New York still is a powerhouse for professional sports
by Mikey Mandarino ’16 – Sports Editor
The New York Metropolitan area is one of the largest sports markets in the country. It is the home of eight teams in the four major sports leagues – the NFL’s Jets and Giants, the MLB’s Yankees and Mets, the NBA’s Knicks and Nets, and the NHL’s Rangers and Islanders. Technically, the NHL’s New Jersey Devils play in the same market (their home arena is ten miles away from New York City), but they are left out because they represent New Jersey more than New York. Over the past few years, the area has been a perfect example of “quality over quantity”. With the exception of the Rangers, every New York sports team has had a rough past few years. The Islanders have struggled in years past, but many felt that they would have made the postseason last year if team captain John Tavares didn’t tear his ACL while representing Canada in the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games. With the retirement of legendary SS Derek Jeter, the Yankees are seemingly on the decline. The Jets have made some big additions this offseason in the form of WR Brandon Marshall and CB Darrelle Revis, but they recently fired loud-mouthed head coach Rex Ryan. The Giants have struggled since their Super Bowl XLVI victory, and the Knicks were one of the worst teams in the NBA. The Brooklyn Nets made the playoffs, but appear to be overpowered by the powerhouse Atlanta Hawks in their first-round meeting. This all raises the question – is New York still a sports powerhouse?
I believe that New York still is a sports powerhouse. The NHL’s Rangers won the President’s Trophy for the first time since 1994 this season, which is given to the team with the best record in the regular season. Led by captain Ryan McDonagh, star goaltender Henrik Lundqvist and dynamic forward Rick Nash, the Rangers seemed poised to make a deep run through the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Last year, the Rangers came three wins away from their first Stanley Cup since 1994, losing to the Los Angeles Kings in five games. They have consistently made deep runs to the Conference Semifinals and Finals since 2012, when they lost to the New Jersey Devils in the Eastern Conference Finals. Ever since Adam Henrique buried the conference-clinching goal in the spring of 2012, the Rangers have advanced past the first round in every postseason.
The Islanders are also on the rise in the NHL after making the postseason once from 2007 to 2014. That 2013 postseason appearance saw the team lose to the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games. They have a very deep group of forwards led by Tavares and his linemate Kyle Okposo and a solid defense led by Nick Leddy and Johnny Boychuk. The Islanders’ depth comes from underrated center Frans Nielsen and hard-hitting wingers Matt Martin and Cal Clutterbuck, and defenseman Travis Hamonic has proven to be a strong second-pairing defenseman. If both teams win their first-round matchups against Pittsburgh and Washington, they will face off in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, a matchup that is sure to attract lots of media attention.
Although they’ve struggled since losing the AFC Championship Game to Pittsburgh in 2011, the Jets are another New York sports team on the rise. The firing of Rex Ryan and general manager John Idzik, additions of new head coach Todd Bowles, general manager Mike Maccagnan, and stars Brandon Marshall and Darrelle Revis is very encouraging for the future of Jets football. The hirings of Bowles, a defensively minded but soft-spoken coach, and Maccagnan, an experienced NFL scout, are symbols of a new, successful era for the Jets. Many are optimistic about the hiring of Maccagnan because the Jets’ poor track record of draft picks over the team’s history could possibly be solved by the former Houston Texans’ scout.
While the Yankees are adjusting to life without Derek Jeter, the Mets are having lots of success early on in the 2015 MLB season. 3B David Wright has been a star on the team for ten years, but the team began a rebuild after the 2009 season. During the rebuild, the Mets drafted many strong pitchers, including Jacob deGrom, Zack Wheeler and Matt Harvey, and all of them have pitched well for the Mets. Harvey suffered an elbow injury that kept him out for the entire 2014 season after starting 2013 with a 9-5 record and a 2.26 earned runs average (ERA) and 191 strikeouts. Wheeler will miss the entire 2015 season with the same elbow injury that Harvey had, and Jacob deGrom was the NL Rookie of the Year in 2014. The team has had a very strong start to the 2015 season, winning 11 of their first 14 games, including the team’s first eight-game winning streak since 2010. The team also developed the strong offense that is in tact today. The main stars of the offense are Wright, catcher Travis d’Arnaud and outfielder Curtis Granderson. Additionally, infielders Lucas Duda and Daniel Murphy provide offense for a team that mainly relies on their strong pitching.
In a major media market with eight teams, it’s inevitable that some of them are going to struggle. There has never been a time where every team in the metropolitan area were not winning. It’s also inevitable for any sports team to struggle no matter how deep their history is or how consistent they typically are. With the exception of the Yankees, Giants and Knicks, every New York sports team appears to be on the rise now. Whether the teams struggle or not won’t affect the impact that they have on the community. People will still watch the games on TV and in person, the media and tabloids will still cover the teams on TV and in newspapers, and they will still be a main discussion point for casual observers and diehard fans alike. New York is the largest media market in all of professional sports. It will take a lot more than the majority of the teams struggling for a few years to take away its powerhouse status.
With recent struggles, New York has lost its powerhouse reputation
by Pierce Henderson ’15 – News Editor
New Yorkers, as well as residents of the surrounding area, are notoriously passionate about their sports, and for good reason. New York sports teams have historically been successful and dominated their leagues.The Yankees have won the most World Series Titles in all of baseball and The New York Football Giants have defeated Boston rivals New England Patriots twice in the last ten years for a Super Bowl ring, once spoiling an undefeated season. This history, however, is becoming merely that: historical fact, as the sports of the Big Apple appear to be engaged in a long and painful downward spiral.
The New York Metropolitan area is home to the highest concentration of professional sports in the world, teams which it seem may not share their fandom’s passion for sports. The recent failures of teams like the Giants, who finished the last season with 6 wins and 10 losses and missed the playoffs, and the Jets, who again fell short of postseason football with a dismal record of 4 wins and 12 losses, have many enthusiasts doubting the quality of these teams and their ability to challenge for national championships.
Some other cities’ fans may call New York fans spoiled, but is it really wrong of a fan to expect his players to go above and beyond for his team? It seems that many players in the Big Apple have forgotten how to excel, like the Nets, who have won just a solitary playoff game since 2008, and although they did sneak into the playoffs this year, they did it with a losing record.
Baseball fans can have hope, though, as the Mets are looking strong in their attempt at their first winning season since 2008, while the Yankees seem to be determined to change their reputation from perennial powerhouse to predictably pusillanimous.
In Basketball, New York is absolutely horrible. The New York Knicks, having traded Stoudemire and losing Anthony, ended the 2014-15 season with 17 wins and, wait for it, 65 (SIXTY-FIVE!) loses.
The Devils, though not a New York team, have many fans in the Bernardsville area, who are undoubtedly up in arms over their recent repeated failures to bring playoff hockey to New Jersey. Despite the mediocrity of the Devils, the Rangers and the Islanders, both New York Hockey Teams, are doing very well this season and are both in the playoffs, thus offering a glimmer of hope for the New York area fanbase.
New York teams, it seems, lack commitment to any kind of stability and winning. The Jets have been home to a circus of quarterbacks, many of whom can’t seem to tell the difference between their own wide receivers and opposing defensive backs. It seems that most New York sports teams have been stuck in a “rebuilding” phase for years.
The sad fact of the matter is that these are professional athletes in question. New York fans obstinately buy millions of dollars worth of merchandise, tickets, and overpriced food at these sporting events to pay for millions of dollars worth of losing records and more rebuilding phases, more general managers, more saviors, and ultimately more broken promises. New York, it seems, has lost the competitive spark that once drove her sports, and her teams have fallen off the high pedestal which they had once occupied in the sporting world.
