I was driving home from last night’s New York Sports Exchange, wracking my brain trying to figure out what to write about today. I’m not the type that let’s things happen naturally. I have a tendency to force things a little bit…as regular Twitter followers of mine know when they see me sending out tweets asking people to follow me.
And then I heard the Yankees lost and the Rays won.
Yes, the Yankees. The team that, according to fans, experts and Mike Francesa, didn’t need Cliff Lee, now sits in second place in the AL East. Ironically, if the standings hold as they are right now, the Yankees would most likely face the Texas Rangers, featuring Lee, in the first round of the playoffs. If you are a Yankee fan, how happy are you about that prospect?
Let’s call things what they are. There is a sense of entitlement with Yankee fans. It is something that, quite frankly, the fans and the organization have earned. The track record in the Bronx over the last fifteen years is sparkling, so we can forgive the fans for feeling that way. And yes, the Yankees will most likely earn a spot in the postseason, where anything can happen. But that is also my point. In the playoffs, anything can happen. And the guy that Yankee fans didn’t want, who only happens to be one of the best pitchers in the game, might just be the guy to send them packing come October.
That sense of entitlement, however, is not limited to Yankee fans. Sports fans from New York, in general, have that same attitude. We are New Yorkers, of course. This is what we know. It stretches well beyond sports, but the stadium or arena is the easiest place to allow this feeling to manifest itself. Unfortunately, beyond the Yankees, history shows that fans of the other New York teams might want to ease up just a hair. Let’s visit those teams:
The Mets, as has been the norm the last few years, started nicely, but with a smoke and mirrors pitching staff and the disastrous signing of Jason Bay, will once again miss the playoffs. A major housecleaning of the front office and manager spot are long overdue, and it is time to break it all down and put it back together. Hello, rebuild.
The Knicks saw their master plan of the last two years go up in smoke when LeBron James shunned New York and went to Miami. Now, hopes are being pinned on NEXT summer and the longshot of Carmelo Anthony coming to the Garden. Knick fans will have to keep waiting for return to the playoffs.
The Rangers have not addressed their glaring needs for a guy to run shotgun for Marian Gaborik, not the need to get bigger, stronger and tougher on the blueline. With many of the Eastern Conference teams getting better this summer, it is going to be a tough road for the Blueshirts to get back into the playoffs.
The Islanders? The red headed stepchild of New York sports is not far off. But with a team payroll that will barely clear the league’s salary floor for another year, the team’s strong core of youth is at least a year away, probably two, from making any noise in the NHL. The talent base is growing rapidly, though, and this is a team that, if they grow together, will be very very good. Garth Snow doesn’t get nearly the credit he deserves, and until they do something in the postseason, he will unfairly be known as the “backup goalie turned GM”. Too bad the arena situation, not to mention the terrible Rick DiPietro contract, will continue to be an albatross around the organization’s neck until it is resolved.
A hunch tells me it could be a down year for the Giants. Many New Yorkers live and breathe Big Blue, of course, and can’t wait to see the new stadium. But after last year’s collapse, it might be tough to turn things around this year. It is always fun when the team is good, so let’s hope I’m wrong on this one. My gut just tells me that slide in ’09 is going to stretch through another season.
Of course, the entire city is abuzz about the Jets, and for good reason. On paper, this is a team that is truly loaded on both sides of the ball. It is the Jets, however…a team that has not been to the Super Bowl in my lifetime for a reason. Until they actually do get back to the Super Bowl, most fans are forced to take all of the buzz with a grain of salt. I bleed green and white as much as the next guy, but all of the talk only gets you so far. With camp off to a start that is clouded by the Darrelle Revis holdout, is this a team that can live up to expectations?
And it is exactly that last word, expectations, that every New Yorker has for the teams in this town (I did not list the Jersey teams because I live on Long Island…those teams are not New York as far as I’m concerned, despite playing closer to New York than the Islanders). That just comes with the territory of playing in a town where we all think everything should be ours.