The owners of Park Cleaners on Park Avenue, Barry and Kathie Barone, were hard at work last week sewing the names on the back of jerseys as well as the official Super Bowl XLII patch. "I come in early and I stay late. We get it done," said Barry Barone.

The Barones do more than just clean the jerseys; they also put them together adding adjustments based on the players’ specifications. After the Giants’ victory against the Packers in Green Bay two weeks ago, several Giants took their jerseys home with them. So, the Barones had to put together new ones. "Sometimes the club fines them if they take the uniform," Barry Barone added.

In many cases, football players will donate their used uniforms to charity. But most of the time, the Barones have to wash the uniforms to play another day. "People think you get a new uniform every game. It’s not the case," said Kathie Barone.

A few of the uniforms, including the one worn by Jacobs, still had holes in it from the Green Bay game, dubbed Ice Bowl II for the subzero temperatures. It’s the Barones’ job to stitch up the holes. If he ever misses a hole in someone’s uniform, he’ll hear it from the Giants’ staff. "I usually blame my wife," said Barry Barone. "As a joke."

Barry Barone could not point to any clothing-related superstitions aside from Umenyiora’s peculiar preference, but also noted that on the coaching staff, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo prefers to wear his white coaching jacket.

While he has never been blamed for a Giants loss, he heard an earful from Champion Sports Apparel after deciding not to stitch one of their logos on former Jets wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson’s sleeve. The cameras took a close up shot of his arm after catching a touchdown pass and the clothing company claimed they missed out on hundreds of thousands in advertising.

Park Cleaners has no computer system and keeps track of all of the Giants’ preferences with a paper filing system. The entire business consists of Barry Barone, his wife Kathie and a part-time presser. "We’re a small operation, but we do a big job," said Barry Barone.

Barry and Kathie Barone have been, stitching, sewing and tailoring New York Giants jerseys for 25 years. He was introduced to the businesses of cleaning sports jerseys when he began doing laundry for the now defunct New Jersey Generals football team. Today, he cleans uniforms worn by the Giants, the New York Jets, the Philadelphia Eagles, the New Jersey Devils and the New Jersey Nets. During Super Bowl season, the other sports teams know the Barones will be too busy to take any additional requests.

For the Super Bowl, the Giants were allowed to choose whether to wear their home colors or away colors. They decided to wear the white "away" jerseys because they have a nine-to-one record in white. Barry Barone found the superstition puzzling, because the Giants also wore blue in their first two playoff victories in Tampa Bay and Dallas, respectively.

The Barones keep busy all season long, driving down the road to Giants Stadium to deliver clean jerseys. "I’m there all the time. It’s a lot of involvement," he said.

Barry Barone even has one of his retired friends hand deliver jerseys back and forth from Philadelphia for the Eagles uniforms. After football, basketball and hockey season, the Barones can relax a little. But soon enough, practices will begin again and the Barones will make sure the Big Blue Wrecking Crew have clean blue uniforms, hemmed to perfection.