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Still Sucks To Be A Yanks Fan

The New York Times has an interesting piece about the harsh division of sports allegiances in Connecticut- and the vast difference between how the Northern CT sports fan is feeling right about now, versus the Southern CT sports fan. From the article:

[A]cross the spectrum of mass-appeal professional sports, America's greatest regional rivalry has not been a pretty sight for the New York fan, as reflected by The Boston Globe on the morning after Christmas.

Plastered down the sports front page were Jonathan Papelbon in a triumphant crouch, an exultant Randy Moss after another connection with Brady and an open-mouthed, wide-eyed and not-wanting- to-be-pinched Kevin Garnett.

The headline included the numbers 2, 0, 0, 7, separated by the following declarations, aligned with the corresponding photographs: Unstoppable (Red Sox), Undefeated (Patriots) and Unbelievable (Celtics).

What would the 2007 New York equivalent be? Try Undignified (the Yankees making an October off-field spectacle of themselves after losing again in the first round), Unwatchable (the Mets committing the worst September choke in baseball history) and Unbearable (any snapshot from the Knicks' continuing and incomparable dysfunction).

Of course, seeing as how my NFL allegiance (Cowboys) and NBA allegiance (none) each lies elsewhere, the part of the article that I focused on is Red Sox vs. Yankees. The story was accompanied by several comparison photos- and really, doesn't this just sum up '07 baseball pretty perfectly?

Again, from the article:

In 2007, the Red Sox snapped the Yankees' nine-year run of divisional titles, rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the American League Championship Series against the Indians and swept the Rockies in the World Series.

The Yankees bugged out in Cleveland, were eliminated at home and upstaged the rest of the postseason with the tacky Joe Torre saga and the grubby Alex Rodriguez contract intrusion during the Red Sox' Series-clinching game in Denver.

Just to prove that the Yankees and A-Rod still don't get it, they officially announced their roughly $300 million remarriage on the day the Mitchell report on steroids was released and all of baseball should have bowed its collective head in shame.

Speaking of the report, there was scant mention of the Red Sox while the Yankees (and the Mets) were portrayed as virtual home offices for performance enhancement. Keeping with our theme, Boston's Roger Clemens will always be remembered as a comparatively svelte, flame-throwing wonder. New York's Roger Clemens stands accused by the Mitchell report of being a fake.

Come on now- the Yankees just signed LaTroy Hawkins! I'm sure that's going to turn things around!

Comments (4)

[ Juke Early ] says:
on December 29, 2007 5:10 AM

A contractor specializing in building glasshouses, would do well to move to the Boston area. BTW: better hope nobody there is late, making a payment to Mitchell. . ..

Cowboys fan! in what part of Boston is Dallas located, Southie Fork?

[ Texas Gal ] says:
on December 29, 2007 8:53 AM

Ah, yes. My day is never complete until a random Yankees troll shows up here to (a) attack me for something the New York Times wrote, (b) attack George Mitchell, who gets more grief from moronic folks over baseball than he ever did FOR BROKERING PEACE IN NORTHERN IRELAND, and (c) attack me for my sports allegiances.

The moment someone tries to attack the credibility of George Mitchell, he loses all credibility of his own- and just exposes himself as ignorant.

Times are rough in Yankeeland when Yank fans are reducing to trolling strangers' websites. I guess when your teams are in the crapper, you have nothing better to do.

[ Margaret ] says:
on December 29, 2007 5:11 PM

To be fair, I might say that disarmament talks with Sinn Fein and the IRA might have been more fruitful than trying to deal with the player's association. I'd much rather be charged with the former.

I also not really sure how your allegiance to the Cowboys is at all significant.

Ah, well. I did like reading this. The word "undignified" is interesting, because I totally agree. I don't know that I'd classify the behavior of the Sox as "dignified" (Bud case, anyone?), but it is relevant because of the Yankees' insistence on appearance--all their haircut rules, for instance. For a team so hellbent on appearing gentlemanly, their behavior and public dealings have been kind of shocking to me.

[ fc ] says:
on December 30, 2007 4:36 PM

To comment on that split in CT - Northern/Southern my ass. I'm originally from a suburb bordering Hartford smack in the middle of the state where there were limited Yankee incursions, but make no mistake, most folks in CT who regard themselves as part of New England bleed Sox red - so that's pretty much everyone except those in NY suburb bedroom towns, which is all people in NYC think of as CT, and in a very thin line of cities along the lower-left coast of the state on the Sound.

About those central CT Yankee incursions though - one of my best friends in school and her twin brother were on either side of The Divide. She was deep-thinking, soulful, and very much an individual, and he was kind of self centered and snotty. I wasn't even hardcore yet but had been raised properly to know that the Sox are the good guys. Imagine my surprise to find out that my friend was the Yankees fan, and her brother was for the Sox!

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