A big weekend of New York sports awaits, with the Brooklyn Nets taking on the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden later tonight and the New York Giants hosting the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium on Sunday. Both of these games are coming just after a thrilling victory by the New York Islanders over the New York Rangers on Wednesday night. With the exception of the New York Yankees and the New York Mets, all three major in-city rivalries will be occurring within a week, which is a rare, yet exciting occurrence for sports fans of the Big Apple.
New York Sports Rivalries
Tonight’s basketball game should be an entertaining one even though neither team has a winning record. Between the history of Madison Square Garden, the unique culture of the borough of Brooklyn, and the celebrity sightings in the crowd, the rivalry between the Knicks and Nets has always had a bit of flare since the Nets moved to Brooklyn. The rivalry between the fans should heat up, especially after Kristaps Porzingis spread a little trash talk, claiming “our [Knicks] fans are better than Brooklyn’s fans.” After a sensational start to the season in which he won Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month honors, the Latvian rookie figures to add excitement on the court later tonight in the Battle of the Boroughs. An underlying storyline, which is new to the rivalry this year, is the matchup in the frontcourt between Brook and Robin Lopez. One may look like a caveman while the other is clean shaven, but the Lopez brothers are indeed identical twins and love matching up against one another. Mikhail Prokhorov’s bold statement that he would turn Knicks fans into Nets fans hasn’t fully came to fruition the way he anticipated, but the rivalry between the Knicks and Nets has certainly intensified since the Nets relocated to Brooklyn. In the minds of Brooklyn fans, if the Nets win, they will have bragging rights; if not, fuggedaboutit.
Even though the season is over, the rivalry between the Yankees and Mets might be the best one of 2015. Both teams made the playoffs, which hasn’t happened since 2006. The Yankees may have more championships and tradition, but there is no denying that in 2015 the Mets were not only the better team, but they were much more fun to watch. The Mets have a dominant rotation of young, superhero-like flamethrowers who led them all the way to the World Series. Matt Harvey (The Dark Knight), Noah Syndergaard (Thor), Jacob DeGrom, and Steven Matz are all 27 years old or younger and throw fastballs north of 95 mph. The resurgence of former villain Alex Rodriguez was a nice story for the Yankees, but nothing compares to Wilmer Flores’ midseason dramatics or Daniel Murphy’s unbelievable October run. The Subway Series will always belong to the Yankees, but it wasn’t the Bronx Bombers playing deep into October this year – it was the lovable losers from Queens.
On the ice, New York is a Rangers town, but don’t count out the diehard Long Island fans who now have to take the train to Barclays Center to watch their beloved Isles. The Islanders have a young team built around their leader, John Tavares, while the Rangers have more depth and a dominant goalie, Henrik Lunqvist, who they rode to the Stanley Cup Finals two years ago. In their first season in Brooklyn, the Islanders hope to build off of last year’s surprising run to the playoffs, and Wednesday night’s 2-1 victory over the Rangers may prove that the Islanders are for real this year. The Rangers, who won the Presidents’ Trophy last year, appear as if they will be in the thick of the race for the top spot once again in 2015-16. The atmosphere when these two teams play is always electric, providing a playoff-like feel on the ice even though it’s only the beginning of December.
The rivalry game with the biggest playoff implications will take place this Sunday on the gridiron when Eli Manning and the New York Giants host Ryan Fitzpatrick and the New York Jets. The last time these two teams played each other was on Christmas Eve in 2011 when a 99 yard touchdown by Victor Cruz propelled the 7-7 Giants to victory, sparking a six game winning streak that resulted with a win in the Super Bowl over the New England Patriots. This time around, both the Jets and Giants are once again in contention for playoff spots. At 6-5, Todd Bowles has his team tied for a wild card spot in the AFC. Thanks to the miserable seasons of the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles, Tom Coughlin’s team is tied with the Washington Redskins for first place in the NFC East even though they are just 5-6. The matchup between the Giants’ standout wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and the Jets’ elite cornerback Darrelle Revis unfortunately won’t happen, as Revis has already been declared out for this week’s game with a concussion. Regardless, MetLife Stadium should be rocking on Sunday as Big Blue takes on Gang Green.
The fans and media of New York are what makes New York sports unlike any other city’s. It seems as if Santa will kick off the holiday season a bit early this year, giving New York fans three great rivalry games in the span of just one week. The city that never sleeps is in for a treat this weekend. Enjoy it, New York!
