SOUR APPLE
New York getting lapped by other cities
WASHINGTON — The NBA and the NHL seasons will end this week, and the Devils will join the Yankees as the only two of our nine teams from the past 12-month sporting cycle to earn a playoff bid. So the Devils and Yankees spare us from what would otherwise have been a candidate for the worst year in New York’s sports history.
For now, we’ll just have to figure that this stretch can take its place alongside 1965-66, when every team in New York didn’t just miss the playoffs but was also fully in the tank. Of course, there were fewer teams then.
More to the point, it feels like every year another city passes New York up the ladder of successful sporting cities. For the sake of this argument, we’ll take this alphabetically, and also limit the cities in question to those with at least two major league teams (so, no, we will not be celebrating getting the better of Winnipeg and Edmonton, Sacramento, Portland, San Diego or Memphis — not that any of those cities couldn’t make their own claims against us).
Cities that have clearly passed us by (if they weren’t ahead of us to begin with): Atlanta: Who else would kill to have a football team as interesting as the Falcons right now?
Baltimore: The Ravens may have gagged away a playoff spot last year, but that beats what we endured last football season.
Boston: And it’s so not close at this point it’s embarrassing. How is it possible that all of their teams are great at the same time all of ours are dumpster fires? At least when the Celtics were the Celtics we could still make fun of the Red Sox.
Charlotte: When’s the last time we had two athletes quite as electric as Kemba Walker and Cam Newton?
Chicago: Though it isn’t as big a gap as it was even a year ago.
Cleveland: And that’s including the Browns, for crying out loud. Dallas: And that’s with the Cowboys taking a big step backward this year. Denver: One more bad Broncos year away from relegation. Detroit: Extra credit for its proximity to Ann Arbor. Houston: Why can’t we ever have a coach like Mike D’Antoni?
Indianapolis: And it’s almost like they’ve been sand-bagging, waiting for Andrew Luck to get better.
Kansas City: Maybe Andy Reid would be too much to bear, but the Chiefs and Royals sure have won a bunch of games lately.
Los Angeles: Always a painful admission, but the Rams put the Angelinos over the top, even in a time of Lakers tranquility.
Nashville: Honestly? Think about that. Nashville is ahead of us! By a lot!
New Orleans: We can’t match Drew Brees and Anthony Davis. Next.
Miami: The Heat still carry the day.
Milwaukee: When will New York top the threesome of Aaron Rodgers, Ryan Braun and Giannis Antetokuonmpo?
Minneapolis: One baseball playoff game victory doesn’t make up for the rest.
Pittsburgh: Sid and Ben will keep them well ahead of us for years to come.
Philadelphia: And, my god, who ever saw the day coming when Philly’s lead over us would be almost as insurmountable as Boston’s?
Seattle: Hanging on by a thread now that the Seahawks are regressing … though don’t forget the Yankees brought Russell Wilson to Tampa to help teach the Baby Bombers how to win.
San Francisco/Oakland: The Warriors are more than enough. With Buster Posey and Jimmy Garoppolo waiting in the wings.
St. Louis: Though the Cardinals are one .500 season away from dropping the Arch.
Tampa Bay: Does it matter that the Lightning are basically the Rangers South?
Washington: Though there’s also a lot of heartache to go around here.
Who’s left? Buffalo (we don’t have a tire fire like the Sabres and the Bills don’t make up for that); Cincinnati (one city I can say, with confidence, we’re ahead of … though only thanks to the Yankees and Devils!), Phoenix (though it IS warm there); Toronto (though the Leafs can change that soon). In other words — Yikes!