{"id":9304,"date":"2017-08-21T07:00:58","date_gmt":"2017-08-21T11:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonsoccer.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=9304"},"modified":"2017-08-19T09:38:18","modified_gmt":"2017-08-19T13:38:18","slug":"new-yorks-soccer-rivalry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/2017\/08\/21\/new-yorks-soccer-rivalry\/","title":{"rendered":"Which Side Are You On?: Contextualizing New York\u2019s Soccer Rivalry"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editorial (August 21, 2017)<\/strong> – There were several points during the most recent occurance of New York\u2019s Soccer Rivalry when you felt like you were at the epicenter of something more than a soccer match. Like when Bradley Wright-Phillips scored his second goal of the day, putting his New York Red Bulls ahead, sending legions of red fans into an ecstasy that was matched only by the despair of the home crowd. Or when David Villa brought New York City FC back level with a blistering run through one, two, three Red Bull defenders. Or when, moments later, he showed his wily veteran side and drew a penalty, setting up the game winner that would keep New York blue for at least another couple of weeks.<\/p>\n

Which Side Are You On?: Contextualizing New York\u2019s Soccer Rivalry<\/h2>\n

For me it was all these moments \u2013 until I got home and watched the video<\/a> of that same penalty kick. When I saw Felipe standing behind Villa, motioning to Robles which way he thought Villa would shoot. Only to be totally sold out by the ball boy behind<\/em> Robles who was advising NYCFC\u2019s captain what Felipe was doing and therefore, which way he should shoot.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s when you think, man, New York\u2019s Soccer Rivalry is on a whole \u2018nother level.<\/p>\n

But then you begin to second guess yourself. Or at least I do.<\/p>\n

Because while yes, I have sat in the rain at the Yale Bowl as a child and watched pre-season football between a mediocre New York Giants team and an even mediocre-er New York Jets team.<\/p>\n

And yes, I have walked the streets of Manhattan during the Subway Series. When it seemed every New Yorker was dressed in some shade of blue. And would argue with you endlessly about it.<\/p>\n

And yes, I have endured the fistfights, vitriol, and vomit of Penn Station when either the New Jersey Devils or New York Islanders had ridden the rails into town to face the New York Rangers.<\/p>\n

But my encounters with those other rivalries has been sporadic, inconsistent, and arbitrary at best. New York\u2019s Soccer Rivalry on the other hand is different. I\u2019ve been to eight of them now – three at Yankee Stadium and five at Red Bull Arena. So maybe my judgment is unbalanced and skewed by being closer to it than the others. Especially since while I follow other sports, none of the teams I pay attention to are New York teams.<\/p>\n

In other words maybe New York\u2019s Soccer Rivalry feels exceptionally intense to me because it\u2019s the one I\u2019m in the middle of.<\/p>\n

So I went to the fans.\u00a0Fans who were not exclusively soccer fans. So they could give some context that perhaps I could not.<\/p>\n

And they raised some interesting points.<\/p>\n

Like that one of the things that makes this rivalry special is the frequency with which the teams meet. Eight times in three years is nothing to sneeze at. The Giants and Jets by comparison have met only a dozen times in 45 years (not counting pre-season). And while the Yankees and Mets have played an impressive 112 times in the rivalry\u2019s five decades, most of those have come since 1997 with the introduction of interleague play. For the first 35 years they never met in a serious game. So the rivalry is actually a relatively new development. As Neil Govoni told me: \u201cWith the NFL and the MLB, you have the NYC teams split into different conferences\u2026 and they develop strong rivalries with teams in their divisions as a result.”<\/em><\/p>\n

And Dudes in Blue<\/a> host Joe Amato explained why this really matters: \u201cNot only (for) bragging rights, but points and actual standings.\u201d<\/em> And that makes sense; the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry is still stronger than the Yankees-Mets. And Giants fans have more animosity for almost anyone in the NFC East than they do for the Jets.<\/p>\n

Which is probably why the Rangers\/Devils and Rangers\/Islanders matchups are the ones that fans of New York\u2019s Soccer Rivalry feel the most kinship with. All three teams share a division, which means every game counts. And there have been a lot <\/em>of games: 341 between the Islanders and Rangers and 273 between the Devils and the Rangers. And even though the fates of those three teams have waxed and waned over the decades, the standings as of this writing are still fairly close. The Rangers lead the Devils by 27 games over 35 years and the Islanders by only four over 45.<\/p>\n

So is New York\u2019s three-team hockey dance better than New York\u2019s Soccer Rivalry? Neil Govoni thinks so; \u201cThat\u2019s the one sport that has a more intense rivalry\u2026 but that\u2019s mainly due to time.\u201d And while Wandi Schell agrees, she\u2019s optimistic it will surpass even that. \u201cI can\u2019t wait until it\u2019s five years from now\u201d she told me \u201cand it dwarfs all NYC rivalries\u201d. Because as Joe Amato says \u201cthere\u2019s just something about the stakes at a Derby Match.\u201d<\/p>\n

But don\u2019t take our words for it. Just ask the ball boys.<\/p>\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a>