Menu

The New York Sports Aristocracy: 1990 New York Giants & Plenty Of Support

This is part of a series of sports history articles celebrating the best in 1990 sports. This piece asks the question of which geographic fan base had the best year in ’90.
1990 didn’t see one city stand head-and-shoulders above the rest as America’s most livable sports city. But some were better than others.

GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
Start reading today. 


For example, if you were in Cincinnati, you saw the Reds win the World Series, the Bengals win their division and reach the second of the playoffs, and if you got your NBA fix in Detroit, Chicago or Indiana, all three teams made the playoffs, the Bulls and Pistons played a seven-game Eastern Conference finals and Detroit won a second straight title. That could be one choice. But New York has a case of their own.
We have to focus on a specific segment of the New York fan base to get there. The Giants won the Super Bowl which is the main claim to fame, so it has to be someone from the  New York Fan Aristocracy—one who pulls for the Yanks, Giants and Rangers, as opposed to the Underdog New York Fan who opts for the Mets, Jets and Islanders.
The Aristocracy also saw the Rangers win their division and advance to the second round of the playoffs. The whole city united around the Knicks which had a nice season and won a playoff series over the Boston Celtics, culminating with a big win on the Garden parquet.
But we have to get more specific yet. Let’s move to the part of the city which spills into the Connecticut suburbs, as UConn basketball had its first good team of the Jim Calhoun era and reached a regional final.
And let’s narrow it down even further. Notre Dame has a huge fan base in New York City, given its ethnic Catholic population. The Irish won the Sugar Bowl.
So if you’re a member of the New York Sports Aristocracy’s Connecticut branch and are Irish Catholic, it was, as Frank Sinatra might put it, “A Very Good Year.”
Read more about the 1990 New York Giants
Read more about 1990 Notre Dame football
Read more about 1990 UConn basketball
Read more about the 1990 New York Knicks

logosnb

SportsNotebook Featured Products

View Our Complete Catalog

Shop our Catalog

The Sports Notebook Newsletter

TheSportsNotebook.com is home to an extensive archive of sports history articles along with blog posts on contemporary sports.

Shop Our Digital Catalog

History of the Final Four

NCAA Basketball

NCAA Basketball

Super Bowl Past

NFL

NFL

History of the Final Four

NCAA Basketball

NCAA Basketball

Super Bowl Past

NFL

NFL

History of the Final Four

NCAA Basketball

NCAA Basketball

Super Bowl Past

NFL

NFL

SportsNoteBook Articles

1997 Miami Dolphins: Marino’s Grit & A Playoff Return

Jimmy Johnson’s much-ballyhooed arrival in Miami had fizzled in 1996, when the Dolphins failed to make the playoffs. The 1997 Miami Dolphins took a step forward, nudging into the postseason and beginning a run of consistent success. Dan Marino was now 36-years-old, but the future Hall of Famer was still an effective quarterback. Throwing more […]

1997 Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Dungy, Defense & A Breakthrough Year

Coming into 1997, it had been a long time since Tampa Bay Buccaneer fans had seen playoff football—or even anything resembling a competitive team. Since the 1979-82 stretch where they made three postseason trips in four years, the Bucs had not only failed to make the playoffs, they also never had a winning season, never […]

1997 Minnesota Vikings: Dennis Green’s 1st Playoff Win

The Minnesota Vikings entered the 1997 season as an established contender. They had made the playoffs four times in their five seasons under head coach Dennis Green. One thing they had not done, however, was actually win a postseason game. After a wild roller-coaster ride of a regular season, the Vikings again made the playoffs—and […]

NBA Notebook: Finals Recap

Oklahoma City captured the NBA title with a seven-game triump over Indiana. We look back at the keys to how the Thunder survived the Pacers.

1997 Washington Redskins: A Season Of Missed Opportunities

The Washington Redskins entered 1997 looking for a breakthrough. Norv Turner had taken over in 1994 and his rebuilding project showed signs of life by 1996, when the Redskins nearly made the playoffs. Improvement was expected in ’97. But while Washington was still competitive and stayed in the hunt to the bitter end, the postseason […]

1997 New York Giants: A New Coach & A Division Title

The New York Giants were on a four-year decline coming into the 1997 season. After making the playoffs in 1993 under Dan Reeves, the Giants steadily slipped and then bottomed out with an 11-21 record over 1995-96. New York made a coaching change, hired Jim Fassel and won the NFC East for the first time […]

NHL Notebook: Stanley Cup Finals Recap

Florida won its second straight Cup, beating Edmonton in six games. Here’s our concise recap of the key threshold points in the series and its star players.

UFL Notebook: Playoff Recap

The D.C. Defenders lifted their game and rolled through two weeks of postseason play and secured a championshp. Here’s our concise recap.