Knicks fans made me smile: Let me explain
Monday morning in New York City. The humidity that felt like a damp blanket has vanished, leaving behind sun-soaked park benches and an easy cool breeze.
Over the weekend, the New York Knicks were crowned NBA champs after subduing the San Antonio Spurs in San Antonio. Here I am standing in Washington Square Park talking with exuberant fans. These are the sorts of long-suffering fans who will chat with just about anyone about the title.
I am essentially listening to a form of pure joy.
One fan said to me: “If you don’t make it out on Thursday [for the parade], you aren’t a real fan. You just aren’t a fan.”
Another said: “The Knicks did their thing… they got one. 'Bout time.” This guy sounded like a proud father who can’t help but remind the child that they aren’t perfect.
And still, another fan said, with deep-felt emotion, that this reminded him of when Barack Obama won the presidency: “Something that I never thought I’d see happen."
If you hadn’t tuned in, the Knicks took home a championship after a 53-year drought. Still, you might be wondering why I am smiling while watching this scene in a New York City park. After all, I am a die-hard Boston sports fan. Aren’t I supposed to hate the Knicks -- or any NY sports team, for that matter?
Yes. And to be clear, I could never root for a NY team … and yet, here I stand … smiling.
For one thing, I can relate. Hearing so many fans talk about parents and grandparents who had seen the Knicks win in 1973 took me right back to October of 2004 when I travelled for TIME magazine to St. Louis to see the Red Sox finally win a World Series after decades of bupkis. That intergenerational joy really got to me back then, and I could feel it welling up in me again.
But it was deeper than just a fond memory. New York is an epicenter. The palpable sense of unity among such a diverse stratum of people is a thing to behold. Yes, there will be arguments about whether celebs like Ben Stiller should get free tickets when so many fans with so little pay so much more, but joy is an equalizer. Whether you are movie celebrity or a bus driver, the joy is just the same.
That’s when it really hit me. Standing in Washington Square Park, listening to fans emote, feeling that sense of unity and happiness, I thought: Maybe I just miss these feelings. I might even crave them. Everything today is about division. Our politics. Our culture. Our work. We are so easily divided and fragmented. This was about multiplication. This was a contagion that you wanted to spread. This was different from so many of the bad things that have marked this decade.
So perhaps it’s not just a game. It could be that these events are meant to show us that we can all wonder at human accomplishment. That might sound sentimental, but there was something about watching the Knicks that made even this Boston sports fan smile. Their guts and resilience were hard not to admire. And I don’t think I’m the only fan of an opposing team that is giving the Knicks their due. I see it everywhere. Again, so different from the rest of the world where battle mode passes for normalcy and makes us exhausted.
The parade will come and go on Thursday in New York City, and I will be back in Boston. Back in my corner, so to speak. I won’t tune in to see the record crowds or watch throngs of men, women and children pour into the streets to see their heroes. All that is their joy to savor.
Me. I’ll just put on my Boston Red Sox hat and get back to work.
Mea Culpa: Last week, I mistakenly said that Mass. had the highest GDP in the nation. I should have said that it has the fastest-growing GDP.
Have a great weekend.
