Big Fan

To most who know him or even merely see him in his life, thirty-six year old Paul Aufiero is a sad sack of a man. He still lives at home on Staten Island with his mother who basically supports him, he works a dead end job as a parking garage attendant, and as his mother states his only ever girlfriend has been his overworked hand. But Paul staunchly defends his life to others who rail against or try to help him, especially in being what he considers the biggest New York Giants fan there is. He and his only true friend Sal attend every home game – although only as tailgaters who watch the game on a battery powered TV in the stadium parking lot while the other tailgaters have tickets to see the game live inside the stadium – and he spends most of his time writing what he will ultimately say on Sport Dogg’s post-game call-in radio show as well-known fan caller “Paul from Staten Island”, making his fan ravings sound as unscripted as possible. Most of those ravings are against his Philadelphia caller counterpart “Philadelphia Phil”‘s anti-Giants ravings, especially as the Giants and Eagles battle for the division title. Paul and Sal believe they’ve died and gone to heaven when they spot their favorite Giant, quarterback Quantrell Bishop, a five-time Pro Bowler, out one evening. The elation of the night to this point changes after they finally decide to approach Bishop. That encounter may make Paul reevaluate his devotion to the Giants – whose seemingly easy march to the post-season has now become a little more difficult – and by association everything that he has held true to his heart his entire life.—Huggo