In New York, it is above all athletic impatience

With twelve professional clubs, spanning five different sports, and the most championships won of any American city, New York City is statistically the sporting heart of the United States. But this has not been won for years. The drought is approaching a decade and is the second longest in the city’s history. Still, better times seem to be coming.

It’s quiet on the Canyon of Heroes, a stretch of South Manhattan street where every parade in city history, including sports teams, is marked in concrete, like the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Those who achieve something special will receive a parade between the skyscrapers.

In 2019, the women of the American football team, then newly crowned world champions, are the ones to whom the confetti has fallen.

giants

The last time a team from New York received a festive welcome was some time ago. In early 2012, the New York Giants won the Super Bowl, the final of the American football season. New York was able to add another title, the 61st overall, covering American football, baseball, ice hockey, basketball and soccer.

Only Boston, with 40 championships, remains historically quite close to its southern rival.

Since the Giants celebrated their championship, no New York team has won their league. It was only between 1906 and 1923 that the drought lasted longer than the current nine years, when the New York Giants, the baseball team that would later move to San Francisco, went without a title for 16 years. .

Baseball was the only professional sport at the time, now New York clubs compete for prizes in five different professional leagues. At least on paper. Big is the doldrums of American football, where the Giants have fallen since their last championship and the New York Jets have been the laughing stock of the NFL for years – the club’s last title dates back to 1969.

Knicks

Basketball then? Last season’s New York Knicks reached the playoffs for the first time since 2013 was celebrated as a championship by hungry fans. After a first-round victory, 7th Avenue, a street across from the iconic Madison Square Garden, was taken by a raving crowd. Three games later, the club is eliminated.

Knicks fans have been waiting for the first championship since 1973. The women of New York Liberty, one of the first clubs in the WNBA basketball league in 1997, also failed to achieve success and were knocked out of the league. playoffs last week.

Rangers and Islanders

Ice hockey clubs New York Rangers and Islanders are waiting 27 and 38 respectively for a new championship, and in relatively new football leagues, New York City FC, New York Red Bulls and NY Gotham FC (women) have not yet managed to sweat. .

Yankees to Mets

In the coming weeks, hopes are on the New York Yankees, the city’s most successful athletic baseball club by far with 27 championships. After 2009, no more titles were won, no matter how much the club owners kept throwing money away.

Also this year, the Yankees were initially one of the big favorites, but after a mixed season, the star squad – the second most expensive, behind the Los Angeles Dodgers – fought for a place in the playoffs over the years. last few weeks. In the Queens neighborhood, the New York Mets rival has disappointed this season, as is often the case, despite an ambitious new owner and a substantial salary budget.

An unequivocal cause behind the New York teams’ failed prize hunt is elusive. Each club has its own issues, from mismanagement of the board of directors to the unrealistic and lofty ambitions of wealthy landlords dazzled by the grandeur of the city.

In New York City, people think big, but not always wisely. Drivers and supporters sometimes seem to lack patience.

Nets

This was the case with the Brooklyn Nets, the city’s second basketball club to move from New Jersey to the Brooklyn neighborhood in 2012. The ugly NBA duckling wanted to make a splash and put his future in danger in exchange for two exhausted Boston Celtics stars, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett. The team never came close to a championship and then had to pick up the pieces for years.

The Nets are now by far the biggest asset in ending the drought in New York City. The squad, which includes star trio Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden, are the championship favorites next season.

There are also bright spots elsewhere. The Yankees remain the Yankees, and the Mets can also expect to achieve some success in the years to come, the Islanders are at the top of the NHL ice hockey league and the New York Liberty Basketball Club. has a super talent in Sabrina Ionescu. Even the Knicks led the way after years of mismanagement.