It takes some courage and fortitude to be a New York Sports fan. Make that a lot of courage and fortitude. And a good dose of patience, too.
Across the platforms of the four major professional sports, the championships in this town are few and far between. That goes for all of them, baseball, football, basketball and hockey.
Oh, there were moments but not enough of them for New York, NY, a place so nice they named it twice.
The Yankee dynasties are the stuff of legends but that high and mighty team has won the World Series just twice in this century and are well removed from the glory days of Ruth, DiMaggio, Mantle and Jeter.
The Mets own two world championships in their history that dates back to 1962 and have finished in first place just once since 1988.
The Knicks own two championships in their history since they got started in 1946 and it’s been 26 years since they finished first in their division in the regular season. They are, by the way, about 200 games under .500 since they began play.
The vagabond Nets won two American Basketball Association titles and managed to win two rounds in playoff series since 2008. They also have hopscotched their way from New Jersey to Long Island to Brooklyn and just limped home from a road trip with an eight-game losing streak.
The Islanders won four straight Stanley Cups beginning in 1980 but have not finished first in their division since 1988, 33 years ago. They, too, have bounced around from Long Island to Brooklyn and back to Long Island.
The Devils are buried in last place at the moment and have been to the playoffs just once since 2012. At least, they’re still in New Jersey.
The Rangers won the Stanley Cup in 1940 and then went 54 years before winning it again. They’ve been to the cup final just once since then, 28 years worth of waiting.
And then, there’s football.
The Giants won the Super Bowl in 2011 and have been to one playoff game since then. And they lost it.
The Jets are still selling their miracle Super Bowl victory of 1969. It is their only championship and that was 53 years ago. Their current streak of missed playoffs for 11 years is the longest in the NFL.
Together, the Jets and Giants won eight games this season, four apiece. That, however, is not as dreadful as it seems. The Cincinnati Bengals won four games last season and made it to the Super Bowl just one year later.
Patience, folks. Have patience.