Imagine That: A-Rod to The...

An old friend of mine sent out an e-mail yesterday that induced the most thought out of a fiery Sip in days:

Looking at the cover of today’s Post and reading about the latest A-Rod saga got me thinking.

I hate the Yankees -- in fact, I hate the Yankees more than any rational adult should hate anything, especially a (professional sports) organization whose existence has no really meaningful impact on their life.

For a variety of reasons, Yankee fans hate A-Rod. What started as a fan base unsatisfied with a high-priced free agent signing has warped into a clusterf—k that, at its best, is the unwilling transformation of a supremely talented baseball player into a scapegoat of epic proportions, and at its worst, is a modern-day lynching that brings out the absolute worst of all parties involved.

And, so, the question is this: should I now support / root for A-Rod?

I hate the Yankees and most Yankee fans. The Yankees and most Yankee fans hate A-Rod. Should I, in turn, like A-Rod? Remember, an enemy of your enemy can often be your closest friend.

I’m not sure where I stand on the subject but I pose this question to the group.

* * * * *

I felt like Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting. I thought about what he wrote and I couldn't stop thinking about it for, well... minutes.

Here were my thoughts.

The thing is, if A-Rod did well Yankee fans would immediately love him. So rooting for his success may not be the best thing.

I think what we can all root for is for A-Rod to have another A-Rod season, opt out of his deal and then root for him hard the second he touches another uniform.

If Peyton lifted the monkey off his back in Indy by first beating New England and then winning the Super Bowl , then A-Rod would lift the Empire State Building off his back if he A) beat the Yanks in the postseason and B) won a World Series in another uniform.

Yankee fans would be up in arms and turn on their organziation blaming it for not allowing A-Rod to reach his potential. Yankee fans would question themselves as New Yorkers "Are we right to be so hard?" etc., and the whole organization would go in to a tail spin.

Could you imagine if A-Rod opted out of his deal and then went to Boston?

If he took a lesser deal just to say fuck you to the Yankees and form by far and away the greatest 3-4-5 of all time in A-Rod-Ortiz-Manny.

Could you imagine Yankee stadium the first time A-Rod came back to the Bronx? It would make Rocker's return to Shea seem like an exhibition game.

I think I just thought of my dream scenario. A-Rod in a Red Sox jersey in '08 and he becomes one of my top five players to root for in the game. I don't dislike the Red Sox. I'm not one of those guys that compare them to the Yankees or hate Boston people. I feel their anger and so I root for them.

For my $90, a Yankees vs. Red Sox matchup at Yankee Stadium is the best ticket in New York City sports, not counting of course the Columbia vs. St. Johns match in Queens a couple of weeks back. It's just an awesome atmosphere and I always just think it is more fun if you are rooting for the road team. You find your niche and you go with it.

So A-Rod, that's what we here at Y2K want out of you.

You may be forever hated by the Yankees, but truth is, who really cares? The rest of baseball and the country would be rooting for you like they were rooting for Peyton. No one wants to see the Yankees win and therefore no wants to see you win as a Yankee.

But go somewhere else, and you will have the country behind you.

You will have Sippy Momo behind you.

Heck, you may even have Keanu Reeves behind you.

Vaya con dios,

Sip

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