Despite Some Heartbreak, Thankful For A Memorable 2024 NY Sports Year
New York City had a ticker tape parade for a pro sports team in 2024. The Liberty captured their first WNBA title last month and deserved the accolades, just like NYCFC did when they took home the MLS Cup three years ago.
Since this forum focuses on the nine teams from the four major pro sports leagues, however, the championship drought since the Giants won Super Bowl XLVI in 2012 effectively continues.
Not that 2024 was a total downer. Several clubs had the City’s fan base pumped throughout the year. In fact, when I was tallying the memorable moments, I found there were more than in any year I can remember since, well, I started writing this column after the Giants won Super Bowl XLVI (I don’t believe in jinxes).
Sure, the football teams are an embarrassment, but the Yankees and Mets came oh so close to a second-ever World Series meeting, the Rangers advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and the Knicks won their third playoff series the turn of the century before falling in Round 2.
That meant we had a plethora of games to look forward to and watch with joy as opposed to dread, which might seem like a low bar, but not when you consider all the trash New York fans have had to endure from the teams they passionately root for in recent seasons.
And the future looks bright as well for all the area’s losers except for maybe the Jets, who must once again burn it all to the ground. The Giants are so bad that they might finally land in a Draft slot to secure a franchise quarterback, the Nets got their own 2025 pick back for what’s supposed to be a loaded 2025 NBA Draft, and the Devils appear to be discovering consistency.
That’s much more positivity than this column has ever espoused, so with that in mind, I give you my 13th annual list of players and moments for which New York sports fans give thanks:
20. Let’s start it off by acknowledging the monumental Sabrina Ionescu high-arching jumper from two steps inside the Lynx logo with one second remaining to win Game 3 of the WNBA Finals, which set the Liberty up to take home the title in the do-or-die Game 5.
19. Will McDonald’s sack attack, racking up eight in the Jets season’s first seven weeks. He’s been held off the stat sheet since, but maybe he won’t be another on departed GM Joe Douglas’ first-round bust list after all.
18. Jalen Brunson’s development into an All-Star, making him the Knicks’ best point guard since Walt Frazier.
17. Rutgers recruiting coup getting two projected high NBA lottery picks in Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper. I was initially looking to laud Head Coach Greg Schiano for the football program’s third bowl eligibility in five years, but then… cover zero and Illinois.
16. The Islanders 10-2-1 closing run to qualify for the 2024 Cup tournament mostly behind backup Semyon Varlamov.
15. The Giants Dexter Lawrence is quietly having a career season in an already stellar career, with ProFootballFocus.com grading him as the NFL’s second-best interior defensive lineman.
14. Igor Shesterkin’s contract run. He may have some regular season hiccups, but the Rangers can’t afford to lose his impenetrable playoff persona.
13. Based on their early season pluckiness, the Nets may have finally got their head coaching search right with Jordi Fernandez.
12. The Giants turning the page from quarterback Daniel Jones, smartly avoiding a potential 2025 injury guarantee.
11. Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes up the middle for the dynamic Devils.
10. Playoff Giancarlo Stanton. For a guy who looks so lost during much of the regular season, he morphs into Babe Ruth under the brightest lights. Six of his seven postseason homers for the World Series runner up Yankees came in the sixth inning or later.
9. Hot Mets, as opposed to previous iterations that were a hot mess. Some called it the Grimace effect, since New York posted MLB’s best record after the mascot threw out a first pitch on June 12, catapulting the team from an also-ran to a playoff qualifier..
8. Juan Soto swag. Yankees fans are praying he returns as a free agent because every at bat is pure entertainment.
7. Garrett Wilson’s spectacular one-handed catch in the end zone to help the Jets to a comeback victory over Houston in Week 9. A rare highlight in a dismal season.
6. Chris Kreider’s natural hat trick that sparked the Rangers in overcoming a 3-1 third period deficit to eliminate Carolina in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. ESPN reported that the elite net front presence’s three shots totaled 18 feet.
5. While the playoffs were another story, Aaron Judge ruled the American League regular season, bashing 58 home runs and leading all of MLB in on base percentage AND slugging percentage.
4. Donte DiVincenzo finishing off a madcap sequence with a “double bang” from ESPN announcer Mike Breen with 13 seconds remaining in the Knicks’ miraculous Game 2 victory over Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference’s first round.
3. And in a year flush with incredible moments, I’m going with the biggest home run in Mets history during the ninth inning of the deciding Game 3 of the Wild Card round in Milwaukee as the year’s most memorable. Quick story: I was sitting with my daughter at a Conan Gray concert in Raleigh when I was looking for a distraction from the bad music. On a whim, since I never watch Mets games, I got it on my phone just as Pete Alonso stepped to the plate with the Mets down, 2-0, with one out and two on. You’re welcome, Mets fans.
2. The legions of New York sports fans, like you, who are so devoted to their teams and have continued to support my content in my fourth year using this forum.
And, as always,
1. My wonderful family--with extra thanks to my put-upon wife--who indulge me in my illogical passions for my favorite teams. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family. May 2025 literally be a banner year and, more importantly, a safe one, in New York.