Out of Bounds | New York teams continue to tumble

Gabe Mosca Columnist

Last week was a poor one for the sports teams of the New York area. After a valiant effort in the divisional playoffs the Jets bowed out to the heavily favored Pittsburgh Steelers 20-17 in overtime. The Knicks lost both games of a home-and-home series against a very young Chicago Bulls squad. And the NHL’s Islanders and Rangers continue to not suit up. The National Hockey League is mired in a disagreement between the players’ union and the league’s owners, and the season will almost certainly be cancelled.

Other cities have had negligible amounts of success with their sports teams too; New York is not alone. San Francisco hasn’t gotten any championship “love” since the Niners won the Super Bowl in 1995. There has been no reason to have a sports parade in Seattle; the Sonics won their only title in 1979 and the Seahawks and Mariners have had their fair share of heartbreaks. Philadelphia still clings to distant memories of the Phillies and Flyers in the early 1980s because they haven’t won anything substantial since then. But in New York City it matters a little more. There is more media. There are more fans. There are more teams. Sure the Devils have won three Stanley Cups in the last decade, but does New York really want to bask in the glow of New Jersey’s success? If you curse the Holland Tunnel crowd you can’t share in any of the Jersey fun either.

Although they fly under the radar when compared to the Jets, Giants, and Knicks, the New York Rangers have been a colossal disappointment during the past decade. They consistently have the highest payroll in the NHL yet fail to even make the playoffs. Sixteen teams make the playoffs in hockey; this is not too much to ask. High-priced guys like Bobby Holik, Theo Fleury, and Eric Lindros have not gotten the job done. Even an old, but still talented, Wayne Gretzky could not return the Rangers to the finals, a place they last visited in 1994. As for the Islanders, they were very, very good twenty years ago.

The Knicks haven’t won even a 50/50 raffle since 1973. They lost to the Rockets in 1994 and to the Spurs in 1999. Currently they sit four games below a .500 winning percentage. Luckily for the Knicks they play in the putrid Atlantic division and may wind up in this spring’s playoffs. Former Piston great Isiah Thomas is in charge. Under his “leadership” Thomas bankrupted the Continental Basketball Association and could only bring the ultra-talented Indiana Pacers to the first round of the playoffs as coach. I wouldn’t trust him to turn a profit with a lemonade stand in hell ,let alone lead a team to an NBA championship.

The Jets were clearly a bright spot for New Yorkers this season. They earned a playoff berth with a 10-6 record and defeated the tough San Diego Chargers in the first round. Chad Pennington is a talented quarterback, and linebacker Jonathan Vilma hits like a truck. But historically the Jets are still pretty dismal. They haven’t even played for a championship since winning Super Bowl III.

This brings the Out of Bounds staff to another important, albeit random, question. Exactly what will next year’s Super Bowl logo look like? This year is Super Bowl XXXIX. Next year will be Super Bowl XL. Is the American public in general prepared for an “L” to be added to the process? I’m skeptical. And what about 2009 when the grounds crew is spray-painting XLIII into the field? Will the uneducated masses demand the system start over? I’m just curious.

And who can forget the magical NY Giants of 2004? They lost eight of their final nine games with rookie Eli Manning at the helm. Manning completed 48 percent of his passes. Perhaps his wallet, filled with 20 million dollars, threw his hips out of alignment.

Last of all, we have the Yankees and Mets. The Yankees won their last World Series in 2000, and there is nothing shameful about that. There is however something wrong with having a 200 million dollar payroll and allowing the Red Sox to comeback from 0-3 down in a best-of-seven series. As for the Mets, signing star Carlos Beltran was a nice move, but he might not fit in well in the Big Apple, as he is more accustomed to the small market cities like Kansas City and Houston. The Mets also coughed up millions to land Pedro Martinez, fresh off his World Series win with Boston. Pedro will undoubtedly get hurt, and the Mets would have been better off paying Doc Gooden the 50 million they are doling out to Martinez.

Things will surely get better for New York’s teams. They have a national fan base and plenty of cash to spend on great talent. But for a city that has so many teams decent records, let alone championships, should not be so hard to produce.