Hatred makes strange bedfellows.

Because of my white-hot hatred of the Patriots, I find myself in the compromising position of having to root for a New York team over a New England team. Yes, I’ve lived in the New York area for more than two years, but I grew up in New England. I normally take great joy in rooting against any and all New York sports franchises. I delight in the Knicks’ troubles. I laughed at the Mets’ late-season collapse last fall. I found watching Eli Manning struggle to be a guilty pleasure.

Now, I want Manning to get a Super Bowl ring, because when it comes to football, I’m not a New England fan. I’m a Steelers fan, and with that comes a natural loathing of the Patriots. It wasn’t always this way. During the 1980s and early 1990s, the Patriots were like blind squirrels. They occasionally found a nut, but most of the time, they were nothing to fear.

Then Robert Kraft replaced James Orthwein as the owner. The sleek Flying Elvis replaced the stodgy Pat Patriot on the helmets. Bill Belichick replaced Pete Carroll on the sidelines. Tom Brady replaced Drew Bledsoe at quarterback. Glitzy Gillette Stadium replaced the old cement block with metal benches known as Foxboro Stadium. And the Patriots suddenly went from blind squirrels to squirrels that hoard nuts, or in this case Super Bowl trophies.

I’ve seen quite enough Patriots championships. That’s why I want the Giants to beat the Patriots in Super Bowl XLII.

I am the proud owner of T-shirts that say “Jeter Drinks Wine Coolers” and “A-Rod Slaps Balls.” I vociferously rooted against the Yankees at various bars with fellow Red Sox fans during those epic American League Championship Series in 2003 and 2004. But when it comes to the NFL, I break from the ranks, just like Russia becoming an enemy of the United States after World War II.

So shouldn’t I feel dirty supporting a New York team against a New England team in the world’s biggest sports spectacle?

The answer is no, because if the Giants win, the Lombardi trophy would at least be in the Steelers’ family.

The niece of Steelers owner Dan Rooney, Kathleen, is married to Chris Mara, the Giants’ vice president of player evaluation. Dan Rooney is the son of Steelers founder Art Rooney, and Chris Mara is the son of former Giants owner Wellington Mara and the grandson of Tim Mara, who bought the Giants in 1925. In fact, Art Rooney named his son Tim, Chris Mara’s father-in-law, after Tim Mara.

The Rooneys and Maras are both pillars of the NFL. Kraft? Yeah, yeah, yeah, he’s a respected NFL owner, but he’s nowhere near as cool, and his wife looks like a school marm.

The parallels between the Steelers and Giants don’t end with the Rooney-Mara nuptials. The Giants’ 2007 playoff run is similar to the Steelers’ supernova-like 2005 postseason. Both teams won three road games to reach the Super Bowl. Both teams won wild-card games that everyone pretty much knew they’d win even though they were the lower seed. Both teams brought down behemoths in the divisional round. Both teams beat favored but flawed opponents in the conference championships.

But there’s a big difference. The Steelers beat the 2005 Seahawks to win Super Bowl XL, not nearly as daunting a task as beating the 2007 Patriots. The Giants are huge underdogs. But theirs is a noble mission. All good and decent football fans are counting on them to defeat Team Evil and foil their pursuit of perfection.

The Patriots are the unquestioned Team of the Decade. But that’s not good enough for Belichick and the Boys. They want to be perfect. The 1972 Dolphins were perfect, but that was before the 16-game schedule. It was before the era of parity that has made the NFL the most popular sports league in the history of our culture. Every Super Bowl winner of the last 35 years has had to deal with at least one loss. It builds character. It also shows that the checks and balances of that precious parity are in proper working order.

One more win and the Patriots would become the first NFL team ever to finish 19-0. One of the reasons we’re drawn to sports is to see athletes doing what’s never been done before. The problem here is the Patriots sold their soul to get this shot at history.

The Patriots' dynasty was founded on a team-first mentality. It was a unit made up of equal parts without any stars drawing attention to themselves. Then they got Randy Moss, who’s made dubious headlines for his acts on and off the field. Rodney Harrison was already one of the least liked players in the NFL before being suspended for violating the league's substance abuse policy. After getting pinched for Spygate, the Patriots showed they can win without videotaping opposing coaches. But we’ll never know if it gave them an unfair edge in winning their three Super Bowls, two of which the Steelers could have won if it weren’t for the Patriots.

Even when they’re not winning Super Bowls, the Patriots give me reasons to hate them. It still bothers me that Tom Brady flipped the coin before Super Bowl XL. They brought out all the Super Bowl MVPs (at least those who showed up) in honor of the 40^th anniversary. As the most recent Super Bowl MVP to that point, Brady was the last one announced and given the honor of flipping the coin. So there was pretty boy in his velvet suit standing between the fully armored Steelers and Seahawks captains. During the most glorious day in post-1970s Steelers history, the Patriots still wouldn’t go away. I tell you, they’re evil!

It’s up to the Giants to deliver us from that evil. They can’t let the Patriots get their hands on what would be the crown jewel of their oppressive dynasty.

I actually think the Giants have a better chance to beat the Patriots than the Packers would have had. The Packers were tied for the second-best record in the NFL at 13-3, but they were the youngest team in the league. I don't know how that can be with 38-year-old Brett Favre on the roster. It must mean that everyone else on the roster is about 12. Beating the Patriots isn’t child’s play, and right now, the Giants are the best the NFC has to offer. Like the 2005 Steelers, they’re peaking at the right time.

All the Patriots need to complete their dastardly mission is one more win. But that’s all the Yankees needed when they had a 3-0 lead on the Red Sox in the 2004 ALCS. If the Giants upset the Patriots, the heartache that was felt by New York sports fans in October of 2004 would be felt by all New England sports fans.

Well, almost all of them.