Fan Loyalty: A Concept Based On Hope -- Even For Jets, Mets Fans

By Trevor Gill

Why do we do it to ourselves? Why do we allow sports to ruin our lives?

I have spent the first 16 years of my life watching the Mets blow game after game, and the Jets hang in games just long enough to lose them in the end. Yet like so many sports fans I continue to torture myself.

If you have a bad car that never works, you get a new one. If you have a big nose, you get a nose job. A bad wife? No problem, you get a divorce.

But why are sports different? Why do we feel such deep loyalty to teams that don’t even know we exist? Or to players that for the most part, don’t really care about us, as long as they get paid?

Jets Aren't Loveable; They're Just Losers -- Period

By The Lantern

It started out as a humorous release, one man's fun take on losing and the New York Jets. But now, it has morphed into something else entirely. It's "Jet Therapy" and in Part II the feelings go from kind-hearted jokes to full-out anger:

"The mind is a strange thing, men. We must begin by asking it ... What is losing? Losing is a disease … as contagious as polio. Losing is a disease … as contagious as syphilis. Losing is a disease … as contagious as bubonic plague … attacking one ... but infecting all.

"But curable!

"Now, I want you to imagine you are on a ship at sea ... on a vast … gently rocking … gently rocking … gently rocking … gently rocking. …" -- The Natural, 1984

#$%&! The Yankees And Their Fans' Sense Of Entitlement

By Trevor Gill

Congratulations to the 2009 New York Yankees for outspending the next closest team in Major League Baseball by more than $65 million. Oh yeah, and kudos to you for winning yet another World Series title.

You see where this column is going?

As a Mets fan, I hate many things about the Yankees. I hate their astronomical payroll and overall philosophy, of “buying” championships, especially during a recession. I hate Alex Rodriguez, who is a good-for-nothing-attention-loving-steroid-using baby. I hate their new stadium, full of overpriced corporate restaurants.

But most of all I hate their fans, who somehow feel they are entitled to all this good fortune.

Wake Up America, Soccer Is 'The Beautiful Game' For A Reason

By Deb Borges

If someone were to ask what my favorite sport is, most people close to me would answer “that’s easy – she’s a huge football fan," and for the most part they would be correct. I have been a devoted New York Jets fans since the age of 8 and love everything about football.

But it is really the sport of futbol that I hold near and dear to my heart.

Futbol, futebol, footie, soccer – call it whatever you’d like – is a sport that I was born to love. My parents were both born in Portugal, and like many other European countries, soccer there is a way of life. I grew up playing the sport, watching the sport and still do today.

For those of you who aren’t fans, it can be hard to explain the role that soccer plays in many families like mine. It’s a sport like no other, a sport that unifies countries and evokes a sense of patriotism like nothing I’ve experienced in my lifetime.

Mickelson To Benefit Big-Time From Tiger's Public Meltdown

By The Lantern

Lord knows Tiger Woods has enough issues to deal with right now, but one that hasn't manifested yet certainly will as soon as the 2010 PGA Tour season begins in earnest with the southern swing in the spring.

Obviously a case can be made that Woods is the greatest golfer of this or any other generation and is easily one of the the most recognizable people on the planet. While he still sits four major championships shy of Jack Nicklaus' all-time mark of 18, Woods has done everything else required to be considered one of the greatest individual athletes, if not the greatest, in sports history.

His equals include guys named Ruth, Jordan, Gretzky and Ali, and animals like Secretariat. Statistically speaking, no one has touched Woods' accomplishments since he burst onto the sports landscape in 1996.

But in the case of popularity, Tiger does have one true rival. Phil Mickelson isn't perfect every week by any means, but is loved nonetheless because he's got an everyman quality that the striped one will never attain.

Especially now.

Jeter Is The Man, But Not The Sports-Man

By Jeremy Fuchs

Derek Jeter has been named SI's Sportsman of the Year. As a die hard Yankee fan, I couldn't be happier for Jeter. He's a class act. He's also dating Minka Kelly, so this just adds to my jealousy. But, for some reason, I don't consider Jeter Sportsman of the Year.

Sure, he had a great year, and yeah, he led his team to a World Series win (although I'd argue that win was on the shoulders of Alex Rodriguez). He's the face of the Yankees. But, what else has he done?