My impression is actually that there are more Yankee fans. The Mets fans just post a lot more, and unfortunately Yankees fans troll on their thread much more than vice versa. It makes sense that people who predominantly live in Northern and Central New Jersey would root for the Yankees more than for any other baseball team. The Phillies, as I can testify, run a weak third, which shows that Rutgers fandom has not penetrated South Jersey very well; the media down there do not cover Rutgers unless something truly exceptional is going on. and the media covers games between Philly-area teams (even Penn State) against Rutgers from the standpoint of the Philly-area team.
Rutgers fandom in the NJ portions of the Philly market versus the NYC market might be somewhat proportional to the number of Rutgers students & alumni now, and historically, from those respective regions.
I agree with your points but there's a vicious circle: Rutgers isn't followed in South Jersey, so South Jersey kids are less inclined to think of Rutgers as a place to go, which in turn means that Rutgers isn't followed in South Jersey because not many of our alums live there. My neighbors think that it's great to send their kids to the U. of Delaware -- Rutgers hardly fits into their thinking. It's a longstanding problem.
I also started following baseball when the Yankees were the only NY team. But I remember plenty of people still followed the Giants and the Dodgers even though they were on the West Coast. A lot of New Yorkers first learned about time zones when they found out that Pacific coast night games began at 11 pm. When the Mets came, fans came out to see the Dodgers and Giants when they were visiting --- but the fans rooted for the Mets as bad as they were.
Of course, it is weird that the Rangers have the name they do. It is derived from the name of Tex Richard, the original owner of the franchise back in the 1920s. The New York media would call the team "Tex's Rangers" as a pun on the Texas police form of that name, and the name stuck.
My Dad is a Giants fan, Football and baseball growing up. He was one of a the few in his neighborhood who was like that. Most were Giants and Dodgers or Yankees.
Well as you said earlier about the game sites...going to the Garden via train was a lot more fun than driving to Brendan Byrne.
From Somerset when I first bought Devils Season tickets their first year it was a lot easier driving to Brendan Byrne than taking the train to the Garden. And for all of my 15 years as a season ticket holder the Garden was a dump in those years.
Easier and in control when driving is always a plus. Can’t argue that.
I’m not a basketball fan but did peripherally followed the NJ Nets...as Brooklyn....PHOOEY!
I've never been a late night guy even in HS and college. After a game I just wanted to get home fast. Nothing sucked worse then missing a train home by a minute and having to wait an hour.
Well they did start as the Brooklyn Nets before moving to Long Island. Than Rutgers. Than Brendan Byrne
A few Mets fan just like to whine, complain, and pretend to be hopeful during the season. All RU fans should root for the Yanks. With all that RU misery, our sports lives need some joy and happiness.
Yes, but that's in places like the West and the South where people routinely drive hours and hours for a destination.
