Now for the bad news about the Knicks win: As a political predictor, a team ending an historic championship drought typically favors Republicans. This includes off-year congressional elections–the 1994 and 2010 Republican tsunamis came after NHL teams broke 50-ish-year droughts. One recent midterm counter-example (2018 Capitals1) could calm the nerves, but not by much.
But here is a different take from several people online: The 2016 Cubs–the paradigmatic championship drought–opened a hell mouth in which we still live. Although not the longest in sports2 or even the NBA,3 the Knicks’ drought enjoyed similarly paradigmatic status–50+ years is long enough; the team plays in New York; it has the fewest championships among the remaining “original” NBA teams, allowing fans to claim “long-suffering” status; and its prior title teams are iconic. Thus, the argument goes, the end of a counterpart paradigmatic drought might close the hell mouth.
- Edit: A reader reminded that 2018 also includes the Eagles winning their first Super Bowl (for the 2017 season) and first championship since 1960. ↩︎
- Putting aside teams that have never won a title, the Guardians (1948, with a different nickname) are at 77 years and counting. They sit in first in the AL Central but are not a favorite to win it all. ↩︎
- The Hawks (1958) and Kings (1951) won before they moved to their current cities. ↩︎