Disharmony and Civility

In the aftermath of the most-voted Presidential election in US history, sports remains stuck where it always has been—in the midst of the pandemic, forging ahead albeit with troubling signs. That kind of summarizes the way our country is right now, with us still in the claws of a demonic COVID-19.

Eventually there will be outcomes for both. As with all sporting events, there are winners and losers, good sports and not so nice people. This is the essence of competition, going back to the days of a previous team of lions heading into the Colosseum. Actually, the LA Coliseum was never unfriendly to the Detroit Lions, who went 14-14-1 against the Rams in LA, which included the Rams stint in Anaheim. 

It is interesting how, for instance, college sports have polls and politics relies on polling to assess how to spend their resources up to the final weekend. Because the final college sports polls are unreliable and weekly polls are somewhat of a beauty contest, all sports are played to a championship. 

Political pollsters, who had much egg on their faces after 2016, claimed that they would be more accurate in 2020. Except that their analytics weren’t too good this time around either, making both sides unhappy even though the election is undecided, elections, incomplete until all of the votes are counted. 

With a close election, people are drawn to their TV sets, waiting for something to happen. It could be like Federer playing Nadal; NASCAR running hard to a finish, with a few crashes on the way; the World Series; a heavyweight fight; the Masters with Tiger Woods getting hot. Or even more appropriate, the Super Bowl. 

We root for winners, who receive the adulation and spoils associated with victory. This goes back to the days of Attila the Hun, Charlemagne, Napoleon and others inflamed by the need to be victorious. 

It is not in our nature to call a team a bunch of lovable losers anymore. The days of rooting for the horrible expansion Mets ended in 1969 when they upset the Baltimore Orioles to win the World Series. So much is the desire to win engrained in new Mets owner Steve Cohen, that he fired the entire existing baseball management. Clearly, he didn’t sink his money into the franchise not to win now and in the long term.  

The long-suffering Cubs faithful were rewarded with a World Series win in 2017. Think they aren’t too charitable anymore with the team and ownership? This isn’t the team of wait until next year. 

The New York Jets haven’t won a Super Bowl, let alone been in one other than Super Bowl III. While that game changed the course of pro football, the Jets have been anything but a powerhouse since the days of Hall of Famers Joe Namath and Don Maynard. Now, over 50 years later, the worst Jets team of all time may be the 2020 model, which is hard to believe given how bad they were in 1996. I don’t think that Jets fans are going to look back fondly at this season; the sure don’t with the 1996 team. 

If there is a savior, an owner who cares, a GM who can find the right coach, convince the talented players to come to New Jersey and wear the Green and White (with some black thrown in), Jets fans like myself would be all in on it. I want one—just one—Super Bowl win in the next few years. That seems like little to ask, yet it is so unrealistic to fathom. And it shouldn’t be.

Heck, the Kansas City Chiefs won a Super Bowl in 1970 and had to wait until 2019 for their next one. With Patrick Mahomes II at QB, the future is now and they are winning. Because they have outstanding coaching, real talent and dedicated and competent management. 

Something which is missing with both New York pro football teams. Plus the Knicks, Nets, Rangers and Islanders (to a lesser degree) and Devils. 

The hockey teams have very little to show for my lifetime in terms of the Stanley Cup wins, apart from the runs of the Islanders in the 1980’s (4 Cups), the Devils in a stretch from 1994-95 to 2002-03 behind the best goaltender ever to play in the NHL, Martin Brodeur (3 cups), and the Rangers (1993-94) breaking the curse that had prevailed since their previous win in 1940. 

It took great players, great coaches and equally astute management to win Stanley Cup. The names are legendary: players Messier, Bossy, Potvin, Trottier, Brodeur, Stevens, Niedermayer; coaches Al Arbor, Mike Keenan, Jacques Lemaire, Larry Robinson and Pat Burns; and executives Bill Torrey, Lou Lamoriello and Neil Smith. 

The Knicks are now a disgrace. Even in the Patrick Ewing years, they failed to deliver. It took a legendary group in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s to capture the NBA title. Walt Frazier, Earl; Monroe, Willis Reed, Dave DeBusshere, Bill Bradley, Dick Barnett, Jerry Lucas are names etched in New York sports history. As is the name of Red Holzman, the head coach for the championship teams. Teams put together by the brilliant basketball mind of Eddie Donovan. 

Basketball has always found itself labeled a city game, now more so than ever. New York has had its share of great talent. That talent, along with other talented players, never really gelled at Madison Square Garden. Which has been unduly painful for those whose NBA hopes are not with the Celtics, Lakers or other team which have embraced success much better than has happened in New York.

It is that New York mentality—born of being the biggest city in the US and the financial, media and corporate hub of America— demanding greatness because it isgreat. New York’s  arrogance and hubris came from success and endless self-promotion. Except that in sports, outside of the magnificence of the Yankees over a prolonged period, New York teams have not been winners. 

Hey, Mets fans, you want Steve Cohen and his new administration to succeed because, although he is slightly richer than most anyone, he is one of you—a diehard who has had it with losing and wants a winner so badly. 

This mentality is no different than that of George Steinbrenner, principal owner of the Yankees. Steinbrenner used war analogies and absolutely hated to lose. He may have offered apologies to the fans for not meeting the standard he set—a championship. The Boss demanded excellence and it showed in how he went through so many managers and executives in search of the right combination that would give him players who would produce and win the ultimate prize. 

I harken back to those Detroit Lions. The Lions have not made one appearance in the Super Bowls, and the NFC Championship game is seemingly beyond their reach. New management after new management, coach after coach has not been able to find the keys to success, even with some very capable players on many teams. 

While I can feel their pain, like that in Arizona, where the Cardinals have not made it to the Promised Land either, I look at my team’s situation and feel numb when I am not angry. I like when they win.

I am still somewhat down about how the Yankees lost to the Rays. It certainly didn’t leave a great feeling. I grew accustomed to winning with the Yankees during my childhood, then reveled in it during the 1970’s and the glory years of the Core Four in the 1990’s to the early 2000’s. 

This winning only mindset isn’t limited  to New York. See Boston and New England. The Celtics haven’t won that much lately since the Larry Bird era in the 1980’s and Red Auerbach/Bill Russell glory days are almost from another time. The Red Sox success in recent years, coupled with the incredible run of the Patriots, has fueled a new sense of importance in Beantown. Let the teams slip into the Charles River, like the Bruins seemingly have, then the passion will turn to anger. 

Philly fans boo because they have seen so little in the way of championships. Since 1948, the Eagles have ruled the roost 4 times; the Phillies, Flyers and 76’ers each have raised a banner to the rafters twice. 

College sports fans have unrealistic expectations too. Out at UCLA, they haven’t recovered feom the retirement of John Wooden, the Wizard of Westwood, who dominated college basketball. Kentucky is a lot like that, too. 

With college football, Jim Harbaugh’s job at Michigan is tenuous because he cannot beat Ohio State and he loses too frequently to Michigan State. Winning at Notre Dame is the Holy Grail. Winners are demanded at SEC, ACC and Big Ten and Big 12 football programs or you are out as head coach. Because alumni pay big bucks to support their schools and the returns must be commensurate. Even at Rutgers the outcry was incredible to bring back Greg Schiano, the man who led the Scarlet Knights to respectability and then bowl games. 

Sure, it takes talented players and coaches who know what they are doing. Smart GM’s and savvy AD’s are necessary. Fandom doesn’t take coming in second very well. Something about coming close only applies in horseshoes…

So it is no wonder that suspended managers like AJ Hinch and Alex Cora, part of a cheating scandal at Houston, have resurfaced, Hinch in Detroit and Cora rehired in Boston because he won a title.  Rick Pitino, immersed in a scandal or two, somehow has done his penitence and is the head basketball coach at Iona. Maybe Carlos Beltran, also part of the bad thing in Houston, will get his shot to manage the Mets. 

Cheating is not condoned, but sometimes it isn’t the end to a career. A-Rod was suspended by MLB and he thrives as an ESPN commentator and is engaged to J-Lo. Conversely, Pete Rose is still banned by MLB for gambling. Then-NFL honcho Pete Rozelle handled the Paul Hornung/Alex Karras betting scandals better in earlier times; Karras had an acting career which included Mongo in Blazing Saddles. Tom Brady survived Deflategate.

Americans are a passionate lot. We derive ourselves as winners from the Revolutionary War through saving the world in World War II. Democracy is the key. We fundamentally embrace all that the Constitution has given us and how we go about doing it. 

Thus it is not a different story from sports allegiance to that of politics. Our fervor runs high and deep. Sometimes fans act out against rival fans—the Yankees-Red Sox games can be drunken brawls and Giants and Dodgers fans have killed each other. 

Because winning ultimately defines who we are. The spectacular knockout in a boxing match or the hit that places the opposing QB on the sideline is glorified. Going in for the kill is used in everyday parlance, whether it is sports, business or in the political venue. 

As a lawyer, I know that winning and losing in a courtroom is a big deal, wrought with emotion. In sports and especially in labor negotiations, when the parties are stalemated or feel their interests are unfairly abridged, they seek redress in the courts. Sometimes the plaintiffs prevail. Other times, the claims are dismissed out of hand. 

Seeking legal remedies is a time-honored American tradition. Whether it is instant replay, appeal of a Commissioner’s suspension or a politician desiring clarity or correcting a slight, fairness is supposedly the end result. Unless it is too difficult to overrule the original decision because there is insufficient evidence to overturn the original decision made on the field of play.

Many have said that sports is a metaphor for life. Just as politics is a metaphor for life. Rancor and dysfunction abound when so much is on the line. In sports, it allegedly is merely a game. In politics, the stakes and the craving for power has become much more. 

What I yearn for out of the chaos of disharmony in both sports and politics —more so, in the time of a deadly pandemic—is civility. Unfortunately, I feel like I am asking for too much.