Long Beach Giants Fan is Super Bowl Bound

The “Batchagaloop Crew” is down to its last two legs. But those legs will still carry Mike Maglione to Indianapolis to watch the New York Giants line up against the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI on Sunday.

Mike and his brother Rich, both die-hard Giants fans from Long Beach, and their two friends travelled on their own dime to Green Bay to watch Big Blue defeat the Packers in a divisional playoff game at Lambeau Field. This, a week after they sat at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey as Big Blue dominated the Atlanta Falcons in a wild card match-up.

After their exploits in Green Bay, the crew was reduced to a trio that flew out to San Francisco to watch the Giants down the 49ers in the N.F.C. Championship game. The trip was paid in part by sponsors they found in Minnesota’s restaurant-bar in Long Beach and Undertone, an online advertising agency where Rich works, who gave them a collective $3,500 for expenses if they promoted their businesses on a popular radio show and elsewhere.

Now, of the original quartet, it appears only Mike will make the trip to Indianapolis. Thanks to a sponsorship from Smokin Al's, a barbecue restaurant based in the Magliones’ native Massapequa, Mike will have help putting a dent in an exorbitantly priced Super Bowl experience. 

As they did while following the Giants around the country throughout the playoffs, the Magliones visited the Boomer & Carton radio show Tuesday, and Craig Carton, who hosts the show with former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason on WFAN 660AM, asked about their latest sponsorship.

“There’s a rumor out there that if you wore the stuff for the Super Bowl from Smokin’ Al’s in Massapequa, $200 to $500 bucks, it’s free if the Giants win,” Carton said.

“He’s giving us a portion of the money to cover,” Mike said, although the restaurant declines to disclose the dollar amount.

A friend, Anthony Durso, who owns a trucking company, Scara Industries, will also sponsor Mike's trip. Mike will fly to Chicago and drive to Indianapolis. He was able to score a ticket through a close friend from Massapequa, Mike Morotta, who will go to the game with him. 

Rich said his attendance is up in the air due to a prior obligation to his job. “I’m having trouble because we have a conference going on in Miami,” Rich told Boomer and Carton on Tuesday’s show.

Rich expects he’ll catch the big game at the Turnberry Isle Resort in Miami with his coworkers. But he explained to the radio hosts that what's most important is that Mike will again wear the Batchagaloop jersey to the Super Bowl, just as he did throughout their treks to playoff games across the nation. Batchagaloop Jones is a fictional Giants lineman that Boomer and Carton created, and they made up a Big Blue jersey bearing his name.

“The Batchagaloop boys, we’ll see you out in Indy, and hopefully you can make it as well,” Carton said to Rich. “And keep the Bottagaloop jersey alive and get one more ‘W.’”

* This story was updated at 6:38 on 2.3.12.