In the Spirit of the Game

As a kid, I could always depend on my uncle to make fun of my favorite sports teams. In the most endearing way possible, Uncle Dale would open conversations with “Rangers suck!” When my favorite hockey team was swept by the Devils in 2006, he texted, “Get out your broom!” When the Knicks lost to the Pacers in 2013, he texted, “Stick a fork in ‘em! They’re done!” 

Yet the teams that Uncle Dale hated the most—as did all of us who grew up in New Jersey—were from Boston. And to this day, just hearing the word “Boston” ignites the fire inside me. Not that I don’t like the city itself:  it’s very nice, though too nice, too clean, too quiet. Give me my New York crazies any day.

Right now, sports fans are getting prepped for the New York Knicks vs. Boston Celtics opening playoff game tonight, with the Celtics a heavy favorite in the own home court, which they no longer call the “Boston Garden” and is now named after a bank. We at MSG have still not (entirely) sold out to the corporations.

The New York vs. Boston rivalry has stood the test of time. Baseball fans still talk about “the Curse of the Bambino,” when Babe Ruth left the Red Sox to come to the Yankees, which resulted in one of the longest droughts in sports history. Boston was unable to win a World Series for a shocking 85 years (more than the life expectancy in any country in the world). 

Rivalries work because they come from deep emotions, such as envy and animosity, but also respect. As much as I despise Boston teams to my core, I know that they’re good. When it comes to the Celtics, I respect the success of the franchise (though their most winning player, Bill Russell, famously said, “I played for the Boston Celtics. I did not play for the city or the fans”). Uncle Dale called their fans “Massholes” out of the utmost veneration (and courage). The Bruins are fine too, though their defensive play dating back to Bobby Orr is about as exciting to watch as the Boston Tea Party reenactments. I truly despise the Red Sox (I still live in denial of the 2004 victory) and the Pats, as we all know, deflated their balls and are cheaters.

Unlike the cowardly Bill Belichick, I’m not afraid to call the upset that no one else has the audacity to say aloud:  the Knicks will beat the Celtics, as we did the last time we faced them in 2013. The Knicks’s core has won two championships before at the college level. The Celtics team has won one championship, and they’re plagued by injuries. So turn on the game tonight and be sure to text your friends from Boston when they lose to the Knicks. They may even appreciate the shit talk because it’s you investing in something they care about. In a political climate where opposing political parties can’t even engage with each other, it’s reassuring that in sports, you still can. It’s all in the spirit of the game.