Even though I grew up in LI, I'm a Rangers/Giants/Yankees fan, because those are the teams that my father and grandparents rooted for. I was a big Knicks fan in the 90s but that has cooled off and now I'm more of a college b-ball fan.
Fanhood varies for everyone in NY. Sometimes its regional, sometimes its familial, and sometimes it just bandwagon jumping. I suffered through the Yankees of the mid-80s to early-90s, but there are plenty who hopped on the bandwagon post-1996. And I've heard horror stories about Rangers fans hopping on the Islanders bandwagon during their dynasty, which is downright blasphemous.
I would say there's a small correlation where fans are either Rangers/Yankees/Giants fans or Islanders/Mets/Jets fans but as you can see from some of the responses already, there are many exceptions.
New York is a baseball city and the Yankees are by and large the most talked about team in the media and around town, even when it's the offseason. Giants, Jets and Mets vary as the "2,3,4" most popular teams depending on the time of year and how well they are playing. Then come the Knicks, and the Rangers/Nets and finally Isles/Devils.
Because New York is so large, and its influence on nearby suburbs so great, you'll see wide variations in sport/team popularity within the region. For example, Hockey is extremely popular on Long Island which may have to do with demographics and it being a more wealthy region -- but not so popular in some of the inner city boroughs.
I am a Rangers/Yankees/Giants fan in that order.
My allegiance to the Yankees came about from growing up watching the games with my parents and playing youth baseball. I guess I had good timing since I got to grow up watching the Yankees in their dynasty years in the late 90s. Both of my parents root for New York football teams and do not favor the Jets or Giants (which annoys the crap out of me) -- I chose early in childhood to root for the Giants only.
I was the first hockey fan in my family, watching Rangers games on FOX and ESPN (without even realizing it) after the morning fox cartoons were over and started to like them. Also played some roller hockey and ice hockey as a kid which also helped to solidify my like for them, even though I live closer to where the Islanders play. Unfortunately I was only 5 when the Rangers won the cup in 94 and don't really have any meaningful or significant memories of that time.
I'll leave you with one last bit of perspective to compare to Toronto:
If I see a stranger wearing a Rangers shirt/jersey or hat, I'll usually strike up conversation or make a comment about the team to them because it's so refreshing to see another hockey fan compared to how many baseball/football fans around. Sometimes I'll even talk to strangers wearing Islanders or Devils gear just to talk some hockey. I'd NEVER do this to someone wearing Yankees or Giants clothes by the way.
Last edited by Carl Hagelins Flow: 04-17-2012 at 11:59 PM.
Since we're all naming our favorite teams, I'll name mine. Rangers are my #1 by far, my #2 is the Jets, my #3 is whoever is playing the Yankees.
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"Trust me I'm an expert, I watched 13 rangers games on NHL center Ice this year through streaming." -Starburst
"I don't even understand what the point of all this arguing is. Are you guys hoping that the other side is going to have an epiphany and go 'Oh, OH! You're right, we ARE going to lose this series!'" -Crease
I don't really think you can lump together a hockey team when talking about what the norm is for fandom because the Ranger fans dominate the tri-state area. Generally it's really the baseball and football teams that you lump together stereotypically. Yankees/Giants and Mets/Jets. And I am unfortunately the latter.
Something that's extremely annoying though which I've been asked a lot when I say I'm a Mets/Jets fan is "are you a Nets fan too since you like all the 'ets'?" What a stupid ****ing question
Nope. I don't think anyone besides you is a Rays fan.
haha Yeah. I can't wait to see the fanbase when the Rays fall back to the gutter. Pisses me off. I was living in New York when my grandfather (who was living in Florida) got me their hat with the Manta Ray on the front in 98. You'd get laughed at by Floridians if you liked the Devil Rays prior to 08.
Somewhat related, I've always been curious as to which part of the Tri-State area has the biggest Ranger fan base (per capita), either by borough or neighborhood. I am sure the Rangers' brass have this info (partially based on season ticket addresses). Obviously we are all spread out, but it would be interesting to know as there must be a cluster somewhere.
I know when I've taken the LIRR back to LI after a game, there are hundreds of Ranger fans at Penn doing same. But I have the feeling there are a lot of Ranger fans in parts of Brooklyn too.
#1 Giants #2 Rangers top two close........#3 Yankees #4 Knicks
I'm sorry for younger Mets, Jets, Nets, Islanders fans. There's a WHOLE lotta fail there.
Yeah I know. My dad is a fan of those four and my brother is only a Mets and Jets fan. I'm the only sports fan in my house who isn't depressed all year. To be fair towards my dad, he at least saw four Stanley Cups, a Superbowl, and two World Series. He also had seasons for the Islanders during their dynasty, so at least he saw it all happen live.
As for the Devils....I don't think anybody cares about them, as well as the Nets.
Rangers, Yankees, Jets, -----------------------------------------------------, then the Knicks (essentially Ill watch them in the playoffs if nothing better is on other channels including the weather channel.)
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I feel like this is such an appropriate quote for these boards...
"Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level, and then beat you with experience"-Mark Twain
My buddy is prototypical: giants, yankees, rangers.
I'm saints, rangers and used to be a mets fan but I just done't like many of the players. I still follow them but also follow favorite players. Would have become a Tigers fan if I had moved to Detroit instead of Hartford.
Yanks, Giants, Rangers, Knicks. The bad thing about NY...is that because its such a big city and such a melting pot...is that its so hard to ever see the people united as one when it comes to cheering for one of their teams. I mean compare it to a place like Boston, where everyone is a Sox, Celtics, Pats and Bruins fan.
In NY...when the Yanks win, a portion of the city is pissed because they are Mets fans. When the Giants win, you have upset Jets fans. Not even taking into account fans of other teams that relocated to NY, yet still of course still support their team. Probably the closest you can come to seeing NY fully behind a team, is when the Rangers and Knicks are making a deep playoff run.
I also think fandom is less regional now due to technology. I mean I got into sports in the late 80s. Obviously long before being able to buy sports packages on cable or the internet in which you could watch every game played by any team no matter where in the country you are. No internet where you had access to team websites, other cities newspapers, message boards, Twitter etc. My exposure to sports was the Yanks, Knicks, Rangers on MSG and the Isles, Devils, Nets and Mets on Sportschannel. Of course, no NFL Sunday Ticket either so it was only Giants and Jets on TV every Sunday afternoon. So if I wanted to pick a team to follow, watch all their games, read about them etc. then my choices were the local teams.
Now if you have a kid who's getting into sports...his choices are endless. If for some reason he/she wants to be a Sharks fan even though they live in NY...they can. They can get Gamecenter live, or Center Ice and watch every game.
Yanks, Giants, Rangers, Knicks. The bad thing about NY...is that because its such a big city and such a melting pot...is that its so hard to ever see the people united as one when it comes to cheering for one of their teams. I mean compare it to a place like Boston, where everyone is a Sox, Celtics, Pats and Bruins fan.
In NY...when the Yanks win, a portion of the city is pissed because they are Mets fans. When the Giants win, you have upset Jets fans. Not even taking into account fans of other teams that relocated to NY, yet still of course still support their team.
Probably the closest you can come to seeing NY fully behind a team, is when the Rangers and Knicks are making a deep playoff run.
Not really. If the Jets are out of it I happily root for the Gmen.
Rangers, Packers, Mets, and not a fan of basketball at all. Basically I just inherited my father's teams. Being one of the few Packers fans in NYC was extra sweet in 2011 (and extra bitter in 2012 )
From my area, I'd say 80% of people are Rangers fans.. a large amount of them however don't know anything about the team and are bandwagon fans (when I said Carl Hagelin was suspended to one guy he said "Good, he deserves it for jumping Boyle like that!") The small amount of Devils and Islanders fans I know personally are die-hards and stick with their team no matter what.
Not really. If the Jets are out of it I happily root for the Gmen.
I think their are some Jets fans like this. As a Giants fan, I've normally had no issues cheering for the Jets if the Giants are done (although Rex Ryan has made this harder to do )
But I also know many Jets fans that dispise the Giants.
Yanks, Giants, Rangers, Knicks. The bad thing about NY...is that because its such a big city and such a melting pot...is that its so hard to ever see the people united as one when it comes to cheering for one of their teams. I mean compare it to a place like Boston, where everyone is a Sox, Celtics, Pats and Bruins fan.
In NY...when the Yanks win, a portion of the city is pissed because they are Mets fans. When the Giants win, you have upset Jets fans. Not even taking into account fans of other teams that relocated to NY, yet still of course still support their team. Probably the closest you can come to seeing NY fully behind a team, is when the Rangers and Knicks are making a deep playoff run.
I also think fandom is less regional now due to technology. I mean I got into sports in the late 80s. Obviously long before being able to buy sports packages on cable or the internet in which you could watch every game played by any team no matter where in the country you are. No internet where you had access to team websites, other cities newspapers, message boards, Twitter etc. My exposure to sports was the Yanks, Knicks, Rangers on MSG and the Isles, Devils, Nets and Mets on Sportschannel. Of course, no NFL Sunday Ticket either so it was only Giants and Jets on TV every Sunday afternoon. So if I wanted to pick a team to follow, watch all their games, read about them etc. then my choices were the local teams.
Now if you have a kid who's getting into sports...his choices are endless. If for some reason he/she wants to be a Sharks fan even though they live in NY...they can. They can get Gamecenter live, or Center Ice and watch every game.
Funny you say that. When I was 5 I wanted to be a Mighty Ducks fan. Nearly crushed my dads hopes and dreams for me at 5 years old. I then came to my senses (I guess you could argue that the other way) and followed in the footsteps of my fathers team, stressful, angry, failure riddled New York Rangers footsteps.
I became a full time true fan during the dark ages. 1999 to be exact. (Im only 23) However I have been watching hockey since I was 4.
I think their are some Jets fans like this. As a Giants fan, I've normally had no issues cheering for the Jets if the Giants are done (although Rex Ryan has made this harder to do )
But I also know many Jets fans that dispise the Giants.
I understand why people hate Rex and respect it completely. I happen to like the guy but... yeah. As a Yankees fan, I don't despise the Mets, I just don't like them. I won't root for them unless they play the Red Sox. Hell Ill root for the Braves before the sox.
Funny you say that. When I was 5 I wanted to be a Mighty Ducks fan. Nearly crushed my dads hopes and dreams for me at 5 years old. I then came to my senses (I guess you could argue that the other way) and followed in the footsteps of my fathers team, stressful, angry, failure riddled New York Rangers footsteps.
I became a full time true fan during the dark ages. 1999 to be exact. (Im only 23) However I have been watching hockey since I was 4.
Tough time to jump on the Rangers train. I'm happy for the younger fans who missed out on 1994 in that this season they finally saw a Rangers team be a upper echelon team.
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