It's (Still) Cool to be a Royals Fan -- Team Makes the NY Times Again

The Royals, after two decades of futility, finally righted the ship over the last three years and stand at 28-18 at this writing despite their recent slump. At the end of last year's season, with the Yankees dropping out of the Wild Card race, the New York Times did several different articles on the Royals as they were closing in on their first post-season appearance since 1985.

This year, the Yankees and Mets both started off strong, sparking hopes of a subway series; however, they have recently faded back to .500 and back into the realm of the ordinary. So, the Times did yet another piece on the Royals, this time about their announcer, Ryan Lefebvre along with their sports marketing department. The Royals, with their recent run of success, have seen their nightly TV viewership rise from 28,000 to 113,000. The Yankees have gone in the opposite direction, with attendance slightly down at Yankee Stadium and viewership down to 198,000 on TV.

This is not the only time the Times Sports Department has gone off on a tangent in the face of futility from its teams. From January to March of this year, their Knicks beat writer, Scott Cacciola, was given a sabbatical by his bosses from covering the Knicks, which were one of the most underachieving teams in the NBA this year. They were so bad that their leading scorer, Carmelo Anthony, shut it down due to injuries after the All Star Break. Mr. Cacciola's column, appropriately enough, was entitled "Not the Knicks." It is an outstanding compendium on how basketball ought to be played. It was telling that he found a Division II women's game between Emporia State and Missouri Western in St. Joseph more entertaining than what passed for basketball this year at Madison Square Garden.

Back in college, we sat in a Coaching Basketball class taught at Northwest by then-Mens coach Steve Tappmeyer, and we talked one day about the vaunted Sports Illustrated Jinx. Based on what we talked about in his classes, we think that there is a basis in The Jinx. In a nutshell, one of Tapp's main theories, which he always preached to his players in practice, teams do well and reach a state of mind where they think they have it made and relax. And getting on the cover of Sports Illustrated is one of the biggest symbols of having it made. The Royals have trended on Twitter before this year, particularly when other teams were plunking them at a record pace and the Royals thought they were doing it on purpose to get them out of their rhythm. The challenge for the Royals this year will be to maintain their high level of play without getting into a "comfort zone" that they have it made and can relax.