The championship thirst of local teams playing in the MLB, NFL, NBA and NHL continues after the Rangers’ quest for their first title since 1994 ended Saturday night just after the sun went down at sunrise (don’t blame me, NYCFC and Gotham FC supporters!).
It’s so long ago since the Giants beat Brady and Belichick’s Patriots for the second time in a row in the Super Bowl in February 2012 that sports fans don’t need to be reminded of the various shortcomings of their favorite team.
Still, sometimes you come across a fractional statistic that jumps out at you as a significant number.
With the Blueshirts’ loss to the Panthers in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Rangers, Islanders, Yankees, Mets, Knicks, Nets, Jets and Giants have played a combined 100 seasons since hoisting the Lombardi Trophy 12 years ago.
Furthermore, if you add up the lengths of time each team has gone without a championship (I hear you don’t have to do the math!), it comes to 287 seasons: Jets: 55 (still going), Knicks: 51, Nets: 47 (never in the NBA), Isles: 41, Mets: 37, Rangers: 30 now (one appearance in ’84), Yankees: 14, Giants: 12. (Note: I’m also counting the Devils (2003) as a local team because all of their games are broadcast in US TV markets, which brings the total number to 308 seasons.)
Anyway, for today’s BTBP exercise, let’s take a look at each team’s current title chances, listed in order of which local franchise is closest to halting the overall title drought in these four sports.
Yankees: Soon-to-be free agent Juan Soto and hot-as-hell Aaron Judge are giving off some M&M vibes in the boogie-down, but whether the Yankees can win a title this fall as soon as possible hinges on a stellar pitching staff that, surprisingly, had an MLB-best 2.78 ERA through Sunday, with Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole not having thrown a single pitch. Can Rookie of the Year front-runner Luis Gil (7-1, 1.99 ERA) hang on long enough to avoid an innings shutdown?
Knicks: Tom Thibodeau and All-Star point guard Jalen Brunson have established a culture that’s long been absent at the Garden, and team president Leon Rose has a big decision to make this summer about how to get from point B to point C in terms of contending for a title. Will he bring back three-time All-Star Julius Randle after season-ending shoulder surgery, or trade him for a draft pick and try to upgrade a roster that saw the Knicks compete in the playoffs?
Rangers: While Saturday’s loss is still fresh in the mind, the 2023-24 Presidents Trophy winners still have a talented core of players in goalie Igor Shesterkin, but with star winger Artemi Panarin and others faltering again in the postseason, it makes you wonder if general manager Chris Drury will try to revamp the lineup for Peter Laviolette’s second year at MSG.
Jets: I was only a year old when Joe Namath backed that guarantee with Super Bowl LIII, and just turned 56 a few weeks ago. The Jets’ drought exceeds the 54-year “I can die in peace now” slump the Rangers endured before finally winning a championship thanks to a Mark Messier guarantee in 1994. Does 40-year-old QB Aaron Rodgers, on one of the NFL’s top defenses, have enough left to really play after Achilles surgery?
Giants: The Giants are right in the middle of this list because that’s where they’re at in their development, whether it’s middle-of-the-road quarterback Daniel Jones trying to play more like the scrambler that led the team to a playoff berth in 2022 or the guy who ran like hell behind a patchwork offensive line before suffering a non-contact ACL tear last year. Saquon Barkley is gone, but first-round wide receiver Malik Neighbors could be the playmaker Jones has long coveted.
Demons: New Jersey fell behind and missed the playoffs after beating the Rangers in the first round in 2023, but a young core of players led by Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt gives new manager Sheldon Keefe plenty of talent to build a team around in Newark.
islanders: After a coaching change that benched Hall of Fame goaltender Patrick Roy, the Isles reached the postseason for the fifth time in six years, but a second straight first-round exit seemed to all but shut down any chance of contending for a title for Lou Lamoriello’s team.
Mets: Steve Cohen’s team went all out to try and win the championship before the 2023 season began but failed spectacularly, releasing veteran stars like Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander. This year’s team has been disappointing in recent weeks, with Pete Alonso becoming a free agent and Edwin Diaz failing to recapture the magic of 2022 after last year’s injury disaster at the World Baseball Classic.
Net: Brooklyn’s best-effort gamble to acquire Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden was a disaster, and their first year of rebuilding after the departure of the Big Three wasn’t great either. A 32-50 record in 2023-24 means new coach Jordi Fernandez will enter the summer later this month with zero first- or second-round draft picks to work into next season’s rotation.
Today’s back cover
The Rangers didn’t perform well.
The video that went viral on Saturday night perfectly encapsulated the Rangers’ sixth straight loss to the Panthers, who were the more physical team throughout the Eastern Conference finals.
Peter Laviolette was being interviewed during an in-game interview with ABC’s Emily Kaplan near the end of the first period when his eye was caught by a shirtless boy behind the Rangers bench, showing off his muscles.
“Peter Laviolette had to deal with the power of the Florida Panthers on the ice, but it was the power behind him in the stands,” ESPN play-by-play announcer Sean McDonough joked.
It was a scoreless game at the time, and it had an entertaining feel and flow, but Laviolette and the Rangers could barely match the size, speed, depth and relentlessness of the Panthers for the better part of six games. The Rangers were lucky to have the acrobatic Shesterkin on their side, staying within striking distance for most of the game, including two overtime wins.
Add to that the poor performances of some of their top producers, including Mika Zibandeg, Artemi Panarin (until a desperation goal in the final seconds of Game 6) and Adam Fox, and the Rangers will have a long summer to ponder what they could have done and what they need to change to take the next step after posting the league’s best regular-season record.
Keep it clean
I have no problem with other WNBA players trying out Kaitlyn Clark, and I’m not encouraging people to coddle rookies during this transitional period of adjusting to the professional game.
But the celebration of Chennedy Carter’s knockdown on Saturday and the victory by Angel Reese and her Sky teammates was overwhelming. At the very least, it was only natural that Clarke’s Fever teammates would stand up for her in that moment.
Carter was not fined for the hit, but the league upgraded the foul away from the ball to a Flagrant 1 at least in the third quarter after reviewing the play.
Everyone around the league is benefiting from the attention and extra revenue the former Iowa star brings in her rookie season, and opponents don’t have to take kindly to her for that, but plays like Carter’s are dangerous and unnecessary.
What we’re reading 👀
⚾ If this season was Juan Soto’s interview to stay with the Yankees, his two-home run performance in Sunday’s sweep of the Giants should go a long way in helping him land that big new contract he desires.
It’s been a tough few weeks for the Mets, and blowing another late lead to the Diamondbacks on Sunday didn’t ease the pain. Still, Joel Sherman writes that the National League is so boring that even the Mets could still see a playoff berth if they squinted their eyes out.
🏒 If you’ve ever admired the wizardry of Igor Shesterkin or Henril Lundqvist, you’ve also been impressed with the tutelage of Benoit Allaire, who has helped develop Rangers goalies for two decades. But with Allaire reducing his day-to-day workload, the Rangers will soon have a new goaltending coach.
🏀 If being hip-checked and sent to the floor on Saturday wasn’t painful enough for Caitlin Clark, being limited to just three points in a blowout loss to the Liberty just made a tough weekend even tougher for the WNBA’s No. 1 pick.
🏒 Connor McDavid has led the Oilers to their first Stanley Cup Final since 2006, where they’ll face a Florida team that no Rangers fan wants to celebrate.
