I have a dream: American Sports Week in New York City
4.6.2018
Translation: machine translated
I have a dream: "Giants" at MetLife Stadium, "Knicks" and "Rangers" at Madison Square Garden, "Yankees" at Yankee Stadium. And me as a spectator right in the middle of it all. A week in New York City dedicated to the four major American sports.
New York City - you either love this city or you hate it. There's nothing in between. I was there for the first and only time in 2000. Unfortunately, I haven't made it across the pond since then. Nevertheless, I love New York. And I love sport. The fusion of the two must be fantastic.
Or a nightmare for anyone who has nothing to do with sport. In this case, however, the metropolis on the Hudson River has plenty of other attractions to offer. I'll just say shopping and Broadway. But let's stick to sport and my dream. I dream of travelling to New York for a week and attending a sporting event every day: Football, basketball, ice hockey and baseball. "The Big Four"... oh boy!
American football
Probably the most popular sport in the country. The National Football League (NFL) consists of 32 teams and generates an annual turnover of around 13 billion dollars (2016). This makes the NFL the sports league with the highest turnover in the world. The regular season starts at the beginning of September, after the play-offs the final, the Super Bowl, takes place on the first Sunday in February.
The current champions are the Philadelphia Eagles. With six victories, the Pittsburgh Steelers hold the record for the most Super Bowl wins. However, the record NFL champions are the Green Bay Packers with 13 titles. This is because the Super Bowl has only been held in its current form since 1967.
Speaking of the Steelers: there is a connection to Switzerland, albeit a little far-fetched. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has his roots in Emmental. His great-great-grandfather Karl Röthlisberger emigrated from Unterfrittenbach to the USA in 1873.
New York is home to two NFL teams. Giants and Jets play their home games at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. Capacity for football games: 82,500 spectators.
New York Giants
The Giants were founded in New York in 1925 by former bookmaker Tim Mara with an investment of just 500 dollars. Just two years later, the Giants win their first of a total of eight NFL titles. They won the Super Bowl four times, most recently in 2011 with their quarterback Eli Manning.
New York Jets
The "Jets" were founded in 1959 as the "Titans of New York". Their first star was quarterback Joe Namath, who went down in NFL history in 1968 for his participation in the so-called "Heidi Game", among other things. The Jets lose 32:43 against the Oakland Riders, with the score still 32:29 in favour of the Jets shortly before the final whistle. Then NBC ends the live broadcast of the game and shows the children's film "Heidi Returns Home" instead. As a result, viewers miss the Raiders' two last-minute touchdowns. The Jets win their only NFL title to date in Super Bowl III against the Baltimore Colts in 1969.
The entire Galaxus football range
Basketball
We owe this sport to a single person. The Canadian doctor and teacher James Naismith developed the ball game in 1891 as an indoor sport for his students. On 20 January 1892, the first official basketball game took place in Springfield in the US state of Massachusetts.
In 1949, the National Basketball Association (NBA) was formed from the merger of two leagues. Another milestone is the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. Professional players from the NBA are admitted for the first time. The USA wins the gold medal with the legendary Dream Team. Players like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird were already living legends back then.
There are currently 30 teams playing in the NBA. The reigning champions are the Golden State Warriors, but the record winners are the Boston Celtics with 17 titles. Two Swiss players have also made their mark in the best league in the world. Thabo Sefolosha, currently with the Utah Jazz, and Clint Capela, who narrowly missed out on the final with the Houston Rockets this year.
New York is home to the Knicks and the Brooklyn Nets.
New York Knickerbockers
The Knicks have been part of the NBA's predecessor organisation, the BBA, since 1946 and are one of the founding members of the NBA along with the Boston Celtics and the Golden State Warriors (then known as the Philadelphia Warriors).
In 1970 and 1973, the Knicks win their only two NBA titles to date against the L.A. Lakers. In 1985, they win the first-ever draft lottery. Here, the right to make the "top pick" for the new season is raffled off among the teams that missed the play-offs in the previous season. The Knicks thus secure the rights to Patrick Ewing. A team is built around the exceptional talent, which reaches the NBA Finals in 1994 and 1999, but loses both series. The Knicks play their home games in the legendary "Madison Square Garden" in the heart of Manhattan. The first Garden was opened on 31 May 1879. The current, fourth Garden has been in operation since 14 February 1968.
Brooklyn Nets
The history of the "Brooklyn Nets" is a prime example of American professional sport and the fact that clubs change owners, names and venues like others change their underwear:
- Founded in 1967
- 1967 - 1968 New Jersey Americans
- 1968 - 1977 New York Nets
- 1977 - 2012 New Jersey Nets
- 2012 - today Brooklyn Nets
The Nets have been playing their home games at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn since 2012, which cost around one billion dollars to build. The centre will be opened with a concert by cents Jay-Z, probably the Brooklyn Nets' most famous fan.
The entire Galaxus basketball range
Hockey
The most important thing right at the beginning: In Canada and the USA, nobody says ice hockey, the sport is simply called hockey. NHL stands for "National Hockey League" and was founded in 1917. The game is played for the "Stanley Cup", founded in 1892 by the then Governor General of Canada, Frederic Arthur Stanley.
The early days are characterised by the usual trials and tribulations of a young, new sport. Clubs come, clubs go. It's pretty chaotic: after just six games in the first season, the Montréal Wanderers' arena burns down. In the second season, five Montréal Canadians players fall ill with Spanish flu. The play-off final therefore has to be cancelled after five games and defenceman Joe Hall dies a few days later as a result of the flu.
In the following years, there were regular arguments about money and a salary cap per team was introduced in the 1925/26 season. The "salary cap" is still a topic today.
Then came the era of the "Original Six". From 1942 to 1967, only the following six teams played in the NHL: Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs and Montréal Canadiens. The Canadiens are also the record holders when it comes to the Stanley Cup, winning the coveted trophy 24 times.
In recent years, the Pittsburgh Penguins have been a dominant team, but have been unable to defend their title from the 16/17 season. This year, the Washington Capitals and the Las Vegas Knights will face each other in the Stanley Cup final. The Knights are the 31st and newest team in the NHL and storm straight into the final in their first season. However, they lost this series by a clear 4-1 margin and the Caps brought the Stanley Cup to the capital for the first time in the club's history.
And the Swiss? They have built up a good reputation in the best hockey league in the world in recent years. For example, Nico Hischier from Valais became the first Swiss first overall draft pick last year and had an impressive rookie season with the New Jersey Devils.
New York City also has two teams in the NHL. The Rangers and the Islanders.
New York Rangers
The Rangers have won the Stanley Cup four times. However, the last title dates back to 1994. In the 1990s, legends such as Marc Messier and Wayne Gretzky played for the Rangers at Madison Square Garden. In November 2015, the Rangers are the most valuable franchise in the NHL with a market value of 1.2 billion dollars.
New York Islanders
Swiss defenceman Mark Streit signed with the Islanders between 2008 and 2013, even serving as captain from 2011 to 2013. In the early 1980s, the Islanders were the measure of all things in the NHL. Between 1980 and 1983, they won the Stanley Cup four times in a row. Since then, Brooklyn has waited in vain for the next title. The current star of the team, which plays its home games at the Barcleys Center, is Canadian centre John Tavares.
The entire Galaxus ice hockey range
Baseball
And now for the fourth and final sport of the "Big Four" and, if some evil tongues outside the USA are to be believed, the most boring sport of all. Perhaps only surpassed in terms of boredom by cricket.
On Wikipedia you can read the following about baseball: "Baseball is a two-team batting game. The defenders bring a ball into play, which the attackers must hit with a bat. If the ball is hit successfully, the attackers can score points by running four bases. The defenders try to prevent this by "throwing" the batted ball to the base first.
Admit it: Thrills sound different. Nevertheless, baseball enjoys great popularity in the USA. But baseball is also extremely popular in Cuba and Japan. There are currently 30 teams organised in the Major League Baseball (MLB) in the USA. The MLB consists of the "National League" and the "American League". The regular season starts at the end of March and ends at the beginning of October. This is followed by the "postseason" (play-offs) and finally the final game, the so-called "World Series". The winner of the World Series can, immodestly in American terms, call themselves world champion. This is currently the case for the Houston Astros, the 2017 champions.
The year before, the Chicago Cubs achieved one of the greatest sensations in American sports history. The Cubs win the title again after 108 years. The third in the club's history after 1907 and 1908.
New York is home to the Mets as well as the legendary Yankees.
New York Yankees
The "Yankees" - the name alone is legendary. They are at home in the legendary Bronx and play there in the legendary Yankee Stadium. The Baseball Hall of Fame includes Yankee legends such as Joe McGinnty, Georg Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. and Joe DiMaggio, who was briefly married to the legendary Marilyn Monroe. The Yankees have won the World Series 27 times since it was founded in 1901, most recently in 2009.
And is there a more legendary (sports) logo?
New York Mets
The "Mets" can't keep up with so many legends. After all, they won the World Series in 1969 and 1986. Founded in 1962, the Mets play their home games at Citi Field in Queens. In the early years, they were regarded as lovable losers before they achieved a major coup with the title in 1969.
In 1986, the Mets won their second title and also made headlines off the pitch. Many team members were regularly spotted in bars late at night, drunk or under the influence of drugs. The highlight was the arrest of four players after a brawl with the police in July 1986.
The entire Galaxus baseball range
I still have a dream
I haven't given up on my dream of attending American Sports Week in New York City. Who knows, maybe it will still work out. For all those who like the big American sports but not "The Big Apple": How about a sports week in Chicago, Boston, Washington, Philadelphia or Los Angeles, for example? These cities also offer world-class American football, basketball, hockey and baseball.
Have fun!
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Patrick Bardelli
Senior Editor
Patrick.Bardelli@digitecgalaxus.chFrom radio journalist to product tester and storyteller, jogger to gravel bike novice and fitness enthusiast with barbells and dumbbells. I'm excited to see where the journey'll take me next.
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