"Wait 'Til Next Year"...Again?

As a fan of New York sports, I'm getting sick and tired of hearing the phrase, "wait 'til next year".

Right now, Boston doesn't have that problem; their Celtics just swept the Indiana Pacers out of the Eastern Conference Finals. TD Garden will be rocking for another couple of weeks. Madison Square? The Rangers notwithstanding, not so much (1).  

That said, let's take a look at the recent history of the New York Knickerbockers. While other teams such as the Bulls have enough NBA titles to sink the Titanic, New York has a grand total of two of them, none coming in my lifetime (2).

Since 1973, the team has been in the Finals only twice; in 1994, and 1999. And the last time that the Knicks won a division championship? That would be 2013; eleven years ago.

It seems that a 2000 quote from professional wrestler Kurt Angle was correct: "if we wait for Patrick Ewing and the New York Knicks to bring home an NBA title, we'll probably be waiting forever" (3).  

And the "Amazin's"? They haven't fared much better as of late.  

Four years ago, current owner Steven Cohen bought the Mets from previous ownership.  What has Mr. Cohen done to improve the team, you ask? The answer is this; a whole lot of nothing (4). 

Like James Dolan of the Knicks parent company (Madison Square Garden Sports), he cares more about money than winning titles.  

Where's Craig Counsell, the man who would be/could be the Mets' manager? Helming the second place Chicago Cubs. 

Where's Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the Japanese wonder? Pitching for the first place Dodgers.

And where are the Mets in the NL East standings? Almost at the bottom of the barrel.  As of today, the only team trailing them is the Miami Marlins.  

You read that right, folks....THE MARLINS (5).  

Some might say that the Knicks had a good season, and that the Mets are "making progress".  I think I've heard just about enough of that.

You see, "a good season" isn't just getting to the conference semifinals; it's winning the title.  It's not enough to simply be in the conversation; "you play to win the game" (Herm Edwards) (6). 

Results matter; championships matter.  Get it done, or get gone.  

New York deserves no less than the absolute best.  

"Watery" Observations: History Repeating?

By now, you likely have heard about the FBI's search of Mar-a-Lago, the palace-like Florida residence of Donald Trump. It seems that the feds were looking for certain documents that Mr. Trump may have had in his possession. 

Never mind that President Biden may have the very same documents, as well as other classified intelligence that he is not legally allowed to possess; but I digress (1). 

Without additional political commentary, I suggest that the whole situation looks similar in appearance to certain aspects of Watergate. Students of history will note that this was the affair that eventually took down President Richard Nixon.   

Let's go into some background behind that scandal, and how it happened.  

At the time that Watergate took place, the political climate in the US was fraught (see definitions) with tension, if not outright suspicion. Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Sr. had been assassinated in 1968, and there were serious questions being asked about the direction of the nation.

Enter onto this scene the publication of "the Pentagon Papers". This was a study that sharply critiqued the size and scope of America's involvement in Vietnam (2). 

The "papers" were supported by various internal leaks of classified documents; leaks that Republican president Richard Nixon decided to try to put a stop to. As such, later that year, a group called the "White House Special Investigations Unit" was formed; they would become unofficially known as "the Plumbers" (3).

Now, let's go to June of 1972, when a crew of would-be robbers is caught breaking into the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee. According to reports, they were there looking for information regarding the party's campaigning and activities (4).

This apparent lapse in security alarms members of Congress, who quickly begin to investigate whether there was any official connection to the crime.

At this point, you may be asking what all of this has to do with "Document-gate". 

You see, the scenario is the same; it goes like this. A group loosely affiliated with the White House (in this case, officials with the FBI) wants to know what the other side is doing, and thus violates property rights in the guise (see definitions) of obtaining "important documents".  

Then, a gag order (see definitions) is placed on the property owner, forbidding him from any mention of the affair in public.

In the previous case, the story ultimately ended with Richard Nixon resigning as president, and somewhat of a vindication of his political opponents. Perhaps the similarities between the two instances should be considered (5). 

After all, those who forget their own history are often doomed to repeat it.