Showing Some Appreciation

I’ve always believed that every good sports experience has its own distinct feel.  As a Giants fan, the 2012 NFC Championship victory over the 49ers at San Francisco’s Candlestick Park had a feeling of swagger and confidence, as if a trip to the Super Bowl was all but guaranteed.  Team USA’s last-second victory over Algeria at the 2010 World Cup felt like desperation-tuned-jubilation as a win-or-go-home situation was flipped on its head in the most dramatic of ways.  On Saturday night, I returned to Nassau Coliseum for Game Six of a first round playoff series between my Islanders and the Pittsburgh Penguins, and experienced a combination of fear and appreciation unlike anything that I had previously felt as a sports fan.

I will definitely miss the Nassau Coliseum when the Islanders move to Brooklyn.

While most of my fellow Islander fans might be too proud to admit it, Game Six had an ominous feel from the start.  Yes, there was a great energy at the Coliseum from the moment we entered the building, but it seemed like much of the air had been let out of the proverbial playoff balloon once the Isles reached the brink of elimination.  Coming off of a disappointing Game Five shutout loss in Pittsburgh and more shaky play from their goaltender, the Isles and their fans were a bit jittery throughout Game Six.  Even when the home team took the lead – three separate times, in fact – neither the players nor the crowd ever felt truly confident.  Once the game went into overtime, everyone in the arena was thinking the same thing: We were about to witness the end of the 2013 Islanders season.

This isn’t to say, however, that the sense of fear made Game Six a bad experience - quite the opposite, in fact.  While the nervousness was noticeable, it was overpowered by a sense of appreciation that I found refreshing.  After six years without a playoff appearance and a certain future that will see the Islanders move to Brooklyn in two years, the Long Island faithful had so much pride for this young, rising, energetic team that it made me proud to be a New York Islanders fan.  Even after the Penguins scored the game winner in overtime, the fans didn’t turn away (something people typically associate with fans of other New York teams, particularly the Mets and the Jets).  Virtually everyone stayed until well after the final goal, sending off star play John Tavares with “MVP” chants and thanking the team for everything they did for Long Island this year.

It was uplifting to see the positive response even in the face of playoff elimination, because Islander fans truly do have much to be thankful for right now – and the bulk of the blue-and-orange faithful recognized that on Saturday night.  After years of futility, things are looking up for this young team led by an MVP candidate who is only getting better.  After years of hearing that their team would move to Kansas City or Canada, Isles fans will have to go no farther than Brooklyn’s Barclays Center to see the team play when they leave the Island.  And, despite the fear, the Islanders gave their fans something that they haven’t had much of over the last several seasons – hope.  And while hope can lead to pain – as it did when the season ended abruptly on Saturday night – it’s also a big part of what makes rooting for a perennial underdog like the Islanders so special.