Do It For New York
Liberty has First Crack to Break New York's Championship Drought
As I’m writing this one, I’m watching my New York Mets play the LA Dodgers in the MLB Postseason. To be a Mets fan is one of disappointment, but also a lot of fun if you allow yourself some of the quirkiness of the game. The Mets haven’t won a world championship since 1986, (and that’ll change, I promise!) I realized it’s not just the Mets that are in a championship drought.
My hometown of New York is known for a lot of things, but it is a sports town. And well, a New York (or New York adjacent) team hasn’t won a championship since 2001. Yes, I know the NYCFC soccer team won the MLS Cup in 2021 but even if *I* count that as a win, most sports fans don’t. The New York Giants, despite literally playing in New Jersey are the dubious holders of the “Big 5” sports record. But it gets more and more bleak after that.
(NYCFC: 2021)
GIANTS 2011
YANKEES 2009
RANGERS: 1994
METS: 1986
NETS: 1976* (as the ABA franchise)
KNICKS: 1973
JETS: 1960
LIBERTY: Never
And it’s that never that’s getting me.
The WNBA was founded in 1996 and I remember watching the first game ever featuring the-then Madison Square Garden Company-owned New York Liberty take on the Los Angeles Sparks. The fact I know that Penny Toler scored the first ever basket in WNBA history is pretty cool because I watched on TV live. I’ve tried to watch Liberty games when they are in Los Angeles where I reside (or Las Vegas where I frequently vacation). I’m so hyped that the WNBA is getting bigger and there are more eyes on the sport.
And that original logo featuring a PISSED off Lady Liberty herself is a core memory of my childhood. Giving me Angry Columbia Pictures Lady vibes. (watch to the end)
But while I’m happy that Women’s Basketball has grown in this country, there remains one original team that has never won the big one. And it’s not for lack of trying. The New York Liberty has been consistently on the top of rankings ever since signing prodigy Sabrina Ionescu in 2020.
But since then, it’s been heartbreak after heartbreak. And the other teams in town haven’t been much help either. The city needs something to cheer for, WNBA needs a new “Queen of the Mountain” when they are carving up their storylines for the 2025 season. Come on, Libs let’s go!
So get this. After choking in the finals last year, the Liberty are favored again in 2024. And as I write this, the best of 5 series against the Minnesota Lynx are tied at 1-1 but after the first game, the Liberty gave such an epic collapse I got a bit of agita:
And I got so scared I couldn’t even watch the second game (which the won). Props to the ladies, they bounced back better than I did because I bit my nails clean off my fingers. This is why I can never manage a real team. I don’t got the stomach for it.
I mean, besides the fact I do fantasy baseball, fantasy basketball, play Football Manager and Out of the Park Baseball videogames, I once sponsored a Florida Grid Team and I technically own a soccer team.… Bessssides that I say.
Let’s Go, Liberty!