I am writing to comment on Gov. Christie Whitman’s recent statement quoted in the press about the New York Giants. Governor Whitman, during questioning about the Giants’ new uniform bearing their old-fashioned “ny” logo, said it did not matter what the team was called as long as it played in New Jersey. I beg to differ. The governor of the state ought to be pushing for pride in our state, and ought to be lobbying and pushing for the Giants to refer to themselves as the New Jersey Giants. Since the New York Jets are probably going to leave the Meadowlands for a stadium in Manhattan when their lease runs out, what better time to insist that the Giants carry New Jersey’s identity? It will boost New Jerseyans’ pride in their state to have their NFL franchise bear the name of where it actually plays. I guess we can’t expect much from a governor whose response to the past year’s problems at the state’s auto inspection centers, an issue that hits so many New Jerseyans where they live, was indifferent and ineffectual. Michael Shashoua