It Didn't Used to Be This Way
Someone asked, so here I go!!!
I'm not a violent, vengeful guy, except when it comes to sports. My love of the NY Knicks has left some bitter holes in my soul, for example. I hate Scottie Pippen. I still root against Phil Jackston. I can still get shaking when I think of the 1994 Knicks/Rockets Final when Pat f-ing Riley refused to take John "0-17" Starks out and put in Rolando "I Don't Miss Ever" Blackman in. I wish Bill Wennington the worst of luck, fortune, and a rash on his butt because he embarrased me in front of my in-laws. (and had a stupid "Beef Wennington burguer at McDonalds in Chicago where I went to college). I nearly decked an innocent human being because he made fun of Patrick Ewing.
Which brings me to the topic of the Boston Red Sox. After college in my own personal hell also known as the Chicago suburbs my wife and I moved to Boston. I was stoked. East Coast again!!! Good seafood, people with accents, and liberal politics!! Certainly being from New York would give me an automatic affinity with the good folks of Mass.
I was wrong. Very, very wrong. It seems the entire city of Boston and its suburbs have "little dog syndrome." After years of being in the shadow of New York, Bostonians' levels of hate for all things New Yorkian have reached Kristie Allen proportions. This is nowhere more true than baseball. The assumption was that I was a fan of the hated Yankees and therefore was subjected to abuse about my suppossed team.
The thing is, I was and am a Mets fan. 1986 was my pinnacle year. I thought the Yankees were the "punk team" with ugly uniforms. But the joy of seeing an entire region of bitter, angry, and quite frankly mean Red Sox fans go apopletic every year when their team inevitably fell short made me a Yankee fan.
Nothing crystalized this more than the one time we went to that 100 year old dump, Fenway Park to watch the Sox play the Orioles. Yes the BALTIMORE orioles. Halfway through the game, the inevitable "Yankees suck" chant began. There wasn't a Yankee within 200 miles of the place. The whole street outside was filled with vendors selling Yankees suck paraphenalia. So I said, Hey, if you're gonna be a jerk about it, I will too. (where this fits in with my declaration of independence is still subject to review).
The funny part of that night is that my wife, the docile Chicago Cubs fan, decides to argue with one of the vendors of "Yankees Suck!" t-shirts, saying, "The Yankees don't suck, you guys do. Give it up! You're obsessed! Just root for your own team even if they're not that good" Needless to say, I've never been closer to death before in my life.
So, in a nutshell, my rooting against the Red Sox is a reaction against Red Sox fans obsession with the Yankees. Childish? Absolutely! Super fun? No doubt
Peace to All "