The 2007 Red Sox
Wed May 30, 2007 Filed in: Recycled
thoughts
We have the best record
in baseball. The Yankees continue to find new ways to
lose. Why am I paranoid? Why am I still afraid of the
Yankees?
While living in New York City, I endured the garden variety Yankee maltreatments. I went to Yankee stadium proudly in my gray Sox away jersey, where I was heckled, spat with beer, and met with mocking sympathy. Out of the times I went to see the rivals, I never got to see the Sox win in the house that Ruth built. I still cringe at the thought of the 2003 American League championship series when the Sox should have beaten the Yankees and gone on to the World Series. I am disturbed by childhood memories of believing in my team then being heartbroken in the playoffs--every year. Like a neglected child, I still can't fully trust the 2007 Red Sox even though they look so unbeatable.
I lost my voice for two days after screaming when the Sox came back to win the American League championship series in 2004, coming back to beat the Yankees after being three games behind. I relished the irony when one of my coworkers told me, "You just wait until next year." We broke the curse. The Sox won the world series, and at first I thought, we'll never be losers again. But it wasn't enough to slay the paranoid, insecure Sox fan inside me. There is no salvation in baseball.
I want to say things like, "Well, I guess 194 million dollars just doesn't buy what it used to." The mistreated fan inside me wants to lash out in anger and rub the Yankees in the mud. I've lectured children at church about how George Steinbrenner is involved the occult. I taught my friend's five year-old daughter to torment her dad with, "The Yankees are evil. My favorite team is the Red Sox!" I'm so bad I go after kids...but the lack of grace is what makes the game so enjoyable! I love to watch the fighting highlights--Pedro shoving Don ZImmer into the dirt and 'Tek stuffing his glove into A-Rod's nauseating face. I'm still insecure about my team because the fear and hate is what drives the tradition behind my love of the game.
So I embrace it all. I fear the Yankees and will gladly throw them under a bus. I take solace in knowing that what I endured at Yankee Stadium is far worse for Yankee fans visiting Fenway. And what's the Yankees record now? 21 and 29? Well, at least you're not in last place alone...at 25 million, those Devil Rays make stinging company, huh?
While living in New York City, I endured the garden variety Yankee maltreatments. I went to Yankee stadium proudly in my gray Sox away jersey, where I was heckled, spat with beer, and met with mocking sympathy. Out of the times I went to see the rivals, I never got to see the Sox win in the house that Ruth built. I still cringe at the thought of the 2003 American League championship series when the Sox should have beaten the Yankees and gone on to the World Series. I am disturbed by childhood memories of believing in my team then being heartbroken in the playoffs--every year. Like a neglected child, I still can't fully trust the 2007 Red Sox even though they look so unbeatable.
I lost my voice for two days after screaming when the Sox came back to win the American League championship series in 2004, coming back to beat the Yankees after being three games behind. I relished the irony when one of my coworkers told me, "You just wait until next year." We broke the curse. The Sox won the world series, and at first I thought, we'll never be losers again. But it wasn't enough to slay the paranoid, insecure Sox fan inside me. There is no salvation in baseball.
I want to say things like, "Well, I guess 194 million dollars just doesn't buy what it used to." The mistreated fan inside me wants to lash out in anger and rub the Yankees in the mud. I've lectured children at church about how George Steinbrenner is involved the occult. I taught my friend's five year-old daughter to torment her dad with, "The Yankees are evil. My favorite team is the Red Sox!" I'm so bad I go after kids...but the lack of grace is what makes the game so enjoyable! I love to watch the fighting highlights--Pedro shoving Don ZImmer into the dirt and 'Tek stuffing his glove into A-Rod's nauseating face. I'm still insecure about my team because the fear and hate is what drives the tradition behind my love of the game.
So I embrace it all. I fear the Yankees and will gladly throw them under a bus. I take solace in knowing that what I endured at Yankee Stadium is far worse for Yankee fans visiting Fenway. And what's the Yankees record now? 21 and 29? Well, at least you're not in last place alone...at 25 million, those Devil Rays make stinging company, huh?
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