Red Sox Conspiracy

Obamanut wrote: If you are looking for Red Sox fans just come to Park Slope, you will see five Red Sox hats for every Yankees hat. Unfortunately the law prevents me from biffing the hat off their heads.

Okay -- this is all said with love. But -- dude? Suck it up.

Red Sox fans suffered years of being mocked at games and even on the streets -- we've had our own friends taunt us with that damn "NINE-teen EIGHT-teen" (clap clap clapclapclap) thing, we've had people throw beer at us during the games, and did we complain about it? No.

But all it takes is seeing people wearing Red Sox hats and you get mad enough to want to strike back.

When the guys you see wearing the Red Sox hats are standing in a circle around you and waving copies of that picture of Alex Rodriguez slapping the ball out of someone's glove during the 2003 playoffs, or copies of the photoshopped version where he's holding a purse, THEN come talk to me, and I'll sympathize. But until then, we're just gonna smirk and say "karma's a bitch, ain't it?"

(For the record: the one Yankees/Sox game I went to, in 1996, the trash talk in the stands when people discovered I was a Sox fan never went beyond good-natured teasing, and we all agreed at the end of the game that it was a good game on both sides. And I do agree -- Yankees/Sox matches do tend to be really good games, no matter how the outcome of the season as a whole plays out. There's something about the rivalry that does inspire the teams themselves to bring it. I've just encountered a number of Yankees fans who get a little....carried away. And I will grant you that in Boston, there are Sox fans who also get a little...carried away. But the teams themselves? A good rivalry that produces good games. And a tip of the hat from this Sox fan to the Yankees for that point.)

LincolnAnnex wrote: Queen I don't quite follow your post. You are a sox fan? Why are people ragging on you for ARod? The players union saved our souls that year he signed with the Yanks. Even if I were a Brewers fan i'd hate that man as much as I do Lance Armstrong. Both are nothing more than posers. No class.

No, people are not ragging on ME about A-Rod. My analogy would be that people teasing a YANKEES fan for a mistake a Yankees player made during a serious game would probably be equal to the teasing that I, a Red Sox fan, used to receive about Bill Buckner's failing to catch a ground ball during the 1986 World Series. I'm not denying it wa a big mistake, I'm only saying that teasing a Red Sox fan about an 1986 incident in 1999 was a bit...immature, maybe? But -- I know plenty of Yankees fan who still did it.

But, similarly, a Red Sox fan of today teasing a Yankees fan over something one Yankees player did once during the 2004 playoffs would also be immature. And, thus, only when a Yankees fan is facing that kind of immaturity and teasing will I agree that they're being treated unfairly, because I've put up with that level of trash talk myself for years. Mind, I don't mind trash talk as a rule -- but for God's sake, at least be clever about it, eh?

And another post:

Anyway—A-Rod was a Gold Glove shortstop for the Texas Rangers in 2003; get your facts straight and tone down the arrogance a bit, eh?

I'll apologize for getting the dates wrong, but as for the arrogance -- I've faced worse from Yankees fans over the years, and it's my turn, kid. (In all seriousness, though -- apologies if this is actually coming across as sincere arrogance -- it really isn't. I did say in my last post that both teams give a good game, and my snark is directed more against a particular class of fan than it is the teams themselves. And my teasing is indeed meant to be good-natured, but if the Interweb is stripping the tone out, rest assured it did come with tongue in cheek.)

I loathe the Sox as much as any Yankee fan, and believe me, when I see someone wearing a Sox cap in Brooklyn, Manhattan I think "hater" or "fan since 2004." However—there's room for all of us. Boston has a great club, several superb players.

And do so the Yankees.

If I may gently propose a third option to Sox caps in Brooklyn, that of "finally able to come out of the equipment closet as a Sox fan"? A lot of Sox fans lived here before 2004 as well, but sometimes admitting to it could get you a LOT of shit. I've heard that there used to be nights when crowds of Yankee fanbrats would actually gather outside bars where they knew Sox fans were watching the game, and they would wait outside on the sidewalk to hassle them when they were leaving the bar.

Mind, I'm not saying that that is typical behavior for Yankees fans -- it's only a fraction of those who would do that, and a similar fraction of the Red Sox fans are also as obnoxious. Every team has its fanbrats. It's just that there's a greater concentration of them on the home turf in both cases, and if you ran into enough of them before 2004, you tended to leave the Red Sox caps at home. But 2004 kind of levelled the playing field and took the wind out of most of the fanbrats' sails, so it was okay to get the caps out. I have no doubt that there are a few Yankees fans who live in Boston who have set their Yankees caps aside for now.

In closing: another Red Sox fan I know who lives in Park Slope actually now says that his other favorite team is actually the Brooklyn Cyclones.

daver wrote: [quote=queencallipygos]But, similarly, a Red Sox fan of today teasing a Yankees fan over something one Yankees player did once during the 2004 playoffs would also be immature. And, thus, only when a Yankees fan is facing that kind of immaturity and teasing will I agree that they're being treated unfairly, because I've put up with that level of trash talk myself for years. Mind, I don't mind trash talk as a rule -- but for God's sake, at least be clever about it, eh?

Immature, please. You are talking about grown men running around playing with their balls and slapping each other on the ass, and you think dated "teasing" is immature? I like a good game as much as the next guy, but let us be honest about the seriousness of it.

Oh, I know -- but there's immaturity, and then there is immaturity. That's all.

LincolnAnnex wrote: Same rules apply I would assume. And to the Rays: Forget about Ken Griffey Jr., within a month you will get back one of your franchise's greatest athletes; Rhode Island's own Rocco Baldelli the 'Woonsocket Rocket'! Love that kid. Soft spot for my Lil Rhodie boys: Chris Iannetta, Paul Konerko and Lou Merloni.

doesn't he have some really crazy disorder, like he can't make midi-chlorians or something? you know, the things that give baseball players the force?

queencallipygos wrote: [quote=Obamanut]If you are looking for Red Sox fans just come to Park Slope, you will see five Red Sox hats for every Yankees hat. Unfortunately the law prevents me from biffing the hat off their heads.

Okay -- this is all said with love. But -- dude? Suck it up.



My point is not that I'm such a diehard Yankees fan, my point is that it's just disrespectful. If I went into some Boston residential neighborhood wearing a Yankees cap I would fully expect someone to make a comment.

It's just sad that the neighborhood is so devoid of natives and those with ties to the community, that hometown pride is all but gone.

Re: the mis-timed commercial breaks. It happened again tonight (7/2 on ESPN against the Rays). Mysteriously enough, they broke away for a commercial in the middle of the action at both 7:24 and 8:24; 9:24 was an real commercial break. They showed two commercials each time, but neither was for optimum. This came as a great disappointment to my nine-month-old son, who for some reason goes completely catatonic in front of the TV whenever that newish optimum commercial (the one with the blonde, not the reggaeton one) comes on.