The Knicks hadn’t made the Eastern Conference finals since the 1999-2000 season, and their fans went crazy Friday night after New York beat Boston to return to that august place.
On Friday night, bedlam was everywhere outside Madison Square Garden at 7th Avenue and 8th Avenue. Think of the New Year’s Eve crowd waiting for the ball to drop. Fans climbed over the grease poles and taxi kiosk, jumping into the crowd. One idiot lit a Celtics jacket on fire, eliciting a roaring cheer. The Celtics were serenaded with a goodbye song on their way to their team bus.
There was a video of fans throwing stuff at ESPN’s Brian Windhorst because he dared pick the Boston Celtics to win the series. There was also a video of a Pacers fan being harassed and beaten up for wearing a Pacers jersey, never mind that he was minding his business.
I don’t know if it was sad or a cry for help. All this was in response to eliminating the favored Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Imagine what would happen if the Knicks went to the Finals or, God forbid, won an NBA championship?
I get it. It has been 25 years since our city’s NBA team made the conference final. It was a seminal moment for a younger generation that has long been used to losing and incompetence. But c’mon, can we act like we have been here? It’s hard for us to be taken seriously as a sophisticated sports city when we behaved like morons.
Here’s the truth: New York has always been an overrated sports city. Most of the fans here are fair-weather and ignorant.
This isn’t just the first time New Yorkers have behaved like this. Yankees fans acted like hooligans last October when their team made it to the World Series for the first time since 2009. Giants fans behaved like shmucks when their team beat the Minnesota Vikings in a playoff game a few years ago. Rangers fans acted haughty last year during their team’s playoff run, just to see the Florida Panthers make them look like fools after winning the Eastern Conference Final.
Photo courtesy CBS Sports
When I think of the fans in this town, it’s like they are no more intelligent than the guy who writes in the comments section of an online newspaper. I often engage with them at work and on social media, and my IQ drops 30 points.
Knicks fans have been insufferable for the last few years. If you dare disagree with them, they get defensive and personal. While it’s easy for me to root against the Knicks, it wasn’t always that way. I was a Knicks fan in the ’90s, when the fans were great. However, as I matured, I realized that Knicks fans are typical New Yorkers–shallow, dense, melodramatic, and believing everything revolves around them.
It’s embarrassing! Pacers fans did not go over the line when their team made it to the Eastern Conference Finals…for the second straight season, no less. Neither did Timberwolves fans, and I don’t recall Thunder fans acting like idiots after their team won Game 7 against the Denver Nuggets on Sunday.[/beautifulquote]
The championship has yet to be won, and you would think that (based on recent experiences) NY fans would know better. For example, after beating the Vikings in the wild-card round a few years ago, the Giants got their butts kicked by the Eagles in the divisional round. So, how are the Giants doing these days?
Case closed.
