Indecision 2008, Rays-Red Sox Edition
As I write this, it's all tied up in the bottom of the fourth inning of Game 7 down in Tampa Bay. Like every other game in this ALCS, it's a bit of a schizophrenic viewing experience for the Glass Man here tonight.
That's because no matter how many times I run through the prevailing logic, I can't make up my mind. Am I rooting for the Sox or the Rays?
On it's face it should be easy. The Rays are a great story; you all know that story by now so I won't recap it here. Suffice it to say that that part of me that understands perpetual underdog-ism to be an quintessential part of Mets fandom demands that I root for the Rays.
The Red Sox, meanwhile, have had more success in recent years than any team in baseball. Their transformation from perennial choker to postseason juggernaut is truly astounding (inspiring, even, for anybody who's watched their team choke time after time), but success hardly inspires sympathy.
But in spite of all that, I find the Red Sox still lay a powerful claim on my affection. I don't think it's just the Yankee hating thing; sure, I revel in it when the Red Sox beat up on the Yanks, but the Yankees are watching the playoffs this year same as me, and it's not like the Red Sox need to win a third championship in five years in order for everyone to understand that the dynamics of the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry have changed.
Maybe what it is is that I know how much baseball means to those people in New England, and I know how much those 86 years of losing impacted them. The losing was a central part of the region's identity for such a long time, that even today, after all the success they've had this decade, they still seem to appreciate how special and rare it is to cheer on a winner.
They haven't yet forgotten what it is to suffer, nor have they forgotten how unreasonable it is to expect a championship every season, as Yankee fans do.
Nothing against Rays fans, who, lord knows, know a thing or two about losing, but who are their fans exactly? Who among them was there during all the down years?
I remember speaking with a doorman at my parents' apartment this summer. A Yankees fan as long as I've known him, I asked him what he thought about the Yanks' chances. "Yankees?" he asked incredulously, and he scoffed. "Nah man I'm a RAYS fan!"
He was half-joking, of course, but you can't help but feel that a disproportionate number of Rays fans out there have just jumped on the bandwagon. Hell, my buddy Nails might be their biggest fan.
But maybe I'm not being fair to them. Maybe they are the spiritual successors to the '69 Mets after all; maybe I owe it to the ghost of Scott Kazmir to root for them.
Go Rays?
Go Red Sox?
Here I am, right where I began.
* * * * *
In the end, I guess all that matters is that one of them beats the Phillies.
2-1 Rays now, 1 out, top 6. By the time you read this, chances are it'll probably be a moot point, but I'm curious, who are/were you rooting for in the ALCS, and did anyone else out there feel similarly conflicted?
- A.F.O.M.G.
That's because no matter how many times I run through the prevailing logic, I can't make up my mind. Am I rooting for the Sox or the Rays?
On it's face it should be easy. The Rays are a great story; you all know that story by now so I won't recap it here. Suffice it to say that that part of me that understands perpetual underdog-ism to be an quintessential part of Mets fandom demands that I root for the Rays.
The Red Sox, meanwhile, have had more success in recent years than any team in baseball. Their transformation from perennial choker to postseason juggernaut is truly astounding (inspiring, even, for anybody who's watched their team choke time after time), but success hardly inspires sympathy.
But in spite of all that, I find the Red Sox still lay a powerful claim on my affection. I don't think it's just the Yankee hating thing; sure, I revel in it when the Red Sox beat up on the Yanks, but the Yankees are watching the playoffs this year same as me, and it's not like the Red Sox need to win a third championship in five years in order for everyone to understand that the dynamics of the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry have changed.
Maybe what it is is that I know how much baseball means to those people in New England, and I know how much those 86 years of losing impacted them. The losing was a central part of the region's identity for such a long time, that even today, after all the success they've had this decade, they still seem to appreciate how special and rare it is to cheer on a winner.
They haven't yet forgotten what it is to suffer, nor have they forgotten how unreasonable it is to expect a championship every season, as Yankee fans do.
Nothing against Rays fans, who, lord knows, know a thing or two about losing, but who are their fans exactly? Who among them was there during all the down years?
I remember speaking with a doorman at my parents' apartment this summer. A Yankees fan as long as I've known him, I asked him what he thought about the Yanks' chances. "Yankees?" he asked incredulously, and he scoffed. "Nah man I'm a RAYS fan!"
He was half-joking, of course, but you can't help but feel that a disproportionate number of Rays fans out there have just jumped on the bandwagon. Hell, my buddy Nails might be their biggest fan.
But maybe I'm not being fair to them. Maybe they are the spiritual successors to the '69 Mets after all; maybe I owe it to the ghost of Scott Kazmir to root for them.
Go Rays?
Go Red Sox?
Here I am, right where I began.
* * * * *
In the end, I guess all that matters is that one of them beats the Phillies.
2-1 Rays now, 1 out, top 6. By the time you read this, chances are it'll probably be a moot point, but I'm curious, who are/were you rooting for in the ALCS, and did anyone else out there feel similarly conflicted?
- A.F.O.M.G.
posted by A Friend of Mr. Glass' at 10:15 PM
2 Comments:
Definitely rooting for the Rays all the way. Not only a great baseball story, but it's always good to have some new teams in the WS. Plus, I thought they were better than the BoSox, and would have a better chance of beating the Phils.
I wouldn't have been upset if the Sox won, though, because I still think they could have disposed of Rollins and Co. Plus, there's always the "pain for the Yankee fan" factor when Boston wins (there's gotta be some Tampa pain, they've been last since their inception). Just look what it did to Joba (kiss your Phiten endorsement goodbye).
"Hell, my buddy Nails might be their biggest fan."
This might be the nicest thing you've ever said. You should see my new Rays hat! It's the one with the American flag interlaced inside the TB.
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