More Cheers for the New York Knicks

**Brian Lehrer** (0:10)
Brian Lehrer on WNYC. And now we begin our live coverage of the City Hall Ceremony for the Knicks as their championship parade up the Canyon of Heroes arrives at its destination. The ceremony is scheduled to begin at noon. With me to provide insight and analysis during our coverage is none other than William C. Rhoden, columnist for Andscape, and the author of $40 million slaves, The Rise, Fall and Redemption of the Black Athlete. He also directs the Rhoden Fellows, a training program for aspiring journalists from HBCUs.
Bill, always great to have you on the show. Welcome back to WNYC.

**William C. Rhoden** (0:47)
Brian, how are you doing? Congratulations. I guess I could say that to you, you're a native New Yorker. Congratulations.

**Brian Lehrer** (0:53)
Total lifelong Knicks fan.
Absolutely. What about you? I mean, you were a New York Times sports columnist for a long time, so a New Yorker for a long time. Do you have a rooting interest or are you like, I'm a journalist. I don't say who I like.

**William C. Rhoden** (1:08)
Yeah, I mean, you know, it's kind of weird, man, and I've been wrestling with this. You know, I'm addicted to the story. Everybody asks me, who are you for? I'm for the story. And it's kind of complicated. I grew up in Chicago. And when I was, you know, when I was 16 years old, I think I was a fan of the Dallas Cowboys because they had just kind of started and all that. And they lost their second championship game to the Packers. And I was crushed. And I vowed there, I said, you know what, I'm done with this. I'm going to become a mercenary sports writer because I can't, I don't want to give my emotions and stuff out on control. So probably since I was 16 or 17, I wasn't a fan. This was the first time in my professional career when the home team, the city where I lived, actually won an NBA championship. So there's a long-winded way of saying it's a great story.
I'm glad that I was part of it.
And this is one of those times when I really wish I could kind of tap into your inner New Yorker and really feel the full weight of the emotion that a lot of these fans really feel. I'm still kind of, you know, I'm still kind of...

**Brian Lehrer** (2:24)
Blowing away by the level of it?

**William C. Rhoden** (2:27)
Well, that is New York. You know, it's New York. But I mean, I was at the airport going to the San Antonio game here where the Knicks wrapped it up.
And the woman who was checking me in was just this, I mean, just head over heels Knicks fan. I think a lot of the people who were behind me were pissed off because she was just going on and on and on about how much she loved the Knicks. And I wish I felt that deeply about, you know, because it must be really extraordinary. But I was just wondering, how do you feel? I mean, you're a native New Yorker. You are an about Knicks fan. You're a journalist, not necessarily a sports journalist. So I'm just wondering, how, what is the depth of your emotional connection to this?

**Brian Lehrer** (3:13)
Well, I'm ecstatic too. I mean, I think I have sports sort of, you know, in a perspective in my life considering the heavy things about the world that we cover here every day, and that I think about day in and day out, you know? And, you know, and I have things going on in my personal life, too.
But it's still a beautiful, ecstatic moment, and I can lose myself in it, and, you know, cheer and walk around. I've been, you know, sporting my, I've been rocking my Knicks baseball cap that I've had for a long time that don't always wear around, you know, and loving the connection. You know, you wear a Knicks cap most of the time, and it's just another cap on the streets of New York. But in these weeks, strangers would point at my hat and say, you know, go New York, go, or whatever it is. I love it.

**William C. Rhoden** (4:08)
Yeah, yeah, no, I mean, it's, and I must say, I was, you know, I was in Philadelphia, Cleveland, and obviously, you know, at the Garden when they were playing San Antonio. And I gotta admit, again, because I love moments, when the Knicks were 29 points down at the Garden, and I guess it was game four, and they made that incredible comeback. I was like, you know, I mean, I wouldn't say I was ecstatic because it was just a great story and it was kind of unbelievable. And it reminded me, I was at the Super Bowl when New England was down, I think, 28 to 3 to Atlanta and came back. So, you know, I love those kinds of moments. And again, I'm just blown away by the, I mean, the Knicks fans took over every single arena. They took over the Philadelphia Arena, they took over the Cleveland Arena, and they kind of almost took over the San Antonio Arena. I mean, it was really, I will say this, I think this was the first time since I've been covering stuff that I can't say that the fans, in this case, Knicks fans, really did play a significant part in the success of the team. Because Knicks fans, and I guess because it's like the biggest city in the world or something, you know, they really showed out. So, it's really, it's pretty, it's pretty remarkable. I'm like looking at the parade, and it's just, man, it's just amazing. Hey, I'm glad I'm not there.