College Sports in NYC: What Happened
My original post, responding to Wayne Smith's comments on ESPN
and college hockey's regional appeal, has splintered into a number of
subsections. One deals with getting college hockey into New York
City, the largest market on the continent. While it is a worthy goal, it is
more difficult than one can imagine if you examine the history of college
sports in that city.
New Yorkers once followed college sports with a passion, and NYC
was the center of the college basketball world. Hard to believe when
you look around today, but that's the way it was. Everything changed
because of two things: New York's ability to always give people
another choice, and the blackest mark in the history of college sports
(which nobody seems to remember these days).
This is somewhat long, and follows the following outline:
1. A before and after look at college sports in NYC.
2. The event that changed things.
3. Why New York reacted differently than everyone else.
To start with, let's look at college sports in NYC from 1930 to 1950,
specifically the two popular sports, football and basketball:
FOOTBALL
In this span, New York had four "major" college teams (what was
then a "major" team would now be Division I-A).
Manhattan
NYU
Fordham
Columbia
Fordham would be most successful, getting to the 1941
Cotton Bowl (losing to Texas A&M 13-12) and the 1942
Sugar Bowl (beating Missouri 2-0). Six years they were
ranked in the AP's final top 20 (1936-#15, 1937-#3, 1938-#15,
1939-#17, 1940-#12, 1941-#6).
Columbia was next best, winning the 1934 Rose Bowl (7-0
over Stanford) and since that was the only bowl game at that
time, one could argue they were the national champions. They
would later be ranked twice in the AP's final top twenty (1945-
#20, 1947-#20).
NYU did nothing of note.
Manhattan dropped their program in 1942 due to the war and
never resumed playing the sport.
In addition, special games were played in the city during the
depression to aid those in need and had packed houses. In
1930 the games were Colgate-NYU and Army-Navy, 1931
saw Tennessee-NYU and Army-Navy, all those in Yankee
Stadium, and a Manhattan-Rutgers game at Ebbets Field in
1931.
BASKETBALL
NYC was the CENTER of the basketball world. The NIT
Tournament was founded in 1938 by the Metropolitan New
York Basketball Writers Association. In these days ALL the
games were played at Madison Square Garden, and this
tournament was generally considered more prestigious than the
NCAA Tournament.
That NCAA Tournament was founded in 1939 and 7 of the
first 12 final fours were held in NYC.
In this span, NYC had 1 NCAA Champion (CCNY in 1950)
and 5 NIT Champions (LIU-Brooklyn in 1939 & 1941, St.
John's in 1943-44 and CCNY in 1950).
So from 1930-50, NYC had two football programs of national
renown, hosted one basketball tournament each year, another a
majority of the years and had 6 champions in those
tournaments. You do not understand anything about American
History if you don't know the importance of New York with
regard to this nation. For the media and cultural center of
USA to be hosting two tournaments in the same sport is an
advantage people can only dream of now. It boosted college
basketball into the big time.
Now, let's look at college sports in NYC since 1950:
FOOTBALL
In this span, New York lost all its "major" college teams.
Fordham dropped their program in 1955, started it again in
1970 at the Division III level and recently moved up to I-AA.
Their Sugar Bowl appearance was the last for a NYC team.
Columbia dropped to I-AA (with the rest of the Ivys) after the
1977 season. Their appearance in the AP top twenty in 1947
was the last for a NYC team.
NYU dropped their program in 1952.
No more special games, bowl games, etc. were played in NYC.
BASKETBALL
NYC, which was home to the NCAA and NIT champions of
1950, CCNY winning both tournaments, quickly faded into the
background of the basketball world
The NCAA Tournament has never had a final four in NYC
since 1950.
NYC has had no NCAA Champions since CCNY in 1950.
The NIT is now a permanent also-ran tournament and only the
final four is played in NYC. This is largely due to an NCAA rule
preventing a team from being in both tournaments in one year.
The rule was instituted after the 1950 tournaments due to that
event I mentioned.
There have been 3 NIT champions from NYC since 1950
(St. John's in 1959, 1965 & 1989.)
So what happened? My choice of 1950 as a cutoff was not arbitrary. A
singular even happened that year known as the "Point-Shaving" scandal
that rocked the college basketball world and brought down college
sports in NYC.
For those not familiar with felonious conduct, point shaving is a win-
win scenario for making big bucks. You're a gambler. If State is
favored to beat Tech by 16 points, you pay the State players to keep the
margin of victory to under 16. Then bet heavily on Tech. State wins by
<16, you win big, the players get bonus bucks, and everyone is happy.
Except the fans.
This happened in college basketball, to a great degree, in the late forties
and the scandal broke wide open in 1950, right after CCNY won both
tournaments, both of which were held in NYC. And it ruined college
sports in that city.
College sports survived well elsewhere, it was really only New York
where they suffered big. This is where the choice that New Yorkers
have comes into play. New York has 2 baseball teams (3 back then), 2
football teams, 3 hockey teams and 2 basketball teams in the area.
Most people root for one or the other. Having grown up in that area, it
seems weird to not have that kind of choice.
In 1950, people had a similar choice. Instead of following college
basketball, which left a bad taste in many people's mouths, they
followed the Knicks. Instead of college football, the Giants (and the
Yankees through 1951). The rest of the country had no choice. To
follow either sport meant following the college team. New York is
where a league had to have a pro franchise for the league to survive in
the U.S., so there was always an option in that city. In New York, the
1950's were a bonanza for the local pro teams and they never looked
back. The college teams suffered and have never recovered their
previous status.
The bottom line is this: Getting a successful college hockey team in
NYC is an incredibly difficult task because the local populace is far
more geared to watching professional sports than probably anywhere
else. No great college following has been fostered there for two
generations. Instead, parents take their children to Knicks, Rangers,
Islanders, etc. games or watch those games on television, thereby
breeding more professional fans.
Being a pro fan or a college fan is not mutually exclusive, but it is
more common for people to be die-hard only one or the other. Here in
the Capital District there is very little cross-over between the River
Rats and RPI. People go see one team or the other, not both. With
the pros having huge advantages in every conceivable manner in the NYC
area, for a college hockey team to enter that market and be successful
is almost impossible. It will have to fight for its life from the moment
of birth against far more powerful forces. That's why I doubt any college
president in NYC will even give it a try.
For those who made it all the way through, thanks for reading and
indulging me. I know the college hockey content of this post is minute,
but I believe if we are to discuss the possibilities of college hockey team
entering the NYC market, some background would be necessary.
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Kurt Stutt * "In the republic of mediocrity, genius is dangerous."
[log in to unmask] * --Robert G. Ingersoll
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