Clarion Content

2007 was a lousy year for New York sports. In so many ways, it was crummy, bitter and less than glory filled. Worse yet for New Yorkers, their arch-rivals in Boston were enjoying the best sports year in their history. Moreover the larger sports world was filled with stories of disgrace and criminality.

The Mets perpertated the worst collapse in baseball history, wiping the ignominous 1964 Phillies and Gene Mauch from the record books. The Mets, who led all season long, blew a seven game lead with only seventeen to play, and ironically handed the N.L. East to those Phillies.

To the casual, outside observer the Yankees season might have seemed a damn sight better, after all they at least made the playoffs. But for Yankees ownership and fans, making the playoffs is the baseline, not the peak. The Yankees seemed set to take out the Cleveland Indians, their most favorable first round opponent. An epic battle with the Red Sox would have ensued, but instead a swarm of bugs departed Lake Erie meandered over to Jacobs field and descended on the mound and Yankees ace reliever Joba Chamberlin. Chamberlin beyond rattled was quite literally, bugged. It wasn't quite locusts and the Egyptians, but it was the kind of thing that empitomized New York sports in 2007.

It led to the firing of the biggest icon in the current New York sports pantheon, the beloved Yankees skipper, Joe Torre. Torre had led the Yanks to 12 straight post seasons, but it wasn't enough for the son of George and the toadying minions running the organization while the original Steinbrenner ages. So class and past glory were swept aside, now the Yankees are eight years removed from a championship and starting anew again. On top of that, the Red Sox put the final nail in the coffin of the "Curse of the Bambino" winning the World Series yet again.

The Yankees ownership ignoring ominous signs of a "Curse of the A-Rod" resigned baseball most overpaid star to a contract worth more than the value of several current franchises. The Yankees despite bidding against only themselves, set faux deadlines, only to renege on their own public statements and take the full dozen eggs to the face. A-Rod may break Bonds' home run record, but through 2007 they have brought their franchises exactly the same number of championships in a combined thirty-six seasons, zero. Things haven't looked this bleak for the Yankees since the Winter of 1982 when Steve Kemp was their big free agent signing. A signing that marked the beginning of a 15 year drought between World Series appearances. It was the drought that Joe Torre and crew ended.

The Knicks. The Knicks. Could it go any lower was the 2007 mantra for the Knicks. They missed the playoffs for umpteenth straight year. They are saddled with bad contracts through at least 2010. According to guru Bill Simmons the Knicks have five of the twenty-five worst contracts in the NBA. Fire Isaiah chants are ringing through the Garden nightly. Owner James Dolan does he care!?! Is he deaf and dumb? We know one for sure. What can Knicks fans do? You can't fire the owner. Well, at least their arch rival, the Celtics, didn't pull of a miracle winter trade (thanks McHale-once a Celtic, always a Celtic, eh?) and start the season 20 up and 3 down...cause that, that would hurt, worse than say drafting Fredric Weis.

The Nets? The Nets are irrelevant on the New York sports scene. Hofstra basketball generates has more cache. But FYI the 2006 Nets faded. The 2007 Nets made no changes and suck worse, though not as bad as the Knicks.

The Rangers at least made a run. In fact, the 2007 playoff run epitomized the history of Ranger-dom. It started with low expectations after seven straight seasons missing the playoffs. It was a surprisingly good regular season, followed by an early round playoff push, and just when New York started to pay attention...wham, they got beat. Ahhh, the NHL, and their historic champions of recent vintage, the Mighty Ducks, the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Carolina Hurricanes, none of these teams existed in their current iteration twenty years ago and only the Hurricanes are even money to exist twenty years from now. Ranger fans over the age of twenty-one remember the singsong torment of "1940" and can take solace that the team won a Stanley Cup within our memory. We're immune. You can't hurt us now. It'll be thirty more years before chants of "1994" start to sting!!

The New Jersey football teams, the Giants and the Jets are spinning their wheels. The Jets have regressed massively from year one under the Man-genius. Follow this link for the Clarion's fuller thoughts on the franchise's direction. The Giants have yet to face that Eli Manning is a flop. After collapsing to miss the playoffs down the stretch two years in a row, it tells you all you need to know about this Giants season that the highlight of the year will be a close loss to the Patriots in week 16. (Another Boston based champion. Poised to be the best NFL team ever.)

At least the news from the rest of the sports world wasn't uniformly bad...Pacman Jones, Michael Vick, NBA refs fixing games, cheater Barry Bonds breaking records (but not the real home run record,) the Mitchell report, the Tour de France (whose last real champ was Greg LeMond.)

Yup, 2007, well that sucked.

Here's to a fresh slate in 2008!!

Labels: baseball, hockey, NFL, Pop Culture, sports, The Knicks