A Nets Fan’s Open Letter to the New York Knicks

Over the last 2 months, the New York Knicks decimation of the Eastern Conference has taken the basketball world by storm and galvanized the entire tristate area in the process. If you’re wondering why you’ve never heard me talk about the Knicks to this point, it’s probably because you’ve never heard me talk about anything (see 12 subscribers). In all seriousness, I’ve avoided jumping onboard the “KNICKS IN 4” gravy train because I am a Brooklyn Nets fan.

Believe it or not, there is an extremely niche demographic of basketball fans that were born in the early 90’s, grew up in North Jersey, and fell in love with the back-to-back Eastern Conference Champion New Jersey Nets. Jason Kidd, Kenyon Martin, and Keith Van Horn inspired my young self to go out back and chuck brick after brick against my poor, unsuspecting backboard.

While the team never had much success after those pair of Finals appearances, I still enjoyed watching all of the regular season games and donned a #15 jersey in whatever sport I played, in a desperate (failed) effort to embody the athleticism of Vince Carter.

By the time high school rolled around, the Nets were in the process of relocating to Prospect Heights, while the Knicks finally acquired some legitimate star power in the form of Amare Stoudemire and eventually Carmelo Anthony. Much of my Nets brethren converted to Knicks fans, leaving me and Derrick Favors alone on an island in the Prudential Center.

Despite this, I never had much, if any animosity towards the Knicks. Admittedly, this was largely due to the fact that they spent the rest of the 2010’s getting beat by Lebron and losing the draft lottery just like we did. My friends and I never spent any time or energy shit talking each other’s basketball teams simply because we were both falling on our faces in unison.

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t get a great deal of satisfaction when KD and Kyrie stunningly chose the Nets over the Knicks in the Summer of 2019. Of course, it didn’t take long for me to be humbled by this morsel of success as the Stephen A’s and WFAN callers danced on the predictably early grave that our “super” team now resides in.

I can honestly say that is about as heated this rivalry ever got for me. We’ve spent the past half-decade amassing late 1st round draft picks and getting banged by the lottery. Meanwhile the Knicks completely reinvented themselves and play one of the more entertaining brands of basketball the association has to offer.

The two teams have seemingly never been competitive at the same time and therefore there are no playoff series or even significant regular season games that stick out to me. Above all, a majority of fans that sit on the opposing side of the hardwood most likely share the Yankee Stadium bleachers, MetLife parking lot, or garden ice with me.

What started as me rooting for Philly and Boston to die painful deaths eventually turned into some legitimate support for the Knicks over the past 4 playoff runs. While you won’t see me joining in on the overly performative postgame festivities outside the Garden or even feeling a fraction of the glee true Knicks fans feel after each victory, it’s hard for me not to get any enjoyment out of the fact that the city is embracing a winner that it truly deserves.

There may come a day when this fandom from afar transitions into a crosstown rivalry but today is not that day. Given the fact that I make up a somewhat significant portion of it, I feel authorized to speak on behalf of Nets Nation when I say, “Go Finish the Job”.

This city is too good of a sports town to be without a championship for this long.

Good Luck, and Bing Bong.

Welcome Home, Odell

Well, its officially official.  We brought our boy home.

With all of the unwarranted hate and negativity surrounding the team of late, the Giants brass was wise to pull the trigger on one of the easiest decisions they’ll be faced with this season.  Between the social clips that emerged from Brian Burns’ Celebrity Softball Game, and the impression our painfully unsubtle beat reporters were giving – it seemed as though Monday’s workout was all but a formality before the inevitable OBJ/Giants reunion.

While Odell’s tenure wasn’t all sunshine, lollipops, and blonde mohawks – enough time has passed where a majority of the fanbase appreciates just how special of a talent OBJ was.  His trio of 1,300+ yard seasons to begin his career was not just unprecedented, but almost unimaginable given the defensive, grind-it-out identity the Giants had prior to OBJ’s arrival. 

The combination of some insanely childish antics and a whole lot of losing would eventually sour Odell’s image in the eyes of the media and the drunk, semi-racist uncles of the tristate area.  While it’s easy now to look back at the last 15 years of dysfunction and realize it probably wasn’t all the best player on the team’s fault, it’s important to remember that at the time, the fanbase simply didn’t know how to handle losing.   

When OBJ was drafted, we had two Lomabardis that were yet to collect dust.  There was a widespread belief that we just needed to make the playoffs and have Eli do some wizard shit to win another Super Bowl.  As the years went on, these expectations slowly looked more and more like fan fiction.  Instead of making honest assessments of the roster, the fans and media united to alienate one of the only talented football players on our bad football team. 

Sadly, we’ve never learned from this failed exercise and have continued to let talent walk out the door, wrongfully labeling players as “distractions” and in Odell’s case a “locker room cancer”.  Hopefully, today’s signing helps put an end to this nasty, loser habit.

In his second stint with the Giants, OBJ is not expected to be a star player or even a starter.  He’s not going to demand targets, shed tears on the sideline, or livestream a therapy session with Lil Wayne.  There is no possible way his ego was not checked at the door when he found himself working out alongside Braxton Berrios and Juju Smith-Schuster.  He understands his role as a depth piece and is an instant upgrade over bums like Jalin Hyatt.

Most importantly, he can serve as a mentor to the young guys in the locker room.  Odell’s experience being built up as a superstar, only to be chewed up and spat out is beyond valuable to a team whose best players are currently going through eerily similar experiences.

While the parallels to Malik Nabers are the most obvious, I’m not overly concerned with the fact that he’s not rehabbing his knee fast enough for Pat Leonard’s liking.  I want him in the ear of Jaxson Dart and Abdul Carter.

This duo has obvious star potential and are in the process of being torn down for absolute nonsense.  We can’t have their stories in NY end the same way as Odell, Saquon, and so many others.  I’m not looking for 1,200 yards and 10 TDs.  I just want to focus on football and not be dragged by the bullshit that has plagued us for the past 15 years.

So let’s get Jalin Hyatt $10,000 and a gig at the American Dream.  Let’s get #13 back in the end zone again.

Nothing Heals the Yankees Like the AL Central

In a world filled with so much doubt and uncertainty, it’s comforting to know that some things truly do stay the same.  While death and taxes are a bit of a drag, the Yankees’ continued domination of the AL Central is something that never fails to bring me immense joy.

For the second time this season, the Yanks ended a stretch of mediocre play by beating the brakes off the pitiful Kansas City Royals.  Wednesday Night’s 7-0 victory marks 14 straight wins against Kansas City.  This most recent dismantling officially capped off the season series in which New York outscored this “opponent” 50-10. 

Seeing “KC” on a baseball schedule represents so much more than a regular three-game stretch.  It personifies the term “get-right series”, in which wins are guaranteed to be added, and stats are guaranteed to be padded.  No matter how good or bad the Yanks are playing, you just know that in 72 short hours, the “Chase for 28” will be back on.

They should let the dorky dudes on one of those Queer Eye makeover Shows take BP against Bailey Falter and the boys to instill some much-needed confidence.  Perhaps we should consider allowing sick children the opportunity to pitch against the bottom of the Royals lineup in order to give them the strength and belief needed to overcome their terminal illnesses. 

If the sensation of beating the Royals could be taken in pill form, I fear there would be a global epidemic.

Much of this applies not just to Kansas City, but to the entirety of the AL Central.  Since 2006, the Yankees are 450-254 against this joke of a division.  That equates to .639 winning percentage, good enough for a ~103-win pace over this 20-year stretch.

The downside of this complete and utter domination is that we oftentimes leave these series thinking the team is better than it actually is.  Unfortunately, the real World Series contenders don’t play near cornfields.  While these wins are important in putting together a strong season, they are not necessarily indicative of postseason success.

That is of course unless the Yankees are fortunate enough to play one of these squads come October.  Since 2017, the Yankees have faced off against an AL Central foe seven times in the postseason.  The Yankees have won all seven series.

If you really want to put on your doomer glasses, you could say that pretty much any success this team has had over the past decade is at the expense of this band of mediocre baseball teams.

The model of beating up on bad teams and praying we draw an AL Central opponent in October keeps the fan base engaged but unfortunately has only led to one piece of hardware in the form of an AL Pennant.  This path to the 2024 World Series was of course made up exclusively of central foes.

While I constantly find myself ping-ponging between overconfident and overly cynical after these series, it’s hard to argue with the immediate impact.  The Yankees have climbed to within 1.5 games of Tampa Bay.  After this weekend’s edition of “A’s after Dark”, 6 of the team’s next 10 series are against this punching bag of a division. 

This should prevent the infamous “June Swoon” and allow the Yanks to reclaim the division lead by the All-Star Break.  Will this solve all of the team’s problems?  Of course not, but getting in position to skip the 3-game crapshoot wildcard round and hopefully match up against one of these putzes in the DS should remain the goal.

So let’s try our best to not get too high or too skeptical over this next month.  Enjoy the warm weather, hot dogs, and paper mache victories over our Middle-American friends.  Because regardless of the opposition, not all success needs to be taken with a grain of salt.

After all, that Gerrit Cole guy looked pretty good, huh?

Touch Grass. The Giants are Fine.

What was meant to be a quiet, uneventful, and productive Giants offseason has quickly flown off the rails after this weekend’s shocking news out of East Rutherford. For the first time in NFL history, a Republican and Democrat player share a Locker Room. Disturbing and disgusting, I know.

Obviously the so-called “journalists” and Twitter Bots had a field day as Jaxson Dart and Abdul Carter’s non-tiff went public. The mentally-ill on both sides of the spectrum planted their flags on opposing sides of the line of scrimmage as both of the team’s 2025 1st Rounders were torn apart by the biggest losers the internet has to offer.

I’ll say this as clearly as possible - If you’re offended by either side of this, you are the fucking problem. You’re a pleb whose been programmed to have a visceral reaction to anything that opposes whatever side of the coin your twitter algorithm realized you’re dumb enough to support.

If you want to keep mainlining the diarrhea soup the news feeds you, so be it. But if you support this team and find yourself arguing in the comment section of anything related to this, just know you’re no fan, you’re an opp.

You’re adding fuel to the fire of something that was a non-issue for the first 100 years of NFL football. In every real-life setting, you’re going to encounter people with upbringings and sets of beliefs that differ from your own. Odds are you’re going to have to communicate and collaborate with these people in order to find success or accomplish a common goal.

This team has more promise than ever and is preparing for its best season in 15 years. Don’t let hate mongers and social media bullshit ruin it. Because unlike you twitter dorks, these guys of some of the most physically talented, mentally disciplined individuals on the planet. They’re going to figure it out, no matter how badly the football hating pansies want to pull them apart.

If you don’t like anything you’ve read today, get fucking lost. We’re here to talk ball and support the Giants, not some grifting political party.

The Yankees Can’t Keep Ignoring the Warning Signs

A brutal Subway Series collapse exposed problems the Yankees can no longer ignore

Well, we’re one day removed from suffering an early “worst loss of the season” contender at the hands of the crosstown rival, New York Mets.  If we’re being honest, it seems as though they’ve gotten the better of the Yankees in a majority of these Subway Series matchups.  While we can usually brush off a series loss in the infancy of a season with the predictable, yet lame “This is your World Series” excuse – this one just feels different. 

This is largely due to the fact that the Mets are in the midst of a season from hell.  This is an organization that watched beloved core players walk to greener pastures so they could spend Uncle Creepie’s schmeckles on aging, underperforming, hired bums.  It was only a few weeks back that this team suffered a franchise-tying 12-game losing streak which doesn’t include a separate 3-game sweeping at the hands of the vaunted Colorado Rockies.  Simply put, everything that could go wrong, has gone wrong for a franchise that has had their fair share of miserably embarrassing stretches over the years.

So when Tyrone “3 for his last 32” Taylor steps up to the dish with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th, there wasn’t a soul in that building that expected him to come through in the clutch.  Not only did Taylor send Bednar’s (inexplicably dumb!) first-pitch curve to Astoria, but he potentially rerouted the entire 2026 Yankees campaign in the process. 

If you get miraculously beaten by a team that was 0 for their last 91 in games they were trailing through 8 innings, what does that make you?  I’m not trying to be dramatic, but Sunday’s loss will leave a stench of “they’re gonna blow this one” on this team for the remainder of the season.

Something needs to be done about the bullpen immediately.  Last season, Bednar earned a ton of goodwill simply because he was a human being not named Devin Williams.  This year, he’s given up earned runs in 9 of his 20 appearances and has flushed all the trust he was wrongfully awarded down his parent’s Pittsburgh Potty.

Doval; the prematurely crowned “set-up man”, has been even worse.  This leaves any and all late inning pitching responsibilities in the hands of Fernando Cruz, Tim Hill, and Brent Headrick.  This trio has performed admirably, but to expect this consistency for another 115 games is equal parts unfair and moronic.

While I fully understand that teams aren’t going to easily part with bullpen arms while they remain within the clusterfuck that is the May Wild Card Race, I think it’s time to start extending godfather offers to some of the bottom feeders.  There is no room for both Jones AND Dominguez in the near or distant future.  This isn’t an easy decision by any means, but if you need to ship one of these kids off for a proven closer, make the move.

I’ll do my part and butcher whatever woodland creatures Matt Blake deems necessary to perform his black magic on this year’s class of 5.00 ERA relievers.  But I need it to happen immediately, not in July.  So, make the calls Cashman and I’ll start drawing the pentagrams.

While you’re on the line, some sort of competition at the catcher position would be nice.  Either give Escarra real reps to see if he can fill the black hole in the lineup, or get someone (ideally a righty) who can play the position.  You truly don’t know how good you have it, until you’re willing to name your first-born “Higashioka” if it meant the “Home Run Stroka” would walk through those doors.  While Volpe has served as the team’s whipping boy for the past couple of years, Wells has been equally disappointing and is equally undeserving of being penciled into his starting role.

Aside from that, we need to get our big guys back on the damn field.  The June Swoon has come a month early and scheduled PTO needs to end.  For the life of me, I don’t understand why we’re having Cole throw 90 pitches a start in “Cinco De Mayo” alternate jerseys when Rodon is up here playing wall ball with the backstop.  The team needs juice and intensity.  Let’s wrap up the purely precautionary Caballero stint, get Stanton on a yoga regiment, and cancel Cole’s next rehab start in Antelope, Oregon.

I swear that I’m not normally the suburban WFAN Caller – but when the narrative surrounding the Yankees is “they only beat bad teams” and then you get absolutely pantsed by a rival bad team, change needs to be made.  We’re looking at a month long stretch of games that starts with the Jays and Rays (obvious divisional significance), followed by a clump of teams right in the thick of AL Wild Card contention.  These games will ultimately decide who and where we’re playing come October.

Learn from years past.  Don’t let early season success and shitty American League records fool you into thinking you’re better than you are.  This weekend’s gut punch was long overdue and its time to make the necessary changes to ensure this season doesn’t end the same as the last 15.