53 Years
By Greg Evans
The New York Knicks are headed to the NBA Finals for the first time in 27 long, dusty-shelf-filled years. In fact, I have waited my whole life for the Knicks to bring a Larry O’Brien trophy to the Big Apple, being the last time they won was four years before I was born.
I remember back when I worked for the Knicks, while writing trivia in that windowless room in the marketing offices across Pennsylvania Plaza, wondering if I’d ever see a championship in my lifetime. In 2000-2001, they finished 48-34, 4th in the Eastern Conference and lost in the first round to Toronto. A forgettable year.
At the time, I was around 20-21 years-old. By that point I had already been twenty mind-numbing years. It’s been twenty more years and finally, we are on the precipice of what can only be described as remarkable.
My existence hasn’t been totally void of the sweet Suavecito taste of victory. I have experienced the elation of championships in other sports, including six World Series with Yankees 1978, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, & 2009 (the last being 17 years ago); a Rangers Stanley Cup in 1994 (after a 54-year drought) which has quickly turned to 32 years of waiting, again; and several New York Giants Super Bowls 1987, 1991, 2008, & 2012.
Being a sports fan is about being patient because there is no guarantee that your team will win in your lifetime. That is a heavy statement. I guess I could say I am lucky that I have had as many as I have. But the reality is, I’m frustrated that I’ve had to wait do long for more championships. But, now, the Knicks are on the verge of doing it for the first time in my lifetime. The last time the Knicks won was in 1973, defeating the Los Angeles Lakers. The team was carried by Walt “Clyde” Frazier, Willis “The Captain” Reed, and Dave “Mr. Defense” DeBusschere. What was 1973 like? The first Mobile cellphone call was made (April 3rd, 1973). It wasn’t an iPhone either. It was a Motorola and the call made by Martin Cooper (the father of the cell phone), the engineer who led the Motorola team that invented the first cell phone. I wonder if he was a Knicks fan? Probably not. More likely a Bulls fan coming up in Chicago. In ‘73, you also had the OPEC oil embargo. Those of us not born yet have only seen pictures of the long lines at the gas pumps due to the severe gas shortages. The Knicks are about to win again, and once again there is conflict somewhere in the world impacting gas prices. Is history little more than a mirror of itself?
Championships don’t come easy. Not usually, not often. The grumbling of the ghosts of despondent sports fans, debating team and program woes over bottles of Dobler beer. Can you hear them too?
The Knicks will be facing the San Antonio Spurs in a rematch of the 1999 Finals, when the Spurs knocked off the Knicks by one point, 78-77. For Knicks fan who went through that it left a sour taste in our mouths for many years. A lot happened in those years. A lot of stories that can be told; and a lot that were. One thing that is for sure, the Knicks seem destined to win. Whether they do or not we will find out soon enough. But there is a buzz about them that hasn’t hummed this loudly since ‘73. Or so several old timers have said. The other day I was out walking at a local track when a guy called out from across the parking lot, “Hey man, is that a Knicks hat? They are something this year.”
“That they are,” I responded. I realized at that moment there was something different about this team. I’ve worn Knicks hats for 40 years, and never has anyone been so enthusiastic about them. And it just so happened the guy was a Spurs fan, saying that. I think time might be on our side. 53 years is a crushing drought. 53-years is a dirty word. 54-years even dirtier. Dwelling on that too long is Sha Chi.