Growing up (still growing up) in The Big Apple, sports are not a hard thing to come by. Everywhere you go there is always someone or something representing a team. And for me, it is easy to love and crave sports. Over time, I have been able to watch most of the many New York teams, and have also developed some understanding when it comes to the good and bad teams of this city. This is how I’d rank some of them…

1.    New York Yankees: Without a doubt, the Yankees are the most notorious and cherished sports team in all of New York. With the most championships in any sport EVER (27) the Yankees are the most popular and arguably the best team in New York. In 2009, they were able to win the World Series with the likes of starting pitcher A.J. Burnett going undefeated in the playoffs and third baseman Alex Rodriguez hitting over .500 with 6+ home runs, not to mention a walk-off home run in the American League championship series. Along with these achievements, the Yankees are always favored in New York due to their rich history which includes famous players such as Babe Ruth, Don Mattingly, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, etc.

2.    New York Giants: Taking second place in this list are the New York Giants. They boast one of the most improbable wins in Super Bowl 45 when they beat the “until then” undefeated New England Patriots when no one on the face of the earth believed in them. As I remember when I watched the game live, Eli Manning, who lived his entire life under the shadow of his great brother Peyton Manning (a Quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts at the time), finally stepped out when on 4th down he amazingly broke 4 tackles and threw the ball 50 yards deep into the hands of David Tyree - and went on to win the game. The game went down as one of the greatest Super Bowls of all time and revived the city of New York, as well as the Giants themselves. The next year they won their second one in the last 4 years against the same team (New England Patriots) in a game where there was not as much doubt on the part of the Giants, who seemingly controlled the entire game on road to another Super Bowl win. Along with this, the Giants won the latest Super Bowl - and because of these recent wins make them the second best New York sports team.

3.    New York Knicks: With the newly acquired talent such as Carmelo Anthony, Amar’e Stoudamire, and Tyson Chandler, the New York Knicks have become one of the most popular sports teams in the city. A team who previously had not had a winning season in over 8 seasons finally has some hope. Now the Knicks making consecutive playoff appearances have brought life to New York, which is and always will be a basketball city. Since the greats such as Patrick Ewing, John Starks, Willis Reed, etc. left the court, New York has had nothing to cheer about in the past seasons but now with a great team averaging over 90 points a game, the Knick and fans all over New York hold high hopes for the upcoming seasons.

4.     New York Rangers: The Rangers have always been a decent (or at least good) team through the years. Although hockey might not be as popular as the other major sports such as football, baseball, and basketball, it has definitely held its ground as a solid and popular team in the state of New York. This past season they made it to Conference championship series before eventually losing to a great team in the New Jersey Devils.

5.    New York Jets: An upcoming team on the football stage as well as in New York has to be the New York Jets; they reached the AFC championship game in consecutive seasons (2010-2011) and have made many strides towards becoming a better team. The team added a lot of hype this past offseason with the acquisition of the notorious Tim Tebow as the back-up quarterback for Mark Sanchez. Along with “Timmy Tim,” the Jets have added speed to the defense with the addition of Quinton Couples, the questionable defensive lineman from the University of North Carolina. The Jets also added a great player to their offensive passing attack in Stephen Hill, the wide receiver out of Georgia Tech University who is not the most explosive player in the draft, but is definitely a big target in the red zone to whom Mark Sanchez can look for consistently to score touchdowns.   Due to the team they have now and the additions mentioned, the Jets’ future gives us fans a lot of prosperity for the future. They may be ranked at 5 but look for them to make their way up the ranks soon.

6.    Buffalo Bills: Although this team is the least noticed and appreciated team in New York state,  don’t let that fool you. This team was a surprise last year when they jumped from one of the worst teams in football to a contender. This year, they also made key additions through the NFL draft along with free agency. The Bills made a statement when acquiring top free agent Mario Williams and drafting the great cornerback Stephon Gilmore to add to their secondary, which was doubtful last year.  These additions were a great surprise to most teams, since Buffalo has not been a great team the past years. Don’t be surprised if the Bills make an even bigger statement this year, but until then, they are at the 6 spot.

7.    New York Mets: The Mets began this season well, achieving a .500 record and seemingly becoming a better team than most people believed. But this has just about been the only thing the Mets have had to cheer about, because they have just been awful. There is a slight amount of hope this year with their captain third baseman, David Wright, who has a .400 batting average and has been mentioned as an early season MVP contender. The team is also in the middle of the pack when it comes to their division - they are in 3rd place at the moment. We’ll have to wait and see if they exceed expectations this year. They have been at the bottom of their division for many consecutive seasons and that’s why they are number 7. 

William Ramirez is a member of the Youth Travel Blogging Mentorship Program