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Well, if the past week has proven anything, it is this: Those of us who have drawn cheap laughs for years putting the entirety of the Nets fan base at Over/Under 639 have been proven wrong. I’ve heard from more folks identifying themselves as a “longtime Nets fan” than I have in 25 years covering the team in New Jersey and Brooklyn.

Same deal with social media. Same deal with talk radio. There really are Nets fans who care about the Nets — or did, anyway. Their faith has been tested this week, thanks to the Kyrie Irving situation, in ways that have led quite a few to seek public divorces from the team.

So we can add the “Kyrie Irving Nets” to a rich list of New York teams whose own fans hate them worse than any blood rival fans ever could. This is something of a recent phenomenon, because as bad as things used to be for some New York teams, fans would usually express their displeasure merely by not showing up. But there are a few who’ve been detested and deplored. It’s quite a rogues gallery.

In chronological order:

The Allie Sherman Giants of the mid-to-late-1960s were the first team around here that heard its fans actively and aggressively turn on it. Despite three NFL title-game appearances in his first three years as head coach, Sherman soon roughed through seasons of 2-10-2 (in ’64) and 1-12-1 (in ’66), exiled some popular players (notably Sam Huff) and had others simply grow old on him. By the end every Sunday, Yankee Stadium was filled with fans singing “Good-bye, Allie.” Week after week. It was ugly.

The Bobby Bonilla Mets, specifically in 1992-93, seasons that bottomed out with a 103-loss ’93 (just seven short years after they’d won 108), with Vince Coleman tossing firecrackers at kids in the Dodger Stadium parking lot and Bret Saberhagen squirting bleach on reporters in the clubhouse and Bobby Bonilla wearing earplugs in right field to (unsuccessfully) drown out the boos.


  Ex-Jets coach Rich Kotite Kevin P. Coughlin Ex-Jets coach Rich Kotite Kevin P. Coughlin

The Rich Kotite Jets of 1995-96, who followed up a desultory 3-13 season with an extraordinary 1-15 season in which Kotite, week after week, praised his team for playing hard, though by the end they were playing in front of only ushers and maintenance workers at old Giants Stadium.

The Howard Milstein, Steven Gluckstern and David Seldin Islandersof the late 1990s that nearly ended hockey on Long Island — between sheer incompetence and a profound disillusioning of what had been an unshakeable fan base. My brilliant colleague Larry Brooks dubbed this unholy troika “The Swine Line.”

The Glen Sather Rangers of the early 2000s that helped extend a playoff-free string to seven seasons in a row and were mostly populated, in the words of Brooks (who inspired the idea for this column), by “mercenaries.” Sather, meanwhile, was bulletproof in his role even as he became among the least-popular executives in New York’s sporting history, in any sport.

The Mo Vaughn and Robbie Alomar Mets of 2003, which may have been the greatest disparity between “looks good on paper” and “looks horrific in the field” of any team we’ve ever had around here, the mastermind of uber-pariah Steve Phillips.

The Larry Brown and Stephon Marbury Knicksof 2005-06, which put the “dysfunctional” in “most dysfunctional basketball team ever” and was the extreme lowlight of the Isiah Thomas Era that probably merits its own list of unlikeable Knicks teams.


  Phil Jackson with the Knicks in 2016. AP Phil Jackson with the Knicks in 2016. AP

The Phil Jackson Knicks of 2013-17, that somehow, in its relentless incompetence, managed to transform Thomas’ time into “the good old days.”

The Adam Gase Jets of 2019-20, which, not unlike the Kotite Jets, started terribly and somehow got worse. They were so bad that Jets fans hated them when they lost and really hated them when they won enough to lose the overall No. 1 draft pick.

The Dave Gettleman and Joe Judge Giants of 2020-21, which actually started out as a feel-good honeymoon, but quickly unraveled to the point at which Judge was a dead man walking the moment he ordered a knee taken deep in his own territory. It was capped by Giants fans’ fury at Gettleman being allowed to savor his final day on the job.

The 2022 Yankees, who somehow managed to infuriate their fans daily despite winning 99 games and a playoff series.

The Kyrie Nets of 2022-23, whose story isn’t over yet.


  Kyrie Irving Corey Sipkin Kyrie Irving Corey Sipkin

Vac’s Whacks

I realize there are no medals for trying, and that there’s no place for moral victories in the NFL. But I think the standard in Bills-Jets needs to be different. If the Jets can keep it a one-score game into the fourth, that has to be a sign of progress.

This Veterans Day, the Baseball Hall of Fame will honor two of its most recent inductees — Gil Hodges (U.S. Marines) and Buck O’Neil (U.S. Navy) — for their military service by placing a medallion under their plaques at Cooperstown. Hodges received a Bronze Star for his valor at Okinawa.

Cam Reddish (below) can look like a future All-Star and a future G-Leaguer all in the same game. And, sometimes, on the same possession.

So far, so good on “East New York.”

Whack Back at Vac

Jack Anez: Your column on the Giants nailed it: There is excitement now no matter how the season ends. Seems like every week there is a “feel-good” story about a different player. Parenthetically, Yankees were a “feel-down” story every week.

Vac: I have a feeling my prediction of six wins for the Giants and five for the Jets remains viable for at least another week — sorry, Jets fans.


  Brian Cashman and Aaron Boone Robert Sabo Brian Cashman and Aaron Boone Robert Sabo

Robert Feurstein: Any judge would have to consider holding Brian Cashman and Aaron Boone in contempt of court after listening to their delusional spin in their Friday press conference. Any Judge!

Vac: I see what you did there, Robert.

@jboog61: Nets fans don’t care about the Kyrie Irving situation. They want Kyrie to play. He gets the biggest cheers every game.

@MikeVacc: Judging from my inbox and any measure of sampling of talk radio chatter, it seems there are a lot of Nets fans who do, in fact, care.

Kevin Clowe: I expect ignorant, childish, self-absorbed behavior from Kyrie Irving. I expect the Nets organization to always get it wrong. But Adam Silver should be a different matter, and he has been off on a number of issues, this being the most egregious.

Vac: It does make you wonder how David Stern would have handled this.

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