I'm A Yankee Fan Because Channel 9 Cancelled Knight Rider!

HE SAYS:

I’m a Yankee Fan Because Channel 9 Cancelled Knight Rider:

 A look at seemingly unrelated issues and their effects

I recently watched “Freakonomics” for the third time recently. In a segment of the documentary, they explore the possibility that the predicted “Super-Criminals” of the 1990s never appeared because of the Roe v. Wade decision. In essence, the documentary argues that by giving people the opportunity to choose when they wanted to have children instead of forcing them to, parents were more ready to take care of the children they had. This, in turn, led to better care for the children that were born, and a lesser chance that those children would partake of criminal activities. The documentary sites countries where the exact opposite was done, and how those countries suffered higher poverty and crime rates 18-25 years after the mandatory boom in their population (18-25 years being important because those are the ages where most people are most susceptible to committing crimes). Most people wouldn’t see the connection between abortion legality and crime rates. The filmmakers did.

Am I saying that I agree with their theory? Not necessarily. Am I saying that it deserves to be looked at more? Absolutely.

Let’s look at a more trivial example from my personal life. I’m born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. In baseball, I have two choices when rooting for the home team: the Yankees, and the Mets. I am a Yankee fan. But how did I make that choice?

Is it because of the Yankees’ 27 World Championships? Not at all. Is it my proximity to Yankee Stadium? Actually, I’ve always lived closer to Shea (and now Citi Field). So if it has nothing to with winning streaks or proximity, then why did I choose to be a Yankee fan? Simply put, I’m a Yankee fan because WWOR-TV, New York’s Channel 9, cancelled “Knight Rider.”

When I was a kid, I used to go to my grandmother’s house almost every Saturday. She and I would watch my favorite show, “Knight Rider” on Channel 9 together. Afterwards we would hang out. First the “A-Team” would come on, then the Mets game. Subsequently, growing up I always watched the Mets. I learned about the game and rooted for them during those years, but most of my attention was on hanging out with my grandmother.

While I was still a kid, they cancelled “Knight Rider,” and I really didn’t watch channel 9 anymore while I was at my grandmother’s house, and the Mets just slipped away. Around the same time, during the week I started watching WPIX-TV, Channel 11, after school. They showed “Saved By the Bell” (don’t judge me) and other stupid-yet-funny shows that were good background noise, and then Yankee games. Hence, I started watching Yankee games. I don’t watch Channel 11 anymore, but the Yankees were the team I followed for years by the time I stopped. They were the last baseball team I paid any attention to or had any interest in. I’m not saying I would have been a Mets fan, but by the time I decided to be a Yankee fan, I hadn’t seen a Mets game in years – all because “Knight Rider” was no longer on television.

I know, sounds crazy or trivial or or far-fetched, right? But let’s think about it for a moment. Is your favorite color your favorite color because of its vibrancy (or lack thereof), or because of the feeling you get or a memory? Do you love your favorite song because of its composition, its lyrics, or because you associate it with something? If someone you care about was murdered in cold blood, senselessly, while you were listening to that song, would it still be your favorite song? Would the composition matter at that point?

My point is there are always underlying factors in everything we see and do and feel. When looking for motivations or answers, we should not solely look at the direct correlation. The filmmakers of “Freakonomics” may very well be wrong, but tougher jail sentencing and more creative police work are – in my opinion – only marginally more important for the drop in crime rates than vibrancy is in someone choosing their favorite color.

In “The Tipping Point,” Malcolm Gladwell argues that a significant reason why crime dropped in New York City is because the city cleaned up and repainted the Subway system. It no longer looked like a place where crime could run rampant – looking more like a place where crime would be punished - and so people on the fence about whether to commit a crime or not decided not to do so.

So whether abortions or a coat of paint are responsible for drops in criminal activities, my point remains. Life is not a mathematical equation, and if it is, it’s a complex one. They say the shortest route between two points is a straight line. On a sheet of paper that might be true, however, on a globe the shortest route between two points is a curved line. The latter is more like life and cause-and-effect scenarios. We must deviate slightly from the accepted path in order to find the truth.

“But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Matthew 7:14

Peace and Respect.