The "Pressures of Playing in New York" Fallacy?

[jetswin]

2 minutes ago, Warfish said:

True, but I don't think it was "the pressure of playing for the Jets in NY" that did him in.

He was a local guy, but you never know, those lights get pretty bright

[munchmemory]

[Warfish]

16 minutes ago, jetswin said:

He was a local guy, but you never know, those lights get pretty bright

I don't know if you've spent much time in the Burgh', but they take football vastly more seriously there than we do in New York.

I was both amazed and sorta appalled when, on one of my regular visits there, the Priest at the Catholic Mass literally went into to "Go Steerlers" thing towards the end of the service.

I went to alot of Mass on L.I. as a young kid, I cannot ever recall NFL Football being raised in there.

[jetswin]

2 minutes ago, Warfish said:

I don't know if you've spent much time in the Burgh', but they take football vastly more seriously there than we do in New York.

I was both amazed and sorta appalled when, on one of my regular visits there, the Priest at the Catholic Mass literally went into to "Go Steerlers" thing towards the end of the service.

I went to alot of Mass on L.I. as a young kid, I cannot ever recall NFL Football being raised in there.

ha! I can safely say I was never at a Mass with a Jets chant lol

[Warfish]

1 minute ago, jetswin said:

ha! I can safely say I was never at a Mass with a Jets chant lol

I'm not even kidding, it was like "And may God bless our St'illers, and bring them luck on the field today, thank you Lord for blessing our team with your......"  It like, went on for a bit.

I asked my Burg' folks if that was like, a regular thing, and they were like "whacha mean, don't they do that where yuns are too?"

[FTL Jet Fan]

I don’t think it is strictly playing in NY as it is these kids (rookie QB’s)mental fortitude to handle what playing in NY comes with. Playing in Miami as a rookie you have the media who are all Dolphin homers or ex players. They are rooting for these kids and even when they play horrible they will make excuses and go very easy on them.  NY they are trying to break these kids before they even get here at times Dick C, Manish and many National outlets who just love to bash the Jets. It’s really more about the player,  some can handle criticism and the national spotlight,  some fold. 
 

 

[jetswin]

^

the Manish's of the world are a blight, a fungus, the worst of the worst.

[JetPotato]

1 hour ago, Warfish said:

I'll be quite honest, I think it has far more to do with New Yorkers self-image than anything in reality.

Reading the replies so far, that becomes clearer.  Be assured, the media in many cities is just as horrid and quick to turn and backstabby as that of NY.  You think the Washington Post, representing the Capital of the country and the heart of American politics, is some kind of backwater rag?  Lol.

Fans are fans.  When you play well, we love you.  When you suck, we boo you.  I've seen Nats fans boo Zimmerman, literally the face of our franchise since the day it restarted, because he wasn't as good as he was when he was a kid ffs!  NY'ers are unique for that kind of (I'd say mistreatment).

You think NY Jets Players have more pressure than Kansas City Chiefs players?  Or New England Patriot Players?  Or Dallas Cowboys players?  Lol, come on, seriously?  Even more, you think NY media takes Jets players as seriously as those players were taken at their colleges, especially the big super-football schools, where they were the sole focus of a massive football obsessed fanbase and small media?

The only thing about NY that IS special and semi-unique is the massive tax rates, amongst the worst in the Nation (right up with California).  THAT is a legit issue, as it takes money directly out of player pockets.  A few mean fans and sh*tty beat reporters?  You get them everywhere in 2020. 

It's not just media.

It's shear volume of fans. It's attitude of the fans (you think NY fans are of the same temperament as San Diego or Kansas City?)

It's also about the distractions and ability to get "lost" in a big city. 

I lived in Indianapolis in the late 90's. I ROUTINELY ran into Peyton Manning, Reggie Miller at restaurants & bars. Spoke to both of them multiple times. It was a small town and people knew them. It was like the college experience where everyone knew what the athletes did and kept quiet about it. This is not at all like the NYC experience (where I have lived the entire rest of my life).

[JetPotato]

59 minutes ago, Warfish said:

I had to do a little ggogle-fu on him it's so long ago now, lol.

Taken from his wikipedia page from when he was a Padre (pre-Yankees):

"Whitson later told family that he was so nervous before the game that he could barely walk to the mound." for his NLCS showing.

Perhaps Mr. Whitson was ill suited to ANY spotlight, not just that of the Yankees?

And playing under "No you fight me!" Billy Martin would be a stress for just about anyone, only specific to NY because Martin was specific to NY, lol.

This is both right and wrong - 

Obviously Whitson's NLCS experience indicated that he had anxiety issues. But when you come to the Yankees (especially during the George era), a regular season game in June can feel like the NLCS. It's all about expectations. Playing for the Yankees, any season that doesn't end in a title is considered a complete failure. If you're not performing, the next big free agent could be the guy to replace you. If you don't perform in Pittsburgh, you have a much longer leash.

The Yankees go to great lengths now to ensure they believe a player has the right mental makeup to play in NY. Sometimes they still get it wrong (Sonny Gray). 

[rex-n-effect]

I don't think this is a thing in football at least. Any city with an NFL team has a large sports media presence that focuses on pro football. If anything, some of the beat writers in NYC are more hacky but enduring a few dumb questions in a post-game presser isn't that big of a deal.

Here in Denver things are more laid back and sports are not the singular focus of existence but the media and fans still pressured the Broncos to make third string Tebow the starter. Kind of hard to argue NYC is too rough on athletes when these things happen in other cities. 

[Chrebetfan80]

5 hours ago, RedBeardedSavage said:

The cycle of building someone up and tearing them down spins faster in NY.

But I still believe things have changed since social media/camera phones - a lot of what used-to-be considered downsides of NY are now downsides everywhere: There's nowhere to hide anymore. 

definitely true, things have increased everywhere.  I think in general the narrative is harsher here in the Metropolitan area where as mid west is a little nicer, so theres still that issue. 

The main thing that has really changed with the invention of social media and technology is that while there are still technically big and small market teams, the exposure of athletes no matter where they play is greater.  So you can still be a star playing in a small market because of social media and the exposure your highlights can get. 

[Jet_Engine1]

5 hours ago, chirorob said:

He looks like he stole his sister's Cabbage Patch Kid and turned into his personal sex toy.

Thats very specific. 

[sourceworx]

7 hours ago, Sperm Edwards said:

Yeah I also remember Cannizzaro writing some snotnosed hit-piece on Ferguson in his rookie summer. Think Brick kept walking away from him while being peppered with gotcha-attempt questions Mangini had already refused to answer because MC was still going through buddy Herm Edwards withdrawal symptoms.

Yes I remember this well. I was banned by the owner of......that other site for pointing out that a "whiney lard-ass hiding behind a keyboard was questioning the manhood of an NFL offensive lineman."

Considering that MC was contributing content to his site at the time, ol' Deegsie wasn't too happy. 

[Smashmouth]

of course its a fallacy ..these guys are playing a game making millions doing it they have no idea WTF stress even is.

[Rhg1084]

Before the internet NY was looked at as “tough” because of the microscope the media put on you in the big city. However, theres exposure literally everywhere in every city and I don’t think it has any affect whatsoever

[Jet_Engine1]

NY'ers try to perpetuate an outdated reputation from 5 or more decades ago, made by people in neighborhoods that don't really even exist anymore. Its actually kinda funny. I'm from NYC but left a long time ago, gave me a different perspective on it. The only place I've lived in the past 30 years where the chances of actually getting into a fistfight (aside from the Army) are really high was when I lived in South Boston. And per capita,  West Palm Beach has a far higher murder and violent crime rate than the City.

 

The rest of the whole tough "New Yawkah" personna is just an affectation. My wifes best friend tries to pull that sh*t and I laugh at her. She's from Massapequa. LOL. Might as well be any random suburb anywhere. 

[Obrien2Toon]

Definitely real in baseball