New York Mets | Jets | Knicks
Love, Loyalty, Integrity and Years and Years of Heartbreak
What it means to be a die-hard fan of perennially terrible sports franchises — I once asked a psychiatrist why I cared so much about the sports teams I root for and his one-word answer said it all — LOVE
I unconditionally love the New York Mets, New York Jets and New York Knicks. Still, in the early to mid-2000s, when the Knicks ticket office called me yet again to revive my season tickets, I told the agent not to call me again until James Dolan, the horribly ineffective owner, who only owns the team because his billionaire father didn’t want him to ruin the family business, Cablevision, had either sold the team or died.
That did not mean I stopped loving the team unconditionally. It simply meant I would no longer continue to throw money away and torture myself. Detaching with love does not mean the love stops.
When they have had better seasons and I started to watch again does not mean I am a fair-weather fan, Alexmaids.
That I broke off relations with my father last year and will never reconcile unless and until he offers and makes true amends, does not mean I do not love him and that I have not forgiven him. I have forgiven him and I do love him, but I love myself more, as I am supposed to.
At my son’s bris (the circumcision ceremony on day 8 of life) I gave a speech where I wished for him some positive attribute from each member of the extended family (his mother, sister, four grandparents, and four aunts and uncles — that was a huge feat to come up with that list as I have issues with many family members, both mine and my ex-wife's. In any event, I made a great list and speech and delivered it totally calmly, frankly, dead-pan.
Then it came to what I wished for him for me, and I said, in 2005, at age 38, that I wished for me that he doesn’t have to wait 36 years, 32 years, or 19 years for another Jets, Knicks, or Mets championship — I barely got the words out over my tears.
It’s been almost another 16 years and not a championship among them. Some question whether I have done my kids a disservice by not raising them as Yankees and Giants fans.
The best life lessons are learned through pain, and there is no worse pain than heartbreak. No life lesson is more powerful than the power of love, loyalty, and the personal satisfaction of integrity.
Plus, no one can take away these wonderful memories that I witnessed in person, and I include just a few here, with tears streaming down my face:
The piece de resistance:
As for my Jets, well, among the heartbreaking memories I did fly to Denver at 7 am after my sister’s wedding without having gone to sleep for the 1998 AFC Championship game …I think the Jets may have had as little sleep too based on how they played…but I had a fucking blast!!!
I love you all,
Greg
For further reading on unconditional love:
In Rama I create, with soul-energy surging through my body, inspiring me and breathing wind into my sails,
