On Tuesday, Oct. 5, the New York Yankees met with the Boston Red Sox in a win-or-go-home wild-card game. Despite an impressive second half of the Yankees’ season, which featured a 13-game win streak that fueled them into a playoff spot, the Yankees lost the game 6-2. The Yankees’ loss means it has been more than a decade since any New York sports team has won a championship. In the last 10 years, the Yankees, New York Mets, New York Giants, New York Jets, Buffalo Bills, New York Knicks, Brooklyn Nets, New York Rangers and New York Islanders have failed in their ultimate goals. With this drought continuing, all eyes are now on the New York Islanders.

At the moment, the New York Giants and New York Jets look light years away from a Super Bowl. Although the New York Giants were the last New York sports team to win a championship with their Super Bowl victory over the New England Patriots in 2012, Giants’ fans are more concerned with when their next win will be, let alone their next Super Bowl. The Giants’ roster is depleted and missing most of their core players, but they are nowhere close to competing for a championship even when fully healthy.

The Jets are horrendous as well. Last year, the team picked second overall, and although the Jets took steps to improve its roster, the team is nowhere close to a championship.

The Buffalo Bills are legitimate Super Bowl contenders. The Bills made the playoffs and lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship game last year. However, the physicality in football and the likelihood of unexpected injuries, along with the unpredictability of games, makes it a tough challenge for the Bills to win the Super Bowl.

The Yankees have been strong World Series contenders this past decade. In both 2017 and 2019, the Yankees lost in the ALCS to the Houston Astros. The theme for the Yankees of the last decade remains so close, yet so far.

In 2015, the New York Mets went to the World Series but ultimately lost. Their success, other than the team’s one World Series appearance, has been relatively limited.

The New York Knicks have been atrocious this last decade, becoming not only the laughing stock of the NBA but arguably the biggest laughing stock in sports. In the seven seasons from the 2013-14 season to the 2019-20 season, the Knicks never won more than 37 games in an 82-game schedule, and during the 2018-19 season, the Knicks only won 17 games. Last season, however, the Knicks did make the playoffs for the first time since the 2012-13 season but lost in five games to the Atlanta Hawks.

The Brooklyn Nets have been a relatively poor basketball team during the last decade. However, they did make the playoffs in some of the decade’s early years and then again in some of the later years. The Nets, though, have a good chance at breaking New York’s championship sports drought. With the arrival of the Nets’ big three during the 2020-21 season, consisting of Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving, who are all NBA superstars, the drought could end soon with them all together on the court. Last season during the NBA playoffs, the Nets pushed the Milwaukee Bucks to Game 7 of overtime of the second round, despite Kyrie Irving being out with injury and James Harden being nowhere near 100 percent. The Bucks would go on to win the NBA Finals. Entering the 2021-22 NBA season, it would seem as if the Nets have an extremely solid chance at winning the NBA Finals. However, with Kyrie Irving on the Nets roster and refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine, he cannot participate with the team. Kyrie Irving’s status is putting the Nets’ championship hopes in limbo.

The New York Rangers dominated the NHL throughout a good portion of the last decade. They went to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2012, 2014 and 2015. The Rangers’ run in 2014 saw the team go all the way to the Stanley Cup Final. However, after failing to win a Stanley Cup when their window was open, the Rangers decided it was best to rebuild and traded away their aging core. Since the Rangers chose to rebuild in 2018, after one last unsuccessful playoff run in 2017, they shifted away from the center stage of hockey. They are no longer the glamorous team on Broadway that was always contending for the Stanley Cup. The Rangers have acquired numerous young prospects since then, and this past offseason, they made management and coaching changes to try and revamp their roster to compete for the Stanley Cup. With the Rangers’ rebuilding and falling from contention, the Islanders became a Stanley Cup contender, to everyone’s surprise.

The Islanders have firmly established themselves as the hockey team to watch in New York over the past two seasons. After years of being a laughing stock, the Islanders cemented themselves as a perennial playoff team. Having made the Stanley Cup playoffs the last three seasons and having made the Stanley Cup Semifinals the last two years, the Islanders have established themselves as a true Stanley Cup contender. The Islanders have shifted themselves onto the center stage in the NHL and now New York sports. It was not easy, nor was it expected, but the Islanders have become a success story under Lou Lamoriello and Barry Trotz’s leadership.

The Islanders became the premier team to watch in New York, making back-to-back trips to the NHL Stanley Cup Semifinals. The Islanders are strong favorites at the start of the 2021-22 season to win the Stanley Cup.

So get ready, New York. The drought could be over soon.

Ethan Halle

Ethan is an Economics Major at the University of Florida looking to pursue a double major in Sports Management with a minor in political science.