EL BARRIO, EL BRONX – In December of 2009, I wrote my first MTM article… how in the world have I been here that long?! Anyway it was entitled “It’s the hope that kills me.” It was titled so because a friend had a saying when it came the pro rugby club he liked: “The despair I can live with with the [Northampton] Saints, it’s the hope that kills.” As I watched the Jets struggle and ultimately lose and missed the playoffs, I thought to myself, ‘I should have known better than to believe. Why oh why was I foolish enough to have hope. I should have seen this coming.‘ Then I looked at the rest of my NY sports teams in 2015 and saw they didn’t fair much better. And I know many of you share this pain. Let’s take a look…
New York Jets – Though they fell in 2016, it was only 3 days in. One would think that playing for a playoff spot against your ex coach on the road would have fired up the Jets. Unfortunately, it didn’t and they struggle for most of that game. People talk about the Ryan Fitzpatrick interceptions but only one was hurtful the rest were what happens when you have to chase the game. What about the drop by Thompkins while all alone down the sideline or the missed FG. Bottom line, there was enough blame to go around and though I was cautiously optimistic going into the game, I was hoping against hope they would win and therefore I deservedly was disappointed.
New York Mets – It was heck of a season. They shocked people and won the NL East. The fought back against the Dodgers and almost swept the Cubs. The Mets whole moniker is you gotta believe. And so I decided to believe and boom there it was. They 3 late inning leads through poor pitching and fielding. The bats fell silent and the were gone in 5. Each game they had the lead, you thought they were gonna pull off magic and that is what happened when you hoped the Mets would win and own the city once again.
New York Rangers – They made the final in 2014 and 2015 they won the President’s Cup for the best regular season record. It looked like they were building on the year before and this was the year they went over the top. WRONG!!! They steamrolled the Penguins and after falling down 3-1 to the Capitals, they came back to win 3 straight. After that comeback, it felt like they were on a mission from the hockey gods, but unfortunately it was not to be. They fought the lighting and came from being down 3-1 to force a 7th game in NY. It was gonna be another mircale right!?! Nope, they lost at home and thanks for having hope but no soup for you.
New York Knicks – They delivered as expected. They were one of the worst teams in the league. I didn’t expect anything else. I actually expected less of them which caused me to lose a bet with Ward and Clancy. No complaint from me for these guys.
Red Bull NY – Like their NY brothers, the soccer team also managed to deliver. They won the Presidents Shield for best regular season record – like the Rangers. Then in 20 seconds they gave up a goal in the first game of a two game series and were out-coached. They hit the post a couple of times and went just wide in the final minutes of the second game. Like the other New York teams, they punished me for having hope that they would finally win their first ever title.
Oy.
Thanks for reading and comeback tomorrow for Cheesy Bruin.
