Rangers/Devils Article

So like I mentioned when I first started this blog, I'm going for my Journalism major at my college. I took my first journalism class this semester, and one of our first assignments was to find an issue that effects your hometown and get interviews and write about it. I did not get a chance to hand it in today because class was canceled due to the weather, but I figured I would put the draft up just to show you what my aspirations as a journalist are. Its an article getting both sides' opinion on why they dislike the opposing fan base outside the sport. Enjoy!

Rangers Fans vs. Devils Fans *Draft*

            When you think of hockey, you think of the bold, brash, brave, and tough players that take the ice to support their team for eighty-two plus games of a season. The same could be said for the fans of the New York Rangers, and the New Jersey Devils. The fans of both these teams are passionate, through prosper and turmoil. That passion is not lost in the small town of Marlboro, New Jersey, just 10 minutes from Brookdale’s Lincroft campus. The passion continues to pulse among the many adolescence of Marlboro as well. Seventeen-year-old Nicole West, a senior of Marlboro High School, and an avid Rangers fan for about three years, compares the atmosphere of being at a Rangers/Devils game as the best feeling. “When a Ranger scores a goal, every Ranger, and every fan scores with them.”

            But not much friendliness is given back to the opposing Devils fans, as West describes a run-in with two not-so friendly Devils fans. “The Rangers were up 3-1 at the second intermission, and we went to the bathroom and got in a fight with two Devils fans”. Needless to day, the meetings between the Eastern Conference rivals don’t normally go without their share of violence. Brian Garfinkel, an 18-year-old, lifetime Devils fan, in his second-semester at Brookdale can reassure that fact for the fans as well. “My sister says there are more fights in the stands, than on the ice”.

            But what really drives these fans into rage against each other besides their teams? Could it be the fact that the Rangers have beaten the Devils in four out of five playoff appearances? Or could it be that the Devils have had arguably one of the best goaltenders in history in Martin Brodeur that has stood tall against the Rangers time and time again? Nicole West describes how she feels about the rival fan base as one of a dominance struggle. “A lot of them, instead of rooting for their team, focus on trying to bring down the morale of Rangers fans. Which is a part of hockey, but I’ve seen them take it too far”. Brian Garfinkel claims that his distain for Rangers fans comes from their cockiness, and their love to get on your nerves.

            Either way, the fans will continue to support their teams, regardless of the other fans dislike for them. The Rangers and Devils are set to gear up for another game on the 3^rd, and both sides have their predictions. “3-1, Devils”, is Brian Garfinkels prediction, while Nicole West thinks it will be the same as all of her NYR/NJD predictions: “Marty gets whooped”. Only time will tell to see which fan base will get to celebrate.