Sports Tears

When I moved back to Brooklyn last year, I decided a couple of things: 1) I wanted to live in a great neighborhood; and 2) I wanted to get season tickets to the New York Liberty (WNBA team).

I found a great apartment in Park Slope and I got a single season ticket to every Liberty home game. I had never watched the Liberty before this year’s home opener, not even on television. But I knew I loved basketball, so I was certain I’d have a fun time. I was not wrong.

The Liberty finished with the best record in the league this year and won their first ever WNBA Championship last week over the Minnesota Lynx. I was at Game 5 of the Finals (in the WNBA, the Finals are a best-out-of-five series; so this was winner-take-all). The game went into goddamned overtime. You really can’t ask for a more exciting finish to a season. 

I have followed sports my whole life, and I have sat through some incredible championship runs with my favorite teams. The Dallas Mavericks and Dallas Stars won in 2011 and 1999, respectively. I’ve watched those two teams lose their finals series as well (Mavs in 2006 and 2023; Stars in 2000 and 2020). It’s gutwrenching to lose a title, far worse than not even making it to the playoffs. You’re so close. You want it so bad. And then it’s yanked away.

Sports are hard, and only one team gets to win each year. But when the Liberty finally put away game 5 in overtime to win their first title in their 27-year history (same age as the WNBA), I cried. Waterworks. More than I cried for Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavericks in ’11. More than I cried for Mike Modano and the Stars in ’99. I think a lot of this had to do with the fact that I was witnessing this victory live. 

But I also think that the WNBA (or at least the NY Liberty) showed me a different side of the sports fan experience. The NFL, NBA, NHL, etc all have great fans, true lovers of their teams who aren’t here to fight or argue or belittle anyone else. But the Liberty experience was… idk quite how to explain it… It wasn’t gentler than men’s pro sports, but it felt less vitriolic. 

There’s sniping on social media amongst fanbases, to be sure, but the main focus in the arena each night was Our Team. “We All We Got / We All We Need” came the chants late in Game 5, and I felt a togetherness beyond just love of our team. I felt a connection to my city and my neighbors. I felt welcome and wanted. And I think that’s the general vibe of the Liberty (and I’m presuming the rest of the WNBA teams as well). 

I don’t want to be New York guy telling you how great New York is (it is, of course, but that’s me speaking on a personal level; everyone should have their own opinion). But in nearly 50 years of only really following men’s team sports, I’m so baffled (and thrilled) by the completely new deluge of feelings I got from this WNBA team. 

Perhaps it’s seeing them so much in person. Perhaps it’s the welcoming vibe the team cultivates. Perhaps it’s just that the Liberty were really really good. But my guess is that the Liberty just have the greatest mascot in all of sports.

Jeffrey Cranor

October 28, 2024