Where is America’s most livable city? Forget cost-of-living, quality of education, transportation and economic opportunity. The most livable city is the one with the best sports. For each year of the modern era, starting in 1976, The Sports Notebook has selected one city or part of the country where it was particularly good to be a fan. Below is the recap of how that year unfolded…

1990 didn’t see one city stand head-and-shoulders above the rest as America’s most livable sports city. But some were better than others. For example, if you were in Cincinnati, you saw the Reds win the World Series, the Bengals win their division and reach the second of the playoffs, and if you got your NBA fix in Detroit, Chicago or Indiana, all three teams made the playoffs, the Bulls and Pistons played a seven-game Eastern Conference finals and Detroit won a second straight title. That could be one choice. But New York has a case of their own.

We have to focus on a specific segment of the New York fan base to get there. The Giants won the Super Bowl which is the main claim to fame, so it has to be someone from the  New York Fan Aristocracy—one who pulls for the Yanks, Giants and Rangers, as opposed to the Underdog New York Fan who opts for the Mets, Jets and Islanders. At this point, the Aristocracy also saw the Rangers win their division and advance to the second round of the playoffs. The whole city united around the Knicks which had a nice season and won a playoff series. But we have to get more specific yet. Let’s move to the part of the city which spills into the Connecticut suburbs, as UConn basketball had its first good team of the Jim Calhoun era and reached a regional final. And let’s narrow it down even further. Notre Dame has a huge fan base in New York City, given its ethnic Catholic population. The Irish won the Sugar Bowl. So if you’re a member of the Aristocracy, live in or close to Connecticut and are one of the city’s Notre Dame backers it was, as Frank Sinatra might put it, “A Very Good Year.”

In the springtime, UConn made its emergence behind a backcourt of Chris Smith and Tate George, and an Israeli import named Nadav Henefeld. The Huskies won the Big East title for the first time and were a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Their Sweet 16 win over Clemson is one that still makes the CBS highlight reels in March. They trailed 70-69 and had to go the length of the court in one second. Scott Burrell inbounded the ball and fired a perfect 94-foot strike to George on the far right baseline. George caught the pass and in one motion turned around a shot. It hit the bottom of the net. Two days later UConn played Duke for a trip to Denver and the Final Four. This one went to overtime and with a 78-77 lead now the Huskies looked like the team that was ready to win. Christian Laettner took the ball out of bounds for Duke on the left sideline near the Blue Devils basket. A simple give-and-go got Laettner a shot at the edge of the foul line. He pumped once and hit the basket. UConn’s dreams were over, but they had arrived as a national basketball power and would eventually get the best of Duke in a national title matchup in 1999 and at the 2004 Final Four, also won by Calhoun’s Huskies.

The Rangers rolled into the NHL playoffs a couple weeks later on the strength of leading scorer John Ogrodnik, and quality assist men in Brian Mullen, Darren Turcotte and defenseman James Patrick. Joining Patrick on defense was Brian Leetch and the Rangers were better than the league average in goal prevention, in spite of lacking an elite goaltender. Duties in the net were shared by Mark Richter and John Vanbiesbrouck. At this time, the postseason was structured so that the top four teams in each division played off against each other (a format that’s been revived in the realignment announced in December 2011). The Islanders were the first round matchup and the Aristocracy crushed the Underdogs (although after four straight Islander championships in 1980s, use of that term doesn’t sound quite right). The Rangers won in five games and then took Game 1 of the Division Finals against Washington. But the goaltending problem caught up to them and they surrendered 19 goals over the next four games and were ousted in five. Still, a good season and one that held your interest the whole way if you’re a hockey fan.

While UConn had the best team of the ones that played in the early part of the year, the Knicks produced the best single moment. A team with Patrick Ewing in the middle and a tough rebounder in Charles Oakley down low could cause anyone problems on the interior. Defense was suspect, as neither guard Gerald Wilkins or small forward Kiki Vandeweghe were especially renowned for their willingness to guard people. But it was still a respectable team, if not a great one and on the bench was a soon-to-be top point guard in Mark Jackson. He would one day be one of the best assist men in the league, go on to be an good ABC analyst and today is the head coach of the Golden State Warriors. Coached by Stu Jackson, the Knicks went 45-37 and ended up as the #5 seed in the Eastern Conference.

The playoff opponent was the Boston Celtics, who still had the big names of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish started on the frontline, but the Big Three was aging. The Celtics hadn’t won a title since 1986 and they’d lost progressively earlier in the playoffs each year. If the trend continued, they would be due to lose in the first round this year, but after a 52-win regular season and then taking the first two games in Boston Garden it didn’t look like that would happen. The 157-128 loss in Game 2 was particularly humiliating for New York fans, as it was a playoff scoring record. With the first round a best-of-five at this time, the Knicks had no slack and the bounced back with two wins at Madison Square Garden. The stage was set for a Sunday afternoon in Boston Garden, a place the Knicks hadn’t won at in six years.

Ewing stepped up to the moment with 31 points and even dished out 10 assists. In the midst of tight 101-99 game, New York ripped off a 12-2 run at the critical moment and Bird missed a dunk with a little over four minutes left, a moment that lives in Boston sports infamy. It was more symbolic of the end of an era that substantive though, as the Knicks dominated the end of the game and won 121-114. The sweetest wins aren’t always the ones that win championships or even set them up. Sometimes it can be a win like this and even though Detroit knocked New York out in five games one round later, the sweet scent of a Garden Party surely lasted through the entire offseason.

GIANT EXPECTATIONS

There wasn’t much in the way of baseball to keep one occupied for our chosen demographic in the summer of 1990. Well, there was lots of news—George Steinbrenner was suspended for two years due to his involvement with a gambler to dig up dirt on outfielder Dave Winfield. But the product on the field was awful and the Yanks only won 67 games. Even so, football season was on the way and expectations were high for Bill Parcells’ Giants.

New York had won double-digit games the previous two seasons and in 1989 taken the NFC East. Parcells led up a brain trust that included Bill Belichick as defensive coordinator. 36-year old Phil Simms might have been getting long in the tooth at quarterback and perhaps making preliminary plans for his future career as a CBS analyst, but he was still a tough competitor and a mistake-free passer, which made him perfect for a team built on defense and the running game. 33-year old Otis Anderson was the go-to back and Pro Bowler William Roberts was the best on the offensive line. Defense was the real calling card though, and Belichick orchestrated a unit built around one of the best linebacking groups ever to play the game. Lawrence Taylor was still the league’s most feared blitzing linebacker after ten years in the league and his counterpart on the outside, Carl Banks, was one of the most underrated. On the inside was veteran Pro Bowler Pepper Johnson. Nose tackle Erik Howard excelled at tying up blockers and enabling the group behind him to make plays. Corners Mark Collins and Everson Walls were as good any cover due in the NFL. What it all added up to was that this team had Super Bowl talent and a brilliant coaching staff to guide them.

THE FINAL WAR IN SOUTH BEND

We haven’t forgotten about Notre Dame, the college choice of our chosen demographic and the Irish got off to a good start, highlighted by an exciting opening win over Michigan, with highly touted sophomore quarterback Rick Mirer leading a late touchdown drive and producing a 28-24 win. At 3-0 and ranked #1 in the country, Notre Dame lost to a bad Stanford team 36-31 at home when tight end Derek Brown, let a pass go through his hands in the end zone on the game’s final play. Lou Holtz did get his team to bounce back though, in time for the last game of what was then college football’s hottest rivalry against Miami.

Miami came to South Bend. In 1985, the Hurricanes buried the Irish 58-7 and incensed ND fans who felt Jimmy Johnson had run up the score on departing Notre Dame coach Gerry Faust. Holtz brought his Irish to Coral Gables in ’87 and lost 24-0. The tide turned in 1988 when Notre Dame beat Miami 31-30 in a magnificent football game between the teams that finished the season 1-2 in the final polls. Miami got its revenge in ’89 on their way to a national title. Along the way, bad blood was running rampant and the schools decided to cancel the rivalry. On October 20, underneath a beautiful autumn sky in South Bend, the Irish led 22-20 late when Mirer hit running back Rodney Culver for the touchdown that sealed it. Even though they had one loss, it was already a chaotic year in college football and Notre Dame was back to #1 in the polls.

GRINDING THROUGH THE NFC EAST

The Giants had their work cut out for them in the rugged NFC East. The Philadelphia Eagles had made the playoffs each of the previous two years. They had a ferocious defensive front, led by Reggie White and Jerome Brown, along with an athletic playmaking quarterback in Randall Cunningham. They were coached by Buddy Ryan, father of current NFL head coach Rex and defensive coordinator Rob. Neither of the boys are known for being shy around a camera and we can safely say they got it from the old man. Along with the Eagles, the Washington Redskins had “The Hogs” on the offensive line, a very talented wide receiver trio of Hall of Famer Art Monk, Gary Clark and Ricky Sanders. They were coached by Joe Gibbs, as circumspect as Ryan was loud, and though the ‘Skins had missed the playoffs the previous two years, they won 10 games in 1989 and Gibbs already had two of what would be three Super Bowl rings for his career. It added up to an NFC East and that was absolutely brutal at the top and in fact would get tougher as the year went on. Though Dallas had gone 1-15 the prior year, the rebuilding project of Jimmy Johnson would go much faster than anticipated and the Cowboys got to 7-9 before a season-ending injury to second-year quarterback Troy Aikman probably cost them a playoff berth.

In a season that had little margin of error, the Giants were up to the challenge. And they did it by avoiding errors. It started right away with a home game against Philadelphia. After trailing 10-6 at the half, New York rallied on a Simms touchdown pass and then a 68-yard punt return for a TD by fabulous return man Dave Meggett. They eventually got out to a 27-10 lead and hung on 27-20. The difference in the game is that while Simms made no mistakes, Cunningham was picked off three times and sacked six more. Three of the sacks came from Taylor who put behind the frustration of a training camp contract dispute and was ready to play football.

New York then beat Dallas twice in a three-week span and sandwiched those around a win over a pretty good Miami team, quarterbacked by Hall of Famer Dan Marino and who would make it to the second round of the AFC playoffs in January. After a bye week was a trip to Washington. Again, the turnover issue was paramount and the combo of Simms and the Giant defense was too much. With Redskin starter Mark Rypien out, Big Blue intercepted Stan Humphries three times. Simms not only made no mistakes, he and receiver Stephen Baker hooked up on a 80-yard touchdown pass and the Giants won 24-20. Two weeks later Washington made its return trip to the Big Apple and New York got two early touchdowns to build a 14-0 led. The Redskins rallied and closed it to within 14-10 in the third quarter, but again the New York defense was getting turnovers, picking off Humphries three more times, the last one by Walls who took it 28 yards to paydirt for a 21-10 win. The Giants were 3-0 against the best two teams in their division, and had a 9-0 advantage in the interception category.

The undefeated run continued with wins at Indianapolis and at the LA Rams, who were having a disappointing year after reaching the NFC Championship Game in ’89. A 20-0 whitewashing of Detroit moved them to 10-0 and the sports world was looking ahead to a Monday Night showdown on December 3 in San Francisco. The 49ers were not only the two-time defending Super Bowl champs, they were also 10-0. But neither team made it their unscathed. On road trip to Philadelphia the Sunday after Thanksgiving didn’t go well. This time, the defense couldn’t intercept Cunningham and the offense lost two fumbles. New York trailed 14-13 at half, obviously manageable, but frustrating because they missed an extra point. It ended up not mattering, as Philadelphia scored two TDs in a 22-second timeframe and pulled away to a 31-13 win. The 49ers lost to the Rams the same day, but even though it wasn’t a battle of unbeatens, it was still about the #1 seed in the NFC playoffs.

Defenses ruled the night. The Giants got a Matt Bahr field goal in the second quarter for a 3-0 lead, but a Montana touchdown pass gave San Fran a 7-3 lead that, believe it or not, stood up to the end. Simms was sacked four times and late in the game had a chance to win it when the team got to the San Francisco 9-yard line at first-and-goal. But they couldn’t punch it in on four tries and Frisco had the inside track to homefield advantage. After a bounceback win over Minnesota, the Giants lost a hard-fought game at home against Buffalo, the top team in the AFC. The 17-13 defeat wasn’t the worst part of it, even if it did kill any lingering thoughts of homefield advantage and it had to be frustrating coming down in the fourth quarter to the Buffalo 23 and 18-yard lines on two drives, but not being able to finish. What was most damaging about this game is that Simms was knocked out and lost for the year. Backup quarterback Jeff Hostetler would now run the offense for the playoffs. Though the division crown wasn’t in jeopardy and the last two games of the season were cupcakes against bad teams in the Cardinals and Patriots, it seemed a promising Super Bowl chance was slipping away.

NOTRE DAME JUST MISSES

Notre Dame’s national championship hopes had slipped away themselves. The Irish lost a gut-wrenching game to Penn State 24-21 after a late turnover set up the game-winning field goal. At 9-2 they still went to the Orange Bowl and played #1 Colorado. More drama ensued there. Trailing 10-9 in the final minute one of the most debated plays in bowl history took place. Notre Dame’s punt returner was Raghib “Rocket” Ismail, a return man so electric that he’d finished second in the Heisman balloting primarily on his ability to return kicks. At this stage of the game it seemed unthinkable that Colorado coach Bill McCartney would kick to him. But perhaps concerned that ND needed only a field goal and worried about  a shank if he broke up his punter’s normal rhythm (that’s my speculation, as it’s the only logical reason for punting to the Rocket), McCartney rolled the dice. Ismail took the punt, broke to the right sideline and got the edge. He found his way to the end zone.

But the play was called back for a clipping penalty. The replay showed it was close. Greg Davis tried to get his head out in front of the pursuing Colorado player and may have come in a little bit behind him. It was near the play, and there’s a 50/50 chance the Buffalo cover man might have made the tackle. We emphasize “might” because this was the Rocket we’re talking about. But from the standpoint of the official, it was close enough to the action that you can’t put the flag in your pocket if you believe it’s a penalty, regardless of how close. It was a tough way to decide a major bowl game, but it did result in a one-point loss for the Irish. At 9-3, this was considered a disappointment at the time, although after several years of running through coaches named Davie, Willingham and Weiss, I suspect most Irish fans would fall over themselves for the chance to lose an Orange Bowl.

SUPER BOWL RUN

No one in New York was happy just to be in the playoffs, least of all Bill Parcells, and Hostetler was a veteran who’d had 2 ½ games to get acclimated to being the starter. The opponent in the divisional round was the Chicago Bears. They had a great coach on the sideline and a future great coach playing quarterback in Jim Harbaugh. Like the Giants, Chicago was defined by its defense. A lot of the players from the dominant 1985 defense that won the Super Bowl were still there—players like Richard Dent, Mike Singletary, Dan Hampton and Steve McMichael. There were new additions like corner Donnel Woolford and rookie free safety Mark Carrier who’d made the Pro Bowl in his first year. But in a way this worked to New York’s advantage—the Bears would try to beat them at their own game, and Parcells’ team was simply better at it. They dominated the ground game, to the tune of 194-27. Leading 7-3 after one quarter, they added ten points in the second and a touchdown in each of the last two quarters. A 31-3 rout earned them a ticket to the NFC Championship Game in San Francisco.

This was not only the matchup everyone had waited for all year, it was really the game everyone had waited on for two years. The Giants and Niners were the top two seeds in 1989, but New York lost a home game in overtime to Los Angeles and missed the chance for the NFC  Championship date they now had. The Niners were at the peak of their dynasty and were favored to win an unprecedented third straight Super Bowl. Joe Montana was running the offense and had a well-balanced package of skill players. Roger Craig was a 1,000 yard rusher and could catch the ball out of the backfield. Jerry Rice was the best to ever play his position at wideout. Montana could also turn to John Taylor on the outside and tight end Brent Jones. Defensively, San Francisco had future Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott at free safety and pass-rushing dominance in Charles Haley and Kevin Fagan. In the regular season meeting Simms had been sacked four times, twice by Fagan. In the field position game that Giants excelled at, those line of scrimmage battles had to be won.

The game wasn’t a back-and-forth offensive classic by any means, but it was still one of the best games in the history of the NFL playoffs. The teams traded field goals in both the first and second quarters and went to the locker room at 6-6. In the third quarter a 61-yard strike from Montana to Taylor looked like it might stand up. The Giants chipped away with two more Bahr field goals, but with a one-point lead San Francisco had the ball late and was trying to run out the clock. Montana handed off to Craig. Howard poked the ball free and Lawrence Taylor caught it in the air. New York had life at the San Francisco 43-yard line and Hostetler completed two passes to get them to the 25. On the game’s final play Bahr kicked a 42-yard field goal to win the NFC crown. On a field not known for its smooth kicking surface, the veteran kicker had not only hit five field goals, but three of them had been from 40-plus and one from 38. And the Giants, in spite of not scoring a touchdown in two trips to Frisco, were going to the Super Bowl.

Buffalo rolled through the AFC playoffs, beating Miami and then hammering the then-Los Angeles Raiders 51-10 for the AFC title. Based on their play, the Simms injury and their December win in the Meadowlands, the Bills were the favorite to grab the first Super Bowl win in franchise history. They ran an aggressive hurry-up offense with Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly calling his own plays and versatile running back Thurman Thomas in the backfield. Other weapons included a tall receiver in Andre Reed, one of the best of the early 1990s and the defense had an elite linebacker in Cornelius Bennett. He was cut in the L.T. mold and at this stage of their careers, Bennett was the better player. On the inside was Shane Conlan, a Pro Bowler and hero of Penn State’s 1986 national championship team. Another Hall of Famer was at defensive end in Bruce Smith. It was easy to see why Buffalo came in as the favorite.

There was only a one-week turnaround this year for the Super Bowl, a rare case of it being scheduled in (other instances of a one-week wait had been strike years and 9/11). The Giants would have likely benefitted from the extra prep time. Because while Marv Levy was a fine coach for Buffalo, as his record four straight AFC crowns attests, the Belichick/Parcells duo could have used the time for extra schemes to slow down Kelly’s no-huddle. But the Giants played their game and ended up with a Super Bowl record 40 minutes of possession time. The teams traded field goals in the first quarter, and then Buffalo opened up a 12-3 lead aided Smith sacking Hostetler for a safety. The quarterback bounced back with a touchdown pass to Baker that made it 12-10 at the half.

Anderson, on his way to a 100-yard night and game MVP honors, scored the go-ahead touchdown in the third quarter, but Thomas took it back for Buffalo with a brilliant 31-yard scoring run. The Bills’ back rushed 15 times for 135 yards and even in a losing cause had a good case for game MVP himself. A short Bahr field goal made it 20-19 and late in the game Kelly rallied the Bills from deep in their own end to set up a last-play chance for kicker Scott Norwood. The field goal would be from 47 yards. With Buffalo’s Rich Stadium being artificial turf, as it is today, Norwood hadn’t made a field goal that long on grass all year—in fact not even close. This one wouldn’t be the first. It sailed wide right and for the second time in New York Giants history, they were Super Bowl champs.

It would be the final game on the Giants’ sideline for Parcells, who would go into brief retirement before eventually exceeding Brett Favre, Roger Clemens and Michael Jordan combined for comebacks. He’d coach with the Jets, Patriots and Cowboys along with being president of the Dolphins. But he never won another Super Bowl.  We don’t know if this was his sweetest movement, but it was surely among his finest coaching achievements. And for our chosen fan demographic of Aristocratic New Yorker, living near Connecticut and liking Notre Dame football, the Giants had given this sports year what it needed to go from being pleasant to truly memorable—a championship.