New York Fandom Starter Pack

We teamed up with the ladies at Sportyish to create fandom starter packs for each New York franchise so that anyone can learn the basics about the teams that New Yorkers root for throughout the year!

Sportyish Take: “For a team that plays in the country’s largest media market, they don’t have much to show for it. Now, now, before all the die-hard fans freak out, this could be your year! Just kidding. It really probably won't be. Knicks fans know the feeling of pain and suffering all too well. The New York Knicks have not made the playoffs at all in the last five years. Yet, they have ranked in the Top 10 in attendance each of those seasons. And in New York, you reward loyalty. For a hot second during the 2012-13 season, and with the help of Carmelo Anthony (husband to iconic reality tv show extraordinaire, Lala Anthony) the Knicks won their first division title. But, that’s like it. At one point they hired Phil Jackson as their president, who was the head coach for the Bulls when Michael Jordan won all those championships and then the head coach for the Lakers with Kobe and Shaq. But, unfortunately, none of his skills worked with the Knicks and here we are.”

Sportyish Take: Other than Jay-Z owning a small stake in the Brooklyn Nets for a hot second, and eventually selling it, there really isn’t much to say about the other New York basketball team. This team has had a tough time with its identity after the move from the New Jersey Nets in 2012 to the Brooklyn Nets. While this increased their merch sales, it didn’t really do much else. Recently, they’ve been on the road to rebuilding the team and have a lot of talented players. With Kevin Durant finally back after an Achilles injury combined with Kyrie Irving burning sage on the court before games, the team appears in good shape.

Sportyish Take: “The lesser-known, but potentially best basketball team in New York is the Liberty. The WNBA team has made it to the playoffs in 14 of its 24 years and have the most appearances in the WNBA Finals without a championship. The team is owned by Joe Tsai, who also is the majority owner in the Brooklyn Nets and worth a cool $13 billion. This year, the player to watch is Sabrina Ionescu who was the first pick of the WNBA Draft by the Liberty. People are calling her the best WNBA player in the last couple of years. She even gained attention and eventually a friendship with Kobe and Gigi Bryant after they attended one of her games at Oregon. She also spoke at Kobe’s Celebration of Life. Cue the tears.”

Sportyish Take: “Arguably one of the most famous sports teams of all time, we have the Yankees. Whether you’re a fan or not, you’ve probably owned some sorta of Yankee merch at some point; either you stole it from an ex because it looked comfy, or your mom got it for you on sale at TJ Maxx. All you really need to know is that the Yankees are the greatest baseball team of all time whether you like them or not. With 27 World Series Championships that the fans will NEVER let you forget, no one else even comes close. They have the history, passion, scary middle-aged male fans, and the wins to back up their shit talk. They literally had Babe Ruth on their team like what else is there to say? A lot of people argue that they’ve bought their wins, meaning: they pay the most for the best players. Like, yes, that’s true but like...they got the money to do so.”

Sportyish Take: “So, for a hot second, we all thought ARod and JLo would own part of the Mets. Ugh. What a dream that would’ve been. I don’t know how, but I just feel like JLo would’ve turned the team around. Anyway, the team was bought for $2.4 billion by Steve Cohen, a hedge fund manager who “inspired” the character Bobby Axelrod from Billions. (Note: the character is a rich, lying, cheating, insider trading guy. Just saying.) Anyway, Mets fans seem pretty happy about Daddy Warbucks Cohen taking over. Mets fans haven’t had much to cheer for lately and are hoping Steve’s deep pockets will save the franchise. Thots and prayers <3.”

Sportyish Take: “So, the Giants weren’t always a bad team. During the Eli Manning era, he led the team to two Super Bowl championships (beating the Patriots, we always love a Pats loss). Not too shabby! Their new head coach, Joe Judge is a 38 year old. He’s the 10th coach who served as an assistant under Bill Belichick in New England to become a head coach at the NFL level, so no pressure. A random piece of information that will likely never be useful is that actresses Kate and Rooney Mara’s uncle is John Mara who owns the Giants! AND, their uncle on their mom’s side is Art Rooney and owns the Steelers. How fun!”

Sportyish Take: “If you know a Jets fan, hug them a little tighter. They’re really going through it. The 2-14 Jets were one of the biggest piles of doody in the NFL this season. But, guess what? The fans didn’t even WANT to win games so that they can get this best possible pick in the NFL Draft Pick and you know what that means? Welcome to the Big Apple (Or North Jersey), [Insert savior QB Here]! Here’s the deal. Sam Darnold, their “star” QB who got Mono his second season, is just ok. He definitely has potential but he’s young and needs time to develop. With the Jets landing the #2 pick, they’ll likely take a fresh face which will leave Sam in an awkward spot. The fans just want to build a team that will win. The Jets are one of three teams in the NFL who have won in their only Super Bowl appearance. And to make it worse, the Jets now hold the longest playoff drought in the NFL of 10 years without seeing any postseason glory.”