Back When Being Bossy Was a Good Thing

I am always tickled to get a New York Times story published, and almost certainly will remain that way until the end of my days.
Most recently, it was an essay on my memories of moving to Long Island as a boy, where I found lots of Ground Round restaurants, and a local populace mad for the local hockey team. 
I took my son to Nassau Coliseum to see the Islanders before the Old Barn closed, and I'm glad I did.
My story, called "A Move Towards Islanders Mania," starts:

I left New Jersey, only to find a new jersey, a new sport and a favorite team on Long Island.

It would be hypocritical for me to fault the Islanders for departing for Brooklyn. I, too, left the island for a hip city neighborhood decades ago, as did many of my friends.

But years before that, I was a new arrival to the slim island east of the East River, and the wonderfully successful hockey team representing “the Island” almost immediately instilled in me a sense of civic pride.