[OT] ALCS: Red Sox vs Yankees

[ugarte]

Dan '01 wrote:GO SOX!

You know who probably roots for the Sox? BU.

Screw BU. Red Sox, too.  (Does that count as hockey content?)

[paulspen]

Was at the game last night (painful as it was), and saw the perfect retort to your bumper sticker in red letters on a white T-shirt:

1918
Babe
Bucky
Buckner

Need we say more?

Go yanks!

[RichS]

Right...you can take comfort in that after the Yanks win the series.  :-D

[gtsully]

One of the guys who got revenge on Volonnino wrote:

Where can I buy one of those "I love New York, too. It's the Yankees I hate." bumper stickers? ;-)

I've never seen one of those, but outside Fenway they do sell "I love New York, but I hate the Yankees" bumper stickers.  The part that sucks is that you have to search through all of the "Jeter Swallows" and "Hey Yankee Fans, Yank This" t-shirts and other such crap.

(trying not to get too up or down about series until one team has 3 wins...)

[gtsully]

I don't know if I'll make it out alive, but I'll be at Game Seven tonight in the Bronx.  Putting aside all bias, this is probably the biggest baseball game that's ever taken place in my lifetime, and even if the Sox lose, it'll be worth being there (provided I make it back). ::worry::

[Adam]

Only Red Sox fans think this is the biggest game ever.  Sure, it's an important game, but how can it be the biggest game of one's lifetime when it's not even the World Series?  

Are you saying that this game is actually bigger than Game 6 of the World Series against the Mets??  Or did Buckner just make that too painful a game for you to remember?

Don't get me wrong, I'll certainly be watching and routing hard for the Yankees....and if they lose I'll be upset (or if they win I'll be excited).  But I think there is a definite perception of importance issue at play here.

[dsr11]

Adam '01 wrote:

Only Red Sox fans think this is the biggest game ever.  Sure, it's an important game, but how can it be the biggest game of one's lifetime when it's not even the World Series?  

"Where's the fun in winning if you take it as a Constitutional right? Rooting for the Yankees is like rooting for Ticketmaster, only with better T-shirts."

pulled from an article on ESPN.com a couple days ago.  Thats why this is a big game for the Sox and not one for the Yankees.  The Yankees ALWAYS win and expect to.  Sound like Adam is a typical, spoiled Yankees fan.  Yes, I'm a Boston fan, if that's not obvious.

[Adam]

Awww, has the Red Sox nation sunk to the point of name calling?  That's cute.  Really it is.  Sort of like the Red Sox run this year is admirable and cute.  The bastard stepchildren finally get their day in the sun.  The perennial losers are now in a position to win for once.  But for all this "Cowboy Up" crap, the Sox are in the exact same position as the Yanks.....and the Yanks only had an "average" season.

[rhovorka]

Dan '01 wrote:

"Where's the fun in winning if you take it as a Constitutional right? Rooting for the Yankees is like rooting for Ticketmaster, only with better T-shirts."

pulled from an article on ESPN.com a couple days ago.  Thats why this is a big game for the Sox and not one for the Yankees.  The Yankees ALWAYS win and expect to.  Sound like Adam is a typical, spoiled Yankees fan.  Yes, I'm a Boston fan, if that's not obvious.

You know, it really doesn't make me incredibly angry, but the constant beatdown of Yankee fans in the last couple years by...well everyone in contact with the media is starting to stick in my craw.  It may make a nice quote that rooting for the Yankees is like rooting for Microsoft/ticketmaster/whatever, but I can guarantee you that in my life I've shed as much blood/sweat/tears/cheers as any Red Sox/Cubs fan.  I guess the media's memory only goes back to 1996, and I'm sure there have been plenty of bandwagoners hop on board who only know the winning years (and are indeed probably spoiled), but I've been a Yankee fan tried and true since I can remember. And there were a lot of lean years...you know...back when the Yanks were looked at as just another team, and not a giant, easy target for the growing legions of Yankee-haters.  I feel enourmously blessed by the recent success and to this day, I don't "expect" to win.  I can rattle off a list of tremendously heartbreaking Yankee losses in my life, so they don't "ALWAYS" win.  I love my team, I love the players who play for my team, and I love the tremendous heart that they've demonstrated for several years now.  So piss off and let me be the fan I've always been.

A coworker in San Diego once gave me a bitter "Gee, it must be easy rooting for a winner." retort when I answered his question what my favorite team was.  Well you know what?  With all the Yankee hate, payroll excuses, and "holier than thou" schlock that gets thrown at me almost daily...I've found that it's actually pretty difficult.

I've come up with the analogy that being a Yankee fan today is somewhat similar to being an American in today's global society.  Pretty much everyone hates you for some reason or another.  They blame your success on wealth.  Some extremists are willing to resort to violent behavior based solely on your affiliation.  Some of your fellow "fans" embarrass you by their actions, beliefs, hubris, and treatment of "fans" of other "teams."  A good number of us are outraged by our owner/president's actions.  Other "teams" complain of unfair practices and that you always win.  Any battles that are waged you want to win very badly, and when you don't the rest of the world is ready to pile on and get in your face about it.

Rooting for the Yankees is like rooting for America.  Go Yanks.

[Al DeFlorio]

Rich H '96 wrote:

Rooting for the Yankees is like rooting for America.  Go Yanks.

George Steinbrenner=America?

Lord, let's hope not.

[rhovorka]

Al DeFlorio wrote:

George Steinbrenner=America?

Lord, let's hope not.

If you read my post again, you'll see my analogy was actually:

George Steinbrenner = George W. Bush
Yankees = America

Unfortunately, Yankee fans don't get to vote, and there are no term limits.  :-(



Post Edited (10-16-03 12:22)

[jtwcornell91]

Rich beat me to it.  What he said



Post Edited (10-16-03 12:22)

[Jeff Hopkins \'82]

[q]Rooting for the Yankees is like rooting for America. [/q]

Yanqui go home!

JH

[nyc94]

But Steinbrenner doesn't complain about high taxes i.e. the luxury tax.

And does that make the Cubs = Al Gore because they couldn't win at home when it mattered most?

[Adam]

I agree 100% with Rich.   Let me also add a few more points:

I always laugh at the "Yeah, but the Yankees payroll is so high and that's why they win" line.

How then do you explain teams like Texas and even Baltimore?  Sure, the Yankees have a lot of money, but they are also smart with it.  They don't go and blow it all on one player (A-Rod) and forget about something as important as starting pitching.

And how can we BLAME the Yanks for having a lot of money?? Facts are facts.  New York is the largest media market in the world.  The Yankees have more fans than any other sports franchise in the history of the world (fuck off, Manchester United).  OF COURSE they have more money than anyone...but it's not their FAULT.  In fact, if Robin Hood was a baseball fan, I'm betting he would support the Pinstripes.  Think of all the inherent good the Yanks have done for the game of baseball.  If this series was Oakland V. Minnesota, would anyone (outside of those cities) even care?  

Another point that is lost here is how many different Yankees teams have done well in the recent run of glory.  The 1996 Yanks were so much different from the 1999 Yanks and both were very different from the 2003 Yanks.  It's not like the same exact team of giants is taking the field every year.  Remind me again, how many left fielders have there been since '96?

I have no idea who is going to win tonight, but I'm sure it will be an entertaining game.  It always is with the Yankees and that's why I love baseball.