News of no interest whatsoever
I’m sorry I’ve neglected to write recently but I’ve been extra-busy and I was also wasting spending my time writing a guest post on another blog. Hey, wasn’t someone supposed to remind you about that? I forget who. Anyway, I’m sure you’ve all enjoyed re-reading the same posts over and over and gazing at KP. But, if you were observant, you’d have noticed that there is a new page up featuring a soon-to-be-regular feature called “iPod song of the week,” wherein I remind you of some song in the distant past or horrible present that you should have on your iPod. It’ll change weekly. That’s where the “of the week” part comes in.
Yes, yes, I tried it in a post and no one seemed interested. Now you can be uninterested somewhere else! It’s over in that top-right box underneath that oh-so-subtle reminder to donate to charity. Charity, streaming songs, charity, streaming songs…I don’t know. I’ll leave that choice up to you. As with the eternal “chicken or beef” question, I like to go with both.
Anyway, should you not be a Mets fan, feel free to check out my guest post on This Is What We Do Now. If it’s moved off the top, try here. And if you’re a Mets fan and I love you, I was kidding. Or I didn’t write it. Or…oh my God, is that Mike Piazza over there? < sound of running blogger>
Yes, indeedy. Here’s the song I would have put up had that post been on this blog. Which it isn’t. Because I didn’t write it.
I love the iPod song of the week! Keep ’em coming!
I read it.
I only love you a little bit less.
I suppose I am a legacy fan. While my dad never actually took me to Shea (something which, to his surprise, I never forgot and never did quite forgive him for) the soundtrack of my childhood memories is Ralph Kiner,Bob Murphy and Lindsey Nelson calling the Mets games, punctuated by commercials for Schaefer Beer (the one beer to have when you’re having more than one). My sisters and I amazed our dad when he realized we knew the entire roster of the team.
And speaking of amazement — that’s why we’re Mets fans. Our team was stunningly, endearingly bad when it began. They were so bad they were amazing. Until 1969, when they were ten games out of first in August and came back to have their first winning season ever. And take the National League Pennant. And win the World Series.
What kind of thrill do you get as a Yankee fan? The thrill of feeling entitled to win the World Series every year? Where is the drama? What is there to hope for, to strive toward? What is there to root for when you always feel as if unless you have it all you have nothing?
I can understand how one can admire the Yankees, but I don’t understand how anyonce could love them.
LOVE the Tom petty song, but you knew I would.
Here’s my deal with being a Yankee fan, which every *lifelong* fan of every team should understand. My parents are almost 80 yrs old and LOVE the Yanks. I grew up knowing no other team to cheer for except the Yanks. Their history, my parents’ stories about their Yanks memories, the games we watched as a family…that’s why I love the Yanks. That’s why they are my team. And my first memories of them are not World Series ones, though they did end up winning for the first time in a lonnngggg time when I was about 12. We also had a huge dry spell in the 80s and early 90s, but again, I did not abandon them because they are My Team. That should be understood by Mets fans, Red and White Sox fans, Cubs fans, and any other fan of baseball who has been committed to a team for their entire life. I was actually happy for the Red Sox fans when their team won in 2004 because I know how lifelong fans feel about Their Team. And will I be happy for my friends who are Mets fans if they win the World Series? Of course I will. I will be happy for all of them. Of course I only know 4 Mets fans, but I will still be happy for them.
This is the point I made on the other blog (it’s hard to juggle this, thank goodness I normally just have one). I don’t expect them to win. They expect to win and I enjoy watching that. Unless they happen to be in the middle of a hot streak, I usually expect them to lose, because I’m just that kind of pessimist.
But that’s not even the thrill. It’s like KP said. This is my team. This is the team I grew up with just like O’s fans grew up with the Orioles, just like Red Sox fans grew up with the Sox.
Quite frankly, I don’t get people in other cities who root for the Yankees. Don’t you have a team in your blood? And once a team is in your blood, it’s always a thrill to watch them because you live with them and die with them. And as someone pointed out in a comment on the other blog, the Yankees have died a lot these last few years.
Yep, I love them.
Oh, and thanks, Paige!
I was getting so used to negative comments that I almost missed yours.
I don’t understand transplanting loyalties, either. People expect me to root for the Braves because in North Florida, unlike the southern part of the state, the Braves were the home town team and it was rare to find imported New Yorkers who carried their loyalties with them. But I’ve heard people recently who have switched from the Braves to the Marlins, or even more shockingly to the Devil Rays (switching teams is one thing, but jumping leagues? anathema!).
I don’t root for the Yankees to lose. After all, it isn’t as if they’re Florida State or anything. And I don’t — normally — disparage the Yankees or their fans. They simply aren’t my team.
How about if you were trying to write something funny? Because I’ll say just about anything to make people laugh. Even if I don’t mean 90% of it.
Switching teams is a very personal decision. Not that there’s anything wrong with that….
Re: the iPod song of the week, WOW. I have never heard that song before and it totally moved me. Thanks for turning me on to them. Now this is a much more important topic to me than baseball. Why you ask? Because every single one of those ball throwin’ and catchin’ mofos is always going to make more money than I do, even the ones on the teams that no one blogs about. Plus it is all my kids talk about and I have to watch not only every single Yanks and Red Sox game ever played, but I have to watch 187 little league games per season. At least I have my iPod and Becca to guide me to the songs I need to hear. Give me that much at least. Oh, and a sundae as big as Jeter’s head. That would be nice too.
The key is the non-abandonment KP pointed out. I cannot stand fairweather fans, no matter what team they root for. Its admirable to stick by a team, even when, for example, Aaron fucking Boone crushes your every hope and dream in extra innings and you feel like your heart just stopped…oh wait, I’m getting off track here. Its about loyalty — you can’t just switch teams whenever you want.
I can understand why you’d want to be a Yankees fan. Its easy…most of the time. I didn’t know I wanted to be a Sox fan, but its in my blood. Red Red Sox blood, not Yankee blue blood 😛 Even if I moved to NYC I’d still be a Sox fan. I’d probably be killed in a week, but whatever.
Also (wow, I’m rambling) I hate when some unedumactaed “baseball fan” says “I love the Red Sox but I hate the Yankees because they have the highest payroll in baseball and can buy championships.” Um, guess who has the second highest payroll, jackass? Money is no reason to hate another team. Petty jealously and envy is perfectly acceptable, however.
Saying something you don’t really believe just to get a laugh? Hell yes. Except something really out there. Like allowing my children to date Republicans.
Thanks, KP. It’s one of my favorites, glad you like it too. And Giambi’s head is bigger. Unless you meant it figuratively.Â
Soxy, you should know that my former upstairs neighbor was a Red Sox fan. And I only killed her in my dreams.
I’m glad you get me, Sarpon. I love all you Mets fans! Now let’s hug it out.
EXACTLY Soxy! See? Soxy gets me! Who says Yanks fans and Sox fans can’t get along? Oh wait, that was me as I was pulling my youngest son and his flailing limbs off of my other son……And please remember this: why hate someone based on what team they root for when, once you get to know them, you can find so many other reasons to hate them?
CHALLAH!!!
That’s it, I just lost it again. Thanks, Kay.
I’ve been a Red Sox fan since the ’75 World Series (as I recall, they lost), but I can go along with this loyalty talk only so far, for a couple of reasons.
(1) It’s very hard to follow an out-of-town team. I grew up in the Midwest following the Royals, but I don’t follow them any more because I just don’t hear about them. Admittedly, it’s easier to follow an out-of-town team since Becca invented the Internets, but it still takes work. I bet this is especially true if you want to follow a NL team but you live in an AL city, or vice versa.
(2) Some owners take fans for granted and deserve to be dumped. When I say “some owners,” I mean “Peter Angelos.” The Orioles get more and more expensive, but they haven’t fielded a competitive team in ten years. If this happened because they were retaining popular players who were losing a step, that’d be one thing, but that really hasn’t been the case since Cal Ripken. The O’s just make expensive, dumb baseball decsions, and expect fans to fund them by buying tickets, beer and merchandise. I’ve had enough, and when the Nats came to Washington, I happily jumped ship. Does this make me bad?
Mets, Yankees? Bah
Sooners football baby.
Now that’s what I’m talking about.
RN, don’t they have the highest payroll in college football?
Bec, I am with Sarpon, since I now live in FLA, in Tampa, no less, with the freaking crazies that love the Yanks down here. I will never desert my team. End of story.
I became a Mets fan, because we lived in Rosedale, Queens and my dad did not want to take me to the Bronx for a game. He grew up a Yankees fan, and was from the Bronx, but there was something about the Mets he liked. We went to so many games together, and we always had a great time. Rusty Staub hitting a walk off homerun, how many times? Too many to count, and my dad loved to watch Gooden when he first came up and his Lord Charles curve ball. Fireworks night was our very special night to go to Shea, and I miss it very much. We were ecstastic when they won in 86, and living on LI by then. My dad died in 88, and the only constant thing for me was the love of my Mets. It always makes me think of my dad.
Okay, mushy, gushy over.
And, I guess if Soxfan can be a ROTM, then me and Sarpon probably have an equal chance. I will keeps my fingers crossed.
Vicki, what lovely memories of your dad. Be as mushy gushy as you want. That’s a true fan. Unfortunately, because of many circumstances, I have never gotten to Yanks stadium with my parents and probably never will now that they are older and not in the best of health. But I will never forget the games we watched together, especially the Old Timers’ Day games when my Mom and Dad would share their memories of their favorite players and moments from their youth. Now I am the one watching with my kids, sharing my memories of Graig Nettles diving for all of those line drives, Ron Guidry striking everyone out, and how we heard about Thurmon Munson crashing in his plane and cried for weeks and weeks afterwards (and we still cry everytime we talk about it). In fact, my son is cheering for Melky’s home run right now…….he loves his team.
I can only say one thing about the Yankees: My dad and little brother are at the White Sox/Yankees game tonight because I’m the best daughter and sister in the whole wide world and I gave up my tickets to them.
~shameless plug following~
I’m making my brother blog about his experiences as a Yankee fan in Chicago. So if all you baseball fans could come visit me tomorrow, that would be great. I’m not sure my fashionista pals are gonna be able to make conversation with my poor brother.
Alex, the Nats are pretty close to you. I might switch teams too if the situation were as you described. So to speak.
And I did learn to like the Orioles just a little bit when I was down there, especially since I was there when Camden Yards opened and it was so gorgeous. But it didn’t take long for it to vanish the second I left.
Vicki, no, I do not pick ROTM’s based on baseball loyalties! I’m glad that has been recognized.
What’s football?
And Jane, even though I will be doped up on painkillers, I’ll be there!
Alex, a Sooner never tells. What happens in Norman stays in Norman.
Becca, football is what a bunch of really buff boy’s play for the 2 hours in-between the tailgate parties.