It is so hard being a New York sports fan. The Knicks haven't been good since the 99, when I was three. With Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, do the Nets stand a chance once they've recovered from all of their injuries? Who's to say? I can't root for the Yankees on principle because I was raised a Mets fan. But the Mets are, the Mets. Except for 2015 when they made it to the World Series and haven't had much, if any, post season success since. Oh New York Giants, what went wrong. And I care so little about hockey that I thought the New York Islanders were really called the Long Islanders until a year ago. Also, no idea where the Islanders and Rangers stand in the league right now.
So I'm in the market for new teams to root for. Suggestions welcome.
I will say that I think I'm becoming a Dodgers fan. The first baseball game I watched live and in full in years was Game 3 of the 2018 World Series, aka the longest game in series history. What a way to get back into baseball. I probably should root for the Rays, given that I lived in Tampa for most of my life. (Born on Long Island, hence the New York sports dilemma and the Islanders mixup.) A part of me will always root for them because they are actually my hometown team and the underdog nature of the team, but they haven't had much success in the postseason either. And after the Astros were revealed to be dirty cheaters, that made me want to root for the Dodgers even more.
Basketball, I usually follow whatever team has the best storyline that year. This season for me it was the Miami Heat. They were obviously not gonna win the Finals, but they fought every team and kicked ass all playoffs long, and I may have to check on them next season. And the narrative redemption of Jimmy Butler as a teammate and player was interesting to watch play out. Also, Florida team, so I don't feel like I'm completely selling out my two home states.
Hockey is easy now that the Tampa Bay Lighting are Stanley Cup Champions. Usually when it comes to hockey, I just wait for the Stanley Cup final and pick a team just to have a dog in the fight. So it's nice to have a champion from a home state. And it's funny that Tampa's most successful sports franchise is a hockey team. Go figure. And sorry Bucs, I have never rooted for you. You've been bad since my family moved to Tampa and now that you have Tom Brady on your team, I really can't root for you.
I'm always gonna root for my New York teams, but it's nice to have to teams I genuinely care about and don't make me sad year in and year out. I forgot what that feels like.
