After each season like the one the Knicks just finished, I always find myself back outside the visitors’ locker room at old Mile High Stadium. About 30 minutes after the Jets lost to the Broncos in the AFC Championship Game, I’m standing with a handful of reporters surrounding Bill Parcells.
The day was Jan. 17, 1999. The Jets were up 10-0 at altitude against the defending Super Bowl champions and seemed poised to write a new chapter in a season that continued to surprise and delight their fans.
They couldn’t pull off the win, finishing with 10 good points and 10 bad points, 23 to 10. It wasn’t just the team’s turnaround and the attendant disappointment in the locker room that was shocking, Parcells was shocking too.
“I’m tired, guys,” he whispered.
And he wasn’t lying.
All the color had drained from his face. His shoulders were slumped, and he looked lifeless. He was leaning against the wall, and it seemed the only thing keeping him from sliding to the floor. Parcells was 57 that evening in Denver. He looked 87. Approaching 97.
And it wasn’t just the shocking setback of what had already happened that weighed on him: it was the recognition of all that was yet to come.
“I know how much I have to work to get back to where I am now,” Parcells said in closing. “Free agency. Draft. Workouts. Training camp. 16 games. All of that. Just to get back. Just to get back to where I am now.”
He wiped his face.
“I’m tired,” he said.
And you get it, that’s the hardest part about a season ending for a team that’s generated and nurtured so much goodwill. There’s the basic disappointment of not winning a championship. But then you’re reminded almost immediately that there’s no guarantee this season won’t be the best one for a while.
Some teams take that final step. The 1996 Yankees, who hadn’t won in 18 years, were practically born on a flight back from Seattle that October. The team was mourning a heartbreaking series loss, but quickly resolved to move forward and take the final steps that were needed. And they did.
The ’86 Giants were good enough that they probably didn’t need a heartbreaking loss at Soldier Field that January for motivation, but a 21-0 win over the Super Bowl-shuffling Bears, whose memorable highlight was a Shawn Landeta missed punt, likely fueled them through a glorious 17-2 day in Pasadena.
And the 1970 Knicks were finally toughened up and ready to rise to the top themselves after a two-year internship that saw them play against title-tested teams like the Wilt Chamberlain 76ers and then the Bill Russell Celtics.
But the 1999 Jets weren’t allowed to think about next steps after Vinny Testaverde’s Achilles tendon blew out, the 2015 Mets never fully recovered after getting swept by the Royals in the World Series, and the 2021 Islanders pushed the Lightning to Game 7 of the Eastern Division final before losing 1-0 and haven’t been able to bounce back in the same way since.
There are other such examples.
The Knicks could go either way. A few years from now, this might be seen as a tough but necessary foundation on the road to a championship. Next year, everyone might be healthy. Next year, a different city might be battling a “what if” virus. Next year, or the year after, this all might culminate in a parade.
or …
Well, I know everything that can go wrong. I’ve seen everything that can go wrong. A lot has to happen first to get the Knicks to where they were at 3:35 p.m. last Sunday — contending for a spot in the Eastern Finals. Free agency. The draft. Offseason training. Training camp. An 8-2 game. Another first-round playoff game. All of it. Just to get back. Just to get back to where they stood at 3:35 p.m. last Sunday.
Vax Wax
Listening to Boston fans, it seems like everything bad that’s happened in Boston recently, other than the injury to Kristaps Porzingis, has been Alex Verdugo’s fault, but all Verdugo does with the Yankees seems to be find ways, big and small, to help the team win every day.
“Blue Bloods” is still great, drawing a sizable audience to CBS, and has some cast members willing to endure pay cuts to stay on the show beyond next fall. What am I missing? And when will CBS wise up and change its mind?
Somehow we’ve come this far without one city winning both the NBA and NHL titles in the same year, and it would be a real, sick joke if the sports gods were to allow Dallas to become the first city to win that title this year.
Every year, there’s a game or two like Rangers-Panthers on a Friday night that reminds us all how great and terrifying playoff hockey can be, especially overtime playoff hockey.
Counterattack against Vac
Peter Drago: Astronomers released the first images of the edge of a black hole this week, and unconfirmed reports suggest the Mets’ caps are heading toward the black hole as they approach an 11-game home series against the top three teams in the league.
Vac: As you might expect, we’ve had some Metsapocalypse-related correspondence this week, and this is a nice summary of it all.
Richard Siegelman: The NCAA will soon be paying out $12.8 billion to 14,000 current and former players, and I’m very excited. I wonder how much I’ll be paid for winning consecutive free throw championships at Harper College in 1964-1965? Since I missed only one of my 40 shots, I suggest $1,000 each for the 39 shots I made.
Vac: And I wrote some great articles on Bonnies right before the deadline, asking $2 a word.
@AuthorHarlow: You called the Mets a “plain disaster,” but is they still a “plain disaster” just because they’ve “lost badly” most of their games?
@Mike Vack: Out of a terrible baseball season comes some sophisticated comedy!
Robert Forstein: Seeing Judge, Soto and Stanton hit home runs would certainly be fun, especially after last year’s dismal offensive performance. While not as good as Mantle, Maris and Skowron, it gives us a reason to take our minds back to 1961.
Vac: Stanton’s performance makes him so exciting to watch every day, and Yu Darvish looked like he didn’t want to pitch the baseball anymore after a while the other day.
