On Monday, I sat down to write some kind of reflection piece about last weekend, the Knicks championship win, community, merch and design, NYC and the World Cup.
Very understandably, my brain did not work very well and few words came out.
For the past 50-ish days, there have been 2-3 NBA games each week and I have seen all of them, mostly our at crowded bars, standing outside MSG or sometimes sitting inside MSG to watch on the big screen.
It has been exhausting! But on Saturday night, it all came to an end with the Knicks winning their first NBA championship in 53 years.
The city has been wild. I’m sure you have seen the videos of the streets overflowing with fans chanting and dancing and carrying on.
Back home in Melbourne, we have 10 football teams (if you include Geelong) for a population of 7 million.
NYC has a population of around 8.5 million and they were all going for one team (sorry Brooklyn, Nets).
I have loved how towards the end of the finals series, people who had never seemed to show much interest in the team, suddenly were snapping up merch, making signs, and sending messages to try and find the best watch parties to attend. It was truely a community event.
This whole time, I have more or less lived in my Kat Towns #32 jersey. And people would yell out while I was on a city bike bike “KNICKS IN 5!” or even reach out of their cars and high five you as you walked past them in traffic.
Yesterday, I went into the city to visit the MSG merch store and check out the now very famous “bootleg” merch sellers (people selling non-offical t-shirts and hats on the street). The vibes around the stadium were still high!
Tomorrow, I will go with my friend Pat to the parade (a life long Knicks supporter, who quickly adopted me as a Knicks fan in my first week here 2.5 years ago). It will be chaos, of course. But it will be an exciting way to bring to a close one of the most incredible cultural moments I may ever experience in my life!
Go Knicks! Go Sports! Go NYC!
(K)nick
