New Jersey: the black pit of sports

(The New Meadowlands Stadium, to be the site of Super Bowl XLVIII. Photo by Jeff Zelevansky, Getty Images)

Moments after the New York/New Jersey area was awarded the rights to host Super Bowl XLVIII in 2014, Rich Eisen of the NFL Network pronounced, “Start spreading the news!” From then on, the talk on both ESPN and NFL Network was about how it was a great honor for New York City, and how no other city deserved it more, and yada yada yada. And that’s fine. I have nothing against New York.

I do, however, feel the need to point out that New York will NOT be the state hosting the big game. New Jersey will.

In sports, it’s a team’s obligation to have as broad and wide a market as possible, and if that means lying about where the team actually plays, then so be it. The “Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim” play in Anaheim, the Dallas Cowboys play in Arlington, and the Tampa Bay Rays play in St. Petersburg. And no location is more overshadowed in favor of its larger metropolitan brother than New Jersey, so much so that the NFL announced that the “New York/New Jersey” area had won the rights to Super Bowl XLVIII -- New Jersey didn’t even get alphabetical preference over NY, even though they’re the ones who’ll actually host it.

The sad fact is that no one in sports wants to admit it has anything to do with New Jersey -- largely because they all want to associate with New York City instead, as it is the largest market in the United States. Both the New York Jets and New York Giants play in New Jersey, and have played in New Jersey for three decades. The New Jersey Nets were recently purchased by a new owner, who vows to of course move them to Brooklyn. Even the XFL New Jersey team, the Hitmen, were called the “New York/New Jersey Hitmen,” again putting NY above NJ.

In fact, of all the teams to have ever played in New Jersey, virtually all of them either moved to New York or identified themselves as a New York team: the New York Red Bulls of the MLS, the New York Cosmos of the NASL, and even the New York Sentinels of the UFL follow this path. There are only a few exceptions. Most notably there’s the New Jersey Devils, though it’s worth pointing out that the NHL already had three teams in New York state before they granted New Jersey a team.

Oddly enough, the only sports team to ever play in New Jersey and identify themselves as “New Jersey” -- without a team already being in New York City -- was the New Jersey Generals of the USFL. The Generals, who were purchased by none other than Donald Trump, were the No. 1 franchise in the USFL, in lieu of a New York team. But even they were only purchased by Trump because he couldn’t get an NFL team, and the Generals considered moving to Shea Stadium in New York before the league shut down and closed operations.

Such is the life of a state most notable for being next to an even more famous state. If there’s one reason why people have a hard time buying that LeBron James could go to the Nets, it’s because it’s not New York. It’s New Jersey. And inevitably when Super Bowl XLVIII rolls around in 2014, you’ll see nothing but highlight shots of New York and hardly an iota of New Jersey. But there’s one thing New Jersey has that New York can never take away from it... Jon Stewart.

Oh wait. The Daily Show tapes in New York City.... nevermind.