This Christmas morning, I would like to let you, my dear and loyal readers, in on a little secret:
We really don’t root for the locals to lose.
Honestly. Really. The one thing that makes most of us in the sports department chuckle is when we write something negative about one of our teams and we’re told “that’s just click bait,” or “you’re just trying to sell newspapers.”
Well, two things, and again I would not lie to you, certainly not on Christmas morning:
1. We plead guilty to wanting you to click our stories on the web or pick up the paper at your doorstep or newsstand. This is our business, after all.
2. Nothing — truthfully, nothing — sells more papers or delivers more clicks than winning teams. When the Yankees or the Mets are in the World Series? You can’t find a newsstand that isn’t already sold out. When the Giants or the Rangers win a playoff game, our site is like a pinball machine.
Winning is good for business. That’s the truth.
So 2022 was actually good for everybody, especially after so many years of awful, brutal seasons stacked high on top of each other. Think about it: Up until 11 o’clock or so Thursday night, when the Jaguars beat the Jets, every one of our teams either had, or finished with, at least a .500 or better record in 2022.
That’s good for the teams. Good for fans. Good for The Post. Good times!
Best of all, each of our nine teams had at least one memorable moment that resonated in 2022. That doesn’t happen every year. Here are my personal favorites for all nine, listed alphabetically.
Devils: They’ve cooled lately, but they were the grandest surprise of all for a while. And on Dec. 9, Jack Hughes played the final 6 minutes and 2 seconds of a 5-3 loss to the Islanders at Prudential Center. That’s the longest recorded shift in NHL history, and surely helped reinforce the notion that hockey players, unless pronounced dead, will do anything to get onto and then stay on the ice.
Giants: It has been a fun season, but the brightest moment probably came in Week 1, when the Giants drove the field late for an apparent tying touchdown against the heavily favored Titans. Except Brian Daboll went with the swashbuckling decision to go for two, Daniel Jones found Chris Myarick in the end zone, and a brand-new tone was set.
Islanders: Sadly, both moments were due to the deaths of forever franchise players, but the tributes the team — and their fans — provided for Clark Gillies on Jan. 22 and for Mike Bossy on April 19 provided welcome reminders of one of the truly glorious times any New York team has ever enjoyed. Watching both on YouTube still bring lumps to throats and warm smiles of remembrance to faces.
Jets: It has been important to remember this as the season has progressed, but when the Jets beat the Bills on Nov. 6, the smiles that the players, coaches and fans wore as they all departed MetLife Stadium were as bright and as broad as we’ve seen in green in years.
Knicks: We may look back at the moment Jalen Brunson signed his free-agent deal last summer as the moment the Knicks officially began to resemble a team with a plan again. He’s been that good and that important.
Mets: Yes, the fans have loved Steve Cohen’s December spending spree. But it was hard to top the feeling at Citi Field on the afternoon of Sept. 1, when the Mets beat the Dodgers, 5-3, were 84-48, three up on the Braves and looking, for a moment anyway, like the best team in baseball.
Nets: New York City has gone 53 years without an NBA MVP, since Willis Reed won it in 1969-70, so it is wise to savor every game Kevin Durant plays in what has so far been an almost perfect season for him.
Rangers: If you were inside the Garden on the evening of June 3, saw the Blueshirts beat Tampa Bay, 4-3, to go up 2-0 in the conference final, you could literally taste the Stanley Cup, sitting just six wins away.
Yankees: We may never see a season like the one Aaron Judge put together this year, and if we don’t, that’s fine. Across the second half, Judge made you believe he might very well be the best baseball player alive. And it was thrilling to see, beyond the 62 home runs.
Vac’s Whacks
Honestly, Taylor Sheridan can keep throwing “Yellowstone” origin stories at me, and I’ll devour them whole like the peanut butter chocolate balls my grandmother used to make for me. I was hooked on “1923” the moment Helen Mirren reloaded her rifle.
If the Yankees still played at Yankee Stadium and the Mets still played at Shea, there’s an awfully good chance that New York’s baseball attendance would probably come close to 9 million this season. The record will always be 2009’s 8,340,700 since the new stadiums are that much smaller.
The Rangers are sure looking feisty again.
This holiday season, I am especially grateful to the team of trainer Jorge Vargas and coaches Bob Paul and Dan Feeney, who acted quickly and expertly in reviving a basketball player named PJ Kellachan at my alma mater, Chaminade, a few weeks ago when his heart stopped at practice after suffering a seizure. Merry Christmas, gentlemen.
Whack Back at Vac
Jonathan Sigell: Rooting for the Knicks is like rooting for a hamster on a hamster wheel to win the Kentucky Derby.
Vac: That loss Friday night really was the basketball equivalent of finding six lumps of coal in your stocking.
Stu Ladd: Is it just me, or does Zach Wilson look just like the “Mayhem” guy from the insurance commercials? Their results are similar, anyway.
Vac: I prefer to think of Dean Winters as either Cassidy from “Law & Order: SVU” or Ryan O’Reilly from “Oz” … but the comparison still applies to both of those characters, too.
@bcbean13: Mike, you are assassinating a 22-year-old kid. I understand the beat writers, but can you imagine being Zach Wilson’s parents listening to that crowd? I felt terrible for him.
@MikeVacc: Thank you for showing there is still compassion among the faithful. Though all pro athletes have parents, siblings, kids, and do attract a lot of bile. Cynically, Don Draper said it best to Peggy one day: “That’s what the money’s for.”
Francis Rushford: Steve Cohen reminds of Roman Abramovich, the former owner of Chelsea in the UK Premiership. When asked if he was worried with Chelsea losing between $35 million to $50 million a year, his answer was: “Maybe in 200 or 300 years.”
Vac: Are the Mets making Ohtani jerseys yet?
