Fridays” every Friday night with Fuse TV personality Allison Hagendorf, broke out her YouTube-famous “Dougie” dance on the red carpet, with fellow SI supermodel Damaris Lewis looking on.
Knicks center Jared Jeffries, who had knee surgery three weeks ago to remove debris, ruled the dance floor and even shared his fedora with many of the partygoers, eyewitnesses report. Also making an appearance was Irish boxing star John Duddy, who will headline MSG’s “Boxing Wednesdays.” Brittany Umar, host of MSG’s new original countdown show “10 to One,” which premieres this Tuesday at 8 p.m. with an episode featuring the greatest dunks, also attended.
Sandy knows meaning of Memorial Day
Tomorrow is Memorial Day, and that always has been a special holiday in the Alderson household for obvious reasons. Mets general manager Sandy Alderson served as a Marine Infantry Officer for four years and had a tour of duty in Vietnam from September, 1970-May 1971, and Sandy’s late father, John, was a World War II Army Air Corps pilot.
Tomorrow, as part of Fleet Week, Alderson will lead a contingent of Mets players including R.A. Dickey, Jason Isringhausen and Mike Pelfrey to participate in the annual Memorial Day ceremonies on the
Intrepid. Alderson will throw a memorial wreath in the water to honor those who have served and reflect on those who are not here.
“For me, Memorial Day has been a time to reflect on the sacrifices so many gave to make this country what it is today,” Alderson said. “The wreath ceremony is a longstanding part of military history, and I’m proud to be a part of it.”
Alderson and the Mets players will have breakfast with servicemen and women, and on Friday, Alderson and another group of players will visit the Veterans Hospital in Manhattan. These visits are part of the Mets Teammates in the Community Week.
“I’m looking forward to going to the hospital,” Alderson said. “We went to Walter Reed earlier this year and my message is simple. Thank you for all you do.”