You may recall that prior to the NFC Championship Game in 2008, a Green Bay television network pulled its scheduled Seinfeld rerun so Eli Manning couldn’t relax the night before the big game by watching his favorite show.* But despite that totally sound logic, Manning led the Giants to an overtime victory over the Packers and on to Super Bowl XLII. So in advance of Sunday’s crucial game in Green Bay, and on the occasion of Festivus, we figured we’d take a look to see which Seinfeld episodes — hopefully ones from which he could draw inspiration — will be airing in Green Bay on Saturday.
Unfortunately, thanks to TBS’s A Christmas Story marathon, Eli has only one option: “The Doorman,” from Season 6, airing on WLUK (the station that pulled the ‘08 rerun) at 5:30. The premise of that episode: Jerry strikes up an awkward conversation with the doorman in Mr. Pitt’s building and later agrees to cover for the doorman while he steps out for a moment. Jerry abandons his post, and someone steals a couch out of the lobby. Meanwhile, Kramer pretends to mug George, for the entertainment of a busload of German tourists. And Kramer and Frank consider entering the bras-for-men business but can’t agree on whether to call their undergarment the “bro” or the “manssiere.”
So this is what Eli will be watching, because, as WLUK taught us nearly three years ago, that’s how quarterbacks prepare for big games. Though truthfully, there’s not much there to learn from or get psyched up by. Instead, perhaps he can just watch highlights of that frigid NFC title game, starring Tom Coughlin’s red cheeks and a sad, sad Brett Favre.
* One of the then-Vulture editors, a Packers fan, forced us to write that headline on the linked post. We swear!