Jack Caldwell ’18

James Dolan. Woody Johnson. Fred Wilpon. These are a few of the many bad local sports team owners who run dysfunctional organizations such as the New York Knicks, Jets and Mets. However, despite these teams’ woes, some say that they’ve never been more popular. According to Forbes, the Knicks are the NBA’s most valuable team. Tickets to see the Jets and Mets are some of the most expensive in their leagues, and their apparel is always a top seller. So why do we as fans root for these miserable teams, none of which have won a championship since 1986? Why do we choose to put up with the dysfunction and heartbreak?
Above everything else, city loyalty is the most important reason why I, like many fans, stick with awful sports teams. Hometown pride brings family, friends and fans together. According to the New York Times, “The only thing we control as fans is the object and ardor of our devotion. And this unilateral covenant, however absurd, constitutes a vital expression of who we really are.” A home region creates an identity, and sticking with that sports team is part of how we identify ourselves.
When I attended my first Knicks game at Madison Square Garden in 2010, I was forever sold. Already a fan, feeling New York’s heartbeat pounce throughout a singular arena that night was an experience like no other. The unforgettable joy the Knickerbockers brought me when I was young makes it impossible to switch. As a basketball fan growing up just outside of New York, rooting for the Knicks is just impossible to avoid.
City loyalty is not the only thing that brings fans back to bad sports teams each season. For many, it’s family heritage. “My Mets family goes back to my grandpa, who was a New York Giants fan until they moved [to San Francisco in 1958],” Cole Devine ’18, one of many suffering Mets fans, said. “One time when I was younger, I cried and asked my dad why we had to be Mets fans. But I never considered switching.”
I don’t know when I watched my first Jets game, but it was around 2005. In those 12-plus seasons of football since, only about two are remembered joyously. But of course, I will never switch to the crosstown Giants, who have been far more successful. The Jets have been my family’s team since their inception in the early-60’s, and that’s a sense of family tradition that can’t be abandoned.
Sports have been integrated into America’s society unlike anything else, and the passion and history only grows each year. So maybe I am wasting my money when I buy a Knicks or a Jets jersey. I could switch, especially in football, with better options nearby. But the hometown pride, childhood memories and family history that come with rooting for my teams is indescribable and will always be a part of me. So when the Knicks win 20 games this year, and the Jets continue their incompetent ways, there’s nothing I will do about it. Like most fans, rooting for these teams is just who I am.