although they signed mcbride, who had spent the 1934 season playing on a semi-pro team, before the game, the western division champion bears were still 2½–1 favorites. the giants defeated the previously unbeaten bears, however, 30–13 at the polo grounds on an icy field with temperatures peaking at 25 degrees. before the game, team treasurer john mara talked with owen and captain ray flaherty about the frozen field conditions. flaherty suggested the giants wear sneakers on the frozen field, as he had played in a game under similar circumstances at gonzaga and the sneakers proved to be effective. mara dispatched equipment manager abe cohen to get as many sneakers as he could get. due to traffic and the inability to find any athletic goods stores open on sunday, cohen was unable to return before the game started and new york, wearing conventional footwear, trailed 10–3 at the end of the first half. realizing time was short, cohen went to manhattan college—where he had a key to the equipment and locker rooms—and returned to the polo grounds at halftime with nine pairs of basketball sneakers, saying that "nine pairs was all i could get." players donned the sneakers and the giants, after allowing the bears another field goal late in the third period, responded with 27 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to win their first nfl championship game. when they took the lead 17–13 on a touchdown run by strong, the game had to be stopped because hundreds of fans ran onto the field to celebrate. the game would come to be known as "the sneakers game", and the 27 points the giants scored in the fourth quarter set a single-quarter championship game scoring record that stood for decades. fans converged on the field after the game, tearing down one of the goal posts. after the game offensive tackle len grant expressed his gratitude, saying "god bless abe cohen." oddly, the team's performance was also aided by the consumption of alcohol. the team's trainer felt that whiskey could warm the players up, and he put some into their paper cups. strong scored a touchdown on the next play, and the trainer did the same thing on the next drive, which again ended in a touchdown. fearing drunkenness, water was returned to their cups once the team had the lead.