Over the last 3 days, New York sports was rocked with 3 bad and heartbreaking losses. And the reaction to said losses has made me rethink my previous posts about fandom and social media etc. And now I think I can safely say this and ask this
Why would any sane athlete want to come into this market and play?
Back in the day, New York was considered a tough town anyway to play, but the money and possibilities were considered high end. Even with being tough, I don't think there was this cloud of negativity surrounding everything and everyone. Nowadays there is. And it all points back to one thing.
Social Media.
As I have mentioned before, it creates this echo chamber of negativity and allows it to fester and grow until it reaches the players themselves. Now New York had an echo chamber like that already in the form of sports talk radio, but that could easily be negated by turning off the dial and changing the station. But with social media, and the number of different uses it provides, it is almost impossible to escape criticism or negativity. New York fans simply don't laugh off failure and go about their day; it sticks with them as an obsession and personal vendettas.
And then you throw in the taxes situation and the "championship or bust" mentality that has grown in sports the last few years and you find an almost impossible situation to thrive in.
In other words, it's win a title or prepare for your life to be a living hell. And no sane athlete should choose to go through that .
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