Knicks Fever and Buffalo Envy
Living win New York City as a Buffalo sports fan can be a riddle trapped in an enigma. Over the years, I feel NYC fans have come to respect Buffalo sports teams more, specifically the Bills. Still, while the cute underdog story works, there’s a feeling here that if you don’t win a title, you’re basically dead as a fish.
On one hand, you’re genuinely happy for your friends when their NYC teams win. I love NYC. That’s why I’ve been here since 2002, and while I can complain, the narrative that if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere is legit. Of course, I haven’t made dick besides a kid, but you get the picture. Besides Jets fans, I’ll give a nod to most of the NYC fan bases here.
On the other hand, it’s impossible not to wonder what that feeling must actually be like.
I’ve spent more than two decades living among Yankees, Mets, Giants, Knicks, Rangers, and people who somehow still have faith in the Jets. I’ve watched championship parades, playoff celebrations, meetings that started with a “world champs” congratulations, and the kind of civic joy that comes when an entire city rallies around a winner. It has happened three times since I’ve been here, which honestly feels kind of low for a city this size over 24 years, especially if we’re not counting the New Jersey teams—which nobody does. The Yankees in 2009 and the Giants in 2008 and 2012.
Every time it happens, a small part of me gets jealous, not because I dislike seeing people happy, but because I honestly don’t know what it feels like for one of my teams to finish the job. I also see how certain teams here get zero love (cough, all the New Jersey teams).
As I write this, I’m watching Knicks vs. Spurs Game 1 on my TV, and I can hear the crowd at a bar that’s about a five-minute walk away screaming every time the Knicks score a basket. It’s super annoying because there’s a delay on my TV, so I know when the Knicks are about to do something good before I even see it.
The Knicks right now have the best vibes I’ve seen in this city since I’ve lived here. Everyone has a Knicks shirt on, and every other sports bar has a Knicks flag hanging outside. Basketball is legit here, and with the Knicks being mostly shitty for the better part of two decades—along with an endless supply of terrible coaches, disappointing players, and a buffoon owner—it’s honestly the first time I’ve really felt a connection to their fandom by comparison to the other teams.
As Buffalo fans, we’re experts in almost everything except the ending.
We know anticipation. We know optimism. We know heartbreak. We know convincing ourselves that next year will be different. We know what it’s like to care way too much about a game and allow it to dictate our mood for an entire week.
But the one emotion many of us haven’t experienced is that final exhale. That moment when the clock hits zero and there’s no catch, no collapse, no “wait until next year.”
Just pure joy.
I was out when the Giants won the Super Bowl in 2012, and I sat in a New York sports bar watching another fan base celebrate. I found myself wondering what Buffalo would look like if it finally happened.
Not just the parade, but the days afterward.
The phone calls. The text messages. The random strangers hugging on Elmwood Avenue. The old-timers who waited their entire lives. The parents who passed their fandom down to their kids. The people who never stopped believing despite every reason not to. The WGR callers who would somehow still find something to complain about.
We aren’t chasing another championship.
We’re chasing a first memory.
Right now as I pick up this story after taking a break, the Knicks just won game 2. I was at the Astoria Tavern which is normally a pretty low key spot. But not tonight. Wall-to-wall Knicks fans. The neighborhood is bonkers. “Knicks in 4” is the chant and the mayor was just at a bar 10 blocks away watching the game and NYers were waving at his car down Ditmars Avenue. Oh, and there’s fireworks. This is what it’s supposed to feel like.
The fans around me in New York expect championships. They’re disappointed when they don’t get them. Buffalo fans dream about one. We’ve spent decades building emotional equity for a moment we’ve never experienced. We’ve invested generations into a payoff we still haven’t collected.
So yes, I get a little jealous when I watch another city celebrate in their backyard that is now my backyard. But more than anything, I find myself wondering what it will feel like when it’s finally our turn.
Because if a random Bills logo on a hat can make two strangers yell “Go Bills” across a Queens street, I can’t even begin to imagine what an actual championship would do to Buffalo and to the Buffalo expat community. And if that day ever comes, I have a feeling Buffalo won’t just throw a parade or a party. It’ll feel like a family reunion across the USA.
For one day, Buffalo expats from Queens to California won’t feel hundreds or thousands of miles away.
They’ll feel like they’re home again.
Sports Pride Isn’t About You
Every June, sports teams across America celebrate Pride Month. They wear rainbow warmup jerseys. They change their logos on social media. They host Pride Nights. They invite LGBTQ+ fans and community groups into the building.
And every June, without fail, a small army of professional trolls emerge from the depths of social media to tell us how much they hate it. The egg avatars join forces with the American flag avatars. I saw this week some asshole congressman took a dump on LGBTQ for pride month which of course I replied on Twitter with a prideful “fuck you!”. If you go to our library in Andy’s room, we have a number of LGBTQ books. His favorite is a book about Pride and how it was founded. It is always amazing when you find out how things start based on a Children’s book, but here we are. There’s history with why June is Pride month and it has nothing to do with it being the month rainbows come out the most.
To give you a brief history lesson:
June was chosen as Pride Month to commemorate the Stonewall Riots, a series of protests and clashes with police that began in New York City on June 28, 1969. This uprising at the Stonewall Inn is widely considered the catalyst for the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement
The funny thing is, most of the people screaming about Pride would never notice it if they simply went outside and touched grass. I guess Putting a rainbow logo on Twitter for a few days somehow prevents your favorite player to scores.
Sports teams celebrate Pride Month for number of reasons:
Sports are supposed to be for everybody.
They want to sell LGBTQ gear.
They are worried about social media reaction.
They want to be dicks the other 11 months and will say well we host pride events, so we can’t be all that bad.
For decades, LGBTQ+ fans were told they didn’t belong in the broader sports culture. Athletes hide who they are because they feared it would cost them teammates, endorsements, jobs, or acceptance. We all know there are more LGBTQ athletes in the 4 major sports and the day that they can all come out and no one cares, will be a victory for everyone. Pride Nights aren’t about declaring victory. They’re about signaling that those fans belong too.
The irony is that sports franchises celebrate dozens of different groups throughout the year and nobody bats an eye. Teams have Military Appreciation Nights. First Responders Nights. Heritage Nights. Teacher Appreciation Nights. Cancer Awareness Nights. Autism Awareness initiatives. Women’s History Month celebrations.
Nobody jumps on Facebook demanding your sports team to “stick to sports” when they’re honoring veterans. Nobody throws a tantrum because a team is raising money for cancer research.
Yet somehow Pride Month is where some people suddenly become defenders of keeping sports “just about sports.”
That’s usually a tell.
Because the truth is that most Pride celebrations in sports are incredibly tame. They’re not political rallies. They’re not lectures. They’re not forcing anybody to do anything. They’re simply saying that if you’re a fan, you’re welcome here.
If that message bothers you, maybe the problem isn’t the rainbow logo. Maybe it’s the fact that for one night or for a month, the spotlight isn’t on you. The good news is nobody is asking you to change who you are…it is just to recognize that sports are big enough for everyone else, too.
Stathead of the week: 32nd, 18th, 18th, 22nd 14th
DAD SHOTS
—I’m not breaking any news here, but Lindy Ruff got robbed for Coach of the Year. It just reeks of the following:
TV broadcasters not knowing dick about hockey.
TV broadcasters feeling bad for John Cooper because he never won the award.
Canadian TV broadcasters feeling bad for John Cooper because he didn’t win the gold medal.
He’s a quote machine and much friendlier with the national media after years of being on TV.
Random: Did you know Phil Jackson only won ONE Coach of the Year award despite winning 11 championships? That lone award came when the Bulls went 72-10. The award has always been stupid because it usually goes to the coach whose team goes from worst to first. That’s how it works in pretty much every sport. The NHL broadcasters not only moved away from that logic, but they didn’t even vote for the coach of the best team.
—I’m the first person to throw rotten tomatoes at Eric Staal. And yes, you can be annoyed and wonder if he even still works for the Sabres, but he’s not the first player to collect a paycheck from another team and do some sort of ceremonial pregame rally cry. Ryan Miller gets a paycheck from the Sharks and he banged the drum. Bottom line: this isn’t the first time it’s happened. But you can still fire tomatoes at him.
—I’m not the only one annoyed at Brandon Beane over the Myles Garrett situation. Yes, you’ve heard all the reasons why it wouldn’t have worked because the Bills didn’t have a young, rookie-contract player Cleveland wanted. Still, for me, the frustrating part—besides the last three drafts being, at best... incomplete—is that it’s once again another stupid Brandon Beane quote about Josh Allen’s contract being a hindrance to the cap, only to watch the Rams, who are paying their quarterback a shitload of money, make bold moves.
The Bills have handed out a ton of extensions to role players or guys who are good-ish but not stars. They’re looking for the Alfreds, Aunt Harriets, and Chief O’Haras of the world to build around Batman. Meanwhile, the Rams are looking for the Justice League.
—The original Grande Americano vs. Grande Americano match for AAA was awesome. The crowd was electric and it felt like a legit fight. It was serious and not stupid comedy. Definitely go look up the match on YouTube.
—Your “I’m gonna pretend to care about OTAs” moment of the week is... nothing.
I didn’t pay enough attention besides seeing some rugby player changed positions. I laugh at anyone who tries to turn these practices into some sort of silver lining for predicting the season, especially when they give the Surgeon General warning that none of this means much because it’s shorts-and-open-air season, then proceed to hype up every practice anyway.
—File this under “not exactly news,” but I’m hearing WGR isn’t sure what they’re going to do with their 10 a.m.–3 p.m. programming and that going national is a possibility. This wouldn’t be shocking as an Audacy strategy since it’s a more cost-efficient approach and something the station used to do during the 2000s when it carried Colin Cowherd from 10 a.m.–noon and Jim Rome from noon–3 p.m.
If they go this route, at least it feels like the Bills would get more national attention than they did back then. As for the Sabres, we know most national shows don’t give two shits about hockey. The station dropped the national shows when the Sabres and Bills paid for programming and launched Sabres Hockey Hotline with Kevin Sylvester from 10 a.m.–noon and The John Murphy Show from noon–3 p.m. in 2012.
Since then, both shows have been rebranded several times.
Sylvester left Sabres Hockey Hotline, Andrew Peters and Craig Rivet took over, and it became The Instigators. Then it became Sabres Live with Brian Duff and Marty Biron when both former enforcers left.
The John Murphy Show became Bills Live in 2018 with the addition of Steve Tasker. Murphy eventually left the show and Chris Brown took over. Then, in 2021, each show lost an hour and moved to noon–1 p.m. and 1–3 p.m., respectively, when the station and teams reached an extension on the radio rights deal.
It’s kind of crazy that aside from Howard Simon retiring, the two main WGR shows have largely had the same hosts while the Sabres and Bills programs have featured a revolving cast.
I’m sure one reason is that the executives overseeing Bills and Sabres media production have changed constantly. When change happens at the senior level in media, people usually want their own personnel. WGR, on the other hand, has had Allan Davis running the station since 2011. For me, I’d rather just have local hosts. I’ve enjoyed Riter/Graham during their lunchtime broadcast.
—So I bought two Bills-Jets tickets in New Jersey through the Astoria Bills Backers of Queens. It includes transportation from Queens to New Jersey and a tailgate. My plan is to take a reader of this Substack to the game details below. As long as you are subscribed to the substack, you are entered. And yes, having to sit next to me is a gift or a curse.
—So Charles Oakley is banned from MSG, but Donald Trump can attend games there. I kind of think it should be the other way around. It’s hilarious to me that he’ll go watch the NBA Finals instead of attending his son’s wedding because he’s “so busy,” which I personally understand. I’d rather watch Bills-Dolphins from 2007 on an endless loop than attend Don Jr.’s wedding. Furthermore, fuck having to close down the watch parties because this guy and James Dolan -another dickhead- has to watch this game together.
—Josh Allen would have to play until he’s 40 if he wants to break Brett Favre’s consecutive-games record.
—Jalen Brunson is so much fun to watch. He’s got a little Allen Iverson in him, using every fiber of his being to hibachi his way to the basket, and he can pull up from three anywhere on the court. I’m glad we got our 8-year-old nephew his jersey so Andy can inherit it when it gets passed down in six years.
—Andy and I planted a vegetable garden outside our apartment. OK, I did most of the work while he mostly played in the dirt and threw it everywhere, but I digress. We don’t have much soil, so I bought some pots and “borrowed” a few empty ones from our neighbor who moved to Greece. Then I added seeds. I’m pretty sure I screwed up because I planted way too many seeds in each pot.
We’re growing tomatoes, cucumbers, corn, carrots, beets, and melons. They’ve already started sprouting, but I’m worried there isn’t enough dirt for them to actually produce vegetables. My dad tried giving me advice, but he’s 82 and his broken English, combined with his low IQ, made it extremely difficult to understand what the hell he was talking about. I should have listened to my wife. Her dad was a farmer and she actually had good ideas. But she was too busy being impressed by how great Andy and I were doing to interfere as she mentioned less seeds were better. I just couldnt fathom wasting seeds and was like fuck it, we are planting them all!
—Andy is being a dick about his clothing selection and I’ve had to change his wardrobe twice this week after we dressed him as he despised his yellow polo shirt and red shorts. I’m not gonna lie, but I hate polo shirts too. Red shorts? Kind of a little too hipster for my taste. Lastly, remember last week I bitched about whether we should throw a party for him, well, I decided to go through with doing a banger party at The Laughing Floor in Queens.
So I definitely talked out of both sides of my ass on that one.
—As always, please sure to buy some Homage gear from this link. If you purchase some shirts following this link, your boy gets a kick back. Here are my picks for the week
—If you made it this far, I thank you! I’m on the Chicken Finger King of South Buffalo and ball-washer to the media stars podcast on Monday and Tuesday of this week. Please give a listen and tell a friend. Also, please subscribe, share, donate, buy a shirt, and basically make me feel like I matter because I’m a needy guy.
Probably time to admit Rousseau did not live up to his extension despite the optomism that accompanies each offseason that new defensive line additions will “free him up” for more sacks. If he doesn’t work out in this new scheme something has gone awry.
Seems difficult to believe NYC sports teams have such a long string of futilty in such a large market. Presumably all those teams can pay top dollar for GM talent. The Jays management used to complain it is hard to compete in American League East because Boston and NY have all this local tv money. But now that everything is streamed I don’t know if that advantage is now gone?