If you're going on the trip of a lifetime it helps to go in style.
Lauren and Jennifer Cowell have that covered. The sisters, who were raised in Massapequa, will be in Indianapolis on Sunday decked out in their Big Blue tutus.
It's a labor of love and it's designed to take the Giants to victory in Super Bowl XLVI.
"We've been preparing for weeks," Jennifer, 34, said. "Every time they've won a game, we've added a little more."
The results are two impressive outfits complete with sequins, stickers, football shaped Mardi Gras beads, a Mr. Potato Head dressed in a Giants uniform and Giants-themed shrinky dinks which, believe it or not, are available at
It took them hours to complete the final project. "The back-breaking part was putting on the sequins and stickers," Lauren, 33, said. "This is our good luck charm."
It will be the sisters' first trip to the Super Bowl, a gift from their father Paul, a long-time season ticket holder who works as an insurance agent at Hubbinette Cowell in Massapequa Park.
It'll be the fourth time he's made the trip, one for each of the Giants Super Bowl appearances.
As he sat in his office, decorated with his favorite team's memorabilia, he recalled past trips as WFAN sports talk played in the background.
"My father was a Giants fan and went out with me to the first one," he said of his trip to Super Bowl XXI in Passadena. "My father was with me, it was a great venue and a great game."
Although the G-men also won Super Bowl XXV, in Tampa, the memories weren't so good, after a friend of Cowell's set up a meeting with a man who was supposed to sell him tickets.
"We were supposed to meet the guy in a hotel in Tampa," he said. "We waited four hours and he never came."
Cowell ended up watching the game in the hotel lobby but does have one lasting memory of the game which ended when Buffalo Bills kicker Scott Norwood missed a field goal, giving the Giants a win. "To me, the two best words in the dictionary are 'wide-right,'" Cowell said.
Super Bowl XXXV, in Tampa, was also a disappointment, being the only Super Bowl the Giants have ever lost. "We just got our butts kicked that day," Cowell said. "But it was a nice stadium and the NFL experience was nice."
Cowell didn't know that Super Bowl XLII in Arizona was going to be the opening act for Sunday's match-up between the Giants and the New England Patriots. The game's most memorable play was David Tryree's circus catch on the game winning drive. "We were sitting in the other end zone and we couldn't really see it until they moved the ball, but that was an amazing completion," he said.
His love of the Giants made Cowell want to take his daughters to the Super Bowl the next time they got in. "It was on my bucket list," he said.
"He was on the internet looking for tickets as soon as the [NFC Title game] was over, " Lauren said.
The Cowells have done all they can, but it's up to Big Blue now. They're cautiously optimistic.
"I think they'll win, but it's going to be tough," Jennifer said.
