FARMINGDALE, N.Y. (AP) 鈥 New York sports fans have been so starved for something to celebrate that they poured out of Madison Square Garden onto the streets and snarled city traffic in May, all because the Knicks simply got out of the second round of the NBA playoffs.
They’re already resigned to the Giants and Jets being bad, aware the Yankees and Mets might not be good enough. They need a team to pin their hopes on.
The U.S. squad playing in the at , a place revered by locals in ways no arena ever could, could be it. The Americans might as well trade their red, white and blue for Yankee pinstripes, because their support comes New York style: loud, loyal and liquored up.
鈥淭here鈥檚 not going to be a lack of alcohol consumption,鈥 U.S. player Ben Griffin said. 鈥淔ans are going to be loud. New York people love their sports.鈥
New York sports fans keep on waiting for wins
New York teams have iconic championship moments like Joe Namath guaranteeing victory in the Super Bowl in 1969 and Willis Reed limping to the court to play Game 7 of the NBA Finals a year later, but the Jets and Knicks haven鈥檛 won since those guys were on the team.
Fans wept in the stands at MSG when the Rangers won the Stanley Cup in 1994, ending a 54-year drought. Now they’re working on another one of 31 years and counting.
Even the Yankees don鈥檛 win like they used to, with only two World Series titles in the 2000s 鈥 and one came against the Mets, so a portion of New Yorkers hated the whole thing.
It can make even longtime New York fans wonder if they can keep hanging in there. John McEnroe questioned why he didn鈥檛 switch allegiances after watching the Showtime Lakers when he was living in California and befriended team executive Jeanie Buss, but the Hall of Fame tennis player could never quit the Knicks.
So he remains a regular at Madison Square Garden with Spike Lee, Ben Stiller and all the other fans who come to cheer on their Knicks. (Well, usually cheer.)
鈥淟isten, I鈥檝e been in all of these arenas. If things are going bad in Indiana, the Indiana fans are going to try to rally their team back. The Knicks fans are going to boo their team,鈥 said Stan Van Gundy, an NBA coach and broadcaster whose brother, Jeff, coached the Knicks to their most recent NBA Finals appearance in 1999.
True, New Yorkers sometimes struggle to hide their disappointment. Giants fans couldn’t, booing throughout their home opener Sunday, and some Jets fans wore paper bags over their heads at MetLife Stadium last year.
But when things are good, players say no place compares.
鈥淓verything is heightened, everything is better here,鈥 the Knicks’ Josh Hart said. 鈥淲ith all due respect to other places I鈥檝e played, New York, it鈥檚 the mecca, and when you have people that really wear their heart on their sleeves and they go out there and they鈥檙e really passionate about sporting events of their teams, they come to show love and that energy is what makes you feel that difference.”
Some fans already started, booing loudly Tuesday morning as their shuttle bus passed Team Europe鈥檚 blue and yellow coach.
Bethpage Black is hard, just the way New Yorkers like things
Bethpage Black is the public course that New Yorkers arrive a day early to and sleep in their cars overnight for a chance to play. It鈥檚 not one of those hotel resort courses people play on vacation where there鈥檚 no trouble unless they drive it behind a palm tree. The Black is long and it鈥檚 hard. Arms get sore and legs feel weary. It hurts like playing against Lawrence Taylor鈥檚 Giants.
But hard is how New Yorkers want things.
鈥淓verything we do, we grind. We grind every day. It鈥檚 so New York,鈥 said David Caleca, the president of Bonnie Briar Country Club in nearby Westchester County.
Besides playing Bethpage, Caleca was there when New York fans heckled Sergio Garcia during the 2002 U.S. Open. He鈥檚 also been in Shea Stadium when fans would boo their own Mets players, so knows emotions can swing in a New York minute.
He thinks the U.S. team will receive a huge backing not only because it鈥檚 Bethpage but because of captain Keegan Bradley, who is a New Englander but played collegiately at St. John鈥檚 and displays the passion of someone who must be from Brooklyn or the Bronx.
鈥淗e鈥檚 the kind of guy that New Yorkers love because he wears his emotions for everyone to see,鈥 Caleca said.
Some fans may be cheering as much for the course as Bradley’s team. He knows how New Yorkers feel about Bethpage, a place they learned the game from their fathers or spent summers caddying.
鈥淚t鈥檚 much more than a golf course to a lot of these people,鈥 Bradley said. 鈥淲hen you add all these things up, you鈥檙e going to get fiery fans.鈥
___
AP Golf Writer Doug Ferguson and Associated Press writer Michael R. Sisak contributed to this report.
___
AP golf:
To join the conversation set a first and last name in your user profile.
Sign in or register for free to join the Conversation