Rather Root for the Sox or Against the Yanks?
"Sitting there and watching the Yankees win makes me want to puke!"
– Michael Felger
Today's show featured a heated debate on whether or not the Yankees winning the World Series would be a welcome wake up call for Boston baseball fans. Last night the Yankees took a 3-1 series lead behind Alex Rodriguez's ninth inning, go-ahead, two-out RBI double off Phillies closer Brad Lidge. Jorge Posada then padded the lead with a two-run single giving the Yankees a 7-4 victory.
Felger: "I don't think watching the Yankees win makes me hate them anymore than I already do. I don't think I could possibly hate them more! It makes no difference to me. Nothing positive will come from them winning. Nothing! We won't be able to call A-Rod a loser anymore for having not won anything. He's the best guy ever to have not won a championship, and I don't mean best guy. I mean most fun to root against because he's a loser and a choke artist. The Yankees will go out and reload this offseason despite having won this year and we won't feel like the Red Sox have passed the Yankees now in this century. Nothing positive could possibly come from this. Come on Tony embrace the dark side."
Mazz: "I don't sit here and root for the Yankees Mike I think your misunderstanding what I'm saying. I simply think that if the Yankees win, especially in five games, it would be quite emphatic especially since they lost game one. And it doesn't bother me to see A-Rod win, it just doesn't bother me. It would bother me to see a really bad guy win a championship but this guy isn't a bad guy. I think that if the Yankees win the World Series it will be what's best for this area because it will snap people out of the coma they're in. It will piss people off around here if the Yankees win and that's why I hope they do."
The Collin-tary: Here are the facts. If the Yankees are to finish off the Phillies it will be in large part thanks to Alex Rodriguez. Despite his checkered past, steroid abuse, and previous playoff failures, Rodriguez has carried New York in the 2009 postseason. Through 13 playoff games he is hitting .348 with 6 homers and 15 RBI. A-Rod has also walked 10 times giving him an impressive .483 on base percentage.
Switching gears to what Michael and Tony discussed today, if the Yankees win their 27th World Series championship it might actually help real baseball fans take back this town. I understand it would be extremely painful watching the Yankees bathe each other in champagne, but it's nothing we haven't rebounded from before. Since the Red Sox 2004 World Series win, the fans at Fenway haven't been the same. From the boxes to the bleachers a once savvy crowd has become infested with pink hats. Boston once prided itself for nearly a century as having the most loyal, passionate, and knowledgeable fan base in Major League Baseball. Now, instead of discussing the hit and run with a comrade in a neighboring seat, we get couples snuggling, kissing, and even posing for pictures with two on and two out. We get big business occupying the lodge boxes while reading the Wall Street Journal during the game. We get droves of yahoos coming from all over claiming to be "huge" Sox fans, yet somehow can't figure out who is on the mound. We get bachelorette parties consisting of 15 women all of whom couldn't name three players in lineup that night. Perhaps a Yankee championship would provide enough adversity to keep these fair-weather fans at Jillian's, The Lansdowne, or Cask'n Flagon instead of coming through the gates on Yawkey Way. As painful as it would be to watch Johnny Damon, A-Rod, and Mark Teixeira get rings, it might benefit the real Boston baseball enthusiasts over the long term.
Is rooting against the Yankees as fun as cheering for the Red Sox? If the Yankees win the World Series would it help weed out the pink hats and awaken Boston baseball fans?
