Big Blue; Big Blue Wrecking Crew

"Big Blue" is the nickname for the New York Giants football club, who used to play in Yankee Stadium, but who now play in Giants Stadium in...ahhh...New Jersey.

There are other "Big Blue" nicknames that are also popular--used by IBM and the University of Kentucky Wildcats.


23 September 1979, New York Times, "Painful Art of Rooting for the Giants," pg. 52:
...my big blue bumblers.

23 July 1982, New York Times, pg. A17:
After years of languishing behind Dallas, Washington and Philadelphia in the Eastern Division and being laughed at for their bungled draft choices (remember Big Al Simpson?), the Giants are the Big Blue Team of Destiny again in pro football.

27 September 1983, New York Times, pg. C5:
The Big Blue could be stuck with a serious servicing problem as well.
(I.B.M. computer--ed.)

This is a record from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office:

MARK: Go Big Blue.
GOODS & SERVICES: T-shirts, polo shirts, jackets and sweat shirts.
FIRST USE: 19160000.
FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19160000.
FILING DATE: February 13, 2001.
OWNER NAME AND ADDRESS: University of Kentucky STATE UNIVERSITY KENTUCKY Lexington KENTUCKY 405060019.
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The "Big Blue Wrecking Crew" was the New York Giants defensive unit in the 1980s. The name sometimes gets revived by fans.

10 January 1987, New York Times, pg. 49:
Football teams, and particularly defensive units, from time to time take on a nickname beyond the general one. There were the Fearsome Foursome, the Purple People Eaters, the Steel Curtain--even the No-Name Defense.

Some stick, some don't. The Giants' defense last season was known to a few as "The Big Blue Wrecking Crew." "But," said Leonard Marshall, the Giants' defensive end, "for some reason it didn't catch on."

The name "Big Blue Wrecking Crew" had been used before--by the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball club.

10 October 1977, New York Times, "That Big, Blue Wrecking Crew" by Red Smith, pg. 39:
The National League's 102d pennant race was finished. Cincinnati's two-time champions of the world, the big mean Red machine, had been dismantled. Philadelphia's Eastern champions had been whipped three times in four games. The bold blue wrecking crew from Los Angeles was in the World Series.