Tuesday, May 17, 2011

The New York Mess

Of the four major sports, which is the best team in New York? No it isn't the $200 million Yankees or the 2008 Super Bowl Champions Giants, it is probably the New York Jets.  For a city that really takes pride in calling itself the "Greatest City in the World", curently the sports teams are mediocre at best.  With the insane media coverage found in New York, these teams are put under the spotlight and in a struggling time, fans are fighting for something to be happy about.  Whether it is the current Jeter/Posada/Yankee front office fiasco, the Mets Madoff scandal, the Melo/Stoudemire ineffectiveness, or the Rangers losing in five games to the Capitals, New York has a ton of drama. 

The only team that is holding its own is the New York Jets, as they have reached the AFC Championship game in consecutive seasons and continue to boast one of the best defenses in the NFL.  Led by overconfident Rex Ryan, this team has some life to it.  Rex Ryan's crazy and bold predictions fire this team up and the players respond more often than not.  This is the only team in New York that is living up to its hype.  While the Jets seem to be figuring things out, the Giants have regressed in the past couple of seasons.  The Giants seem to always play off of momentum, as they used a ridiculous run to win the Superbowl in 2008.  They seem to play very poorly to start the season and then finish strong, while pushing for a playoff spot.  Last season they missed out on the playoffs after Green Bay won in week 17, but the Giants need to be more consistent in order to compete for a title again. 

In hockey, the Rangers seem to be fighting for a bottom seed in the playoffs year after year, struggling to make it out of the first round. The Devils had an off year, despite almost pulling off one of the greatest comebacks in NHL history after an awful 11-29 start.  The aging Brodeur is the key for the Devils, as they look to bounce back next season.  Both teams are middle of the pack hockey teams and it seems as if the dominant Devils of the past could be behind us. 

In basketball, the Knicks pulled off the biggest trade of the season, landing Carmelo Anthony.  In doing so, they traded away four key role players necessary to win.  The Knicks should have realized that they could not contend for a title this year and waited until Melo's free agency (this summer) to sign him, but they did not want to take a risk on losing out on Melo altogether.  This team is at least three or four role players away from contending and in order for their Melo/Stoudemire pickups to work out, this offseason they must transform the rest of the roster.  On the other hand, the New Jersey Nets lost out big time on every free agent last summer, but they did pick up an elite point guard in Deron Williams at the trade deadline.  This move does put the Nets in good position to make a run at Dwight Howard.  The Nets will likely put out an offer to the Magic next season which will be centered around Brook Lopez, in hopes to put together a team that could contend with the powers of the East.  The Nets will also be moving to Brooklyn in two years, making it more appealing to big time free agents.  Despite all of the superstar pick ups, the Knicks and Nets are simply not great teams.  The current Nets roster would struggle to finish in the top 10 in the East and the Knicks are at best a #5 team in the East right now.

I will attack the Mets and Yankees later in the day.  Since they have so many problems, they'll need their own post. 


In the mean time, what New York team will win the next championship?  (Rangers, Devils, Jets, Giants, Nets, Knicks, Yankees, or Mets)

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