Sunday, February 03, 2008

My Internal Dilemma Dialogues Continued or BSM Is Surely Rolling His Eyes

I think I've finally summed it up! I think what it all comes down to is that the Pats are doing the worst possible thing for me as a "Sox fan who isn't a Pats fan."

They've put themselves in the position where, as of tomorrow, they will either be thought of as the big, bad, hated dynasty, or some of the biggest chokers in history.

And I, as a fan of the Red Sox, will have my team grouped into this category. Believe me, I won't feel "responsible" for what some other team in another sport does. But that doesn't mean people won't think of me as a Pats fan for wearing a Red Sox hat, especially among Yankee fans.

What I'd really like is for the Patriots to be...pretty good. Just fly under the radar, go 9-7, maybe an occasional 10-6, maybe even win a Super Bowl once every 12-15 years. Then they'd be a totally separate entity from the Red Sox, not joining in on the wicked winning or laughable losing, which seems to cause the two fanbases to be grouped together.

Yankee fans will find a way to make fun of Red Sox fans anyway. I learned long ago not to care about what they think because it isn't based in reality. I'll never win with them, but I don't want to. I'm just saying, this Pats thing just gives those people more to open their mouths about. And while I know it means nothing, it is damn annoying. And the papers pick this crap up and print it like it's truth, making the rest of the country believe it. One website a few months ago made some joke about Terry Francona "videotaping signals" or whatever. For no other reason than the fact that the Red Sox play kinda near some football team.

As Anthony said, "I wish it away. I wish it ALL away!"

Comments:
Uh, the Pats won first; maybe some of us Pats fans wish the Red Sox weren't clinging so tightly to the Pats' coattails...;=)

You're a Sox fan, right? And not a Pats fan? Is that basically what I should be gathering from your last few posts? And you're worried about how the Pats' success impacts your life as a Sox fan? And it would really bother you if somebody looked at your Sox hat and mistakenly thought you were a Pats fan, despite the fact that most people who wear Sox hats are Pats fans, especially where you live? Is that what's bothering you? Dude, get over it. If the biggest thing you have to worry about is that some idiot Yankee fan incorrectly stereotypes you as you're walking down the street based on you choice of headgear, well then jeez, I'll just go take my pneumonia and my two sick kids and my sick wife and we'll just get out of your way...carry on, Jere...
 
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And if this post was the most amount of time you've spent in the last two weeks reading about these men throwing a ball around, consider yourself lucky. At least I'm giving you a unique perspective, unlike every article on ESPN, or the "Who's hotter, Eli or Tom?" articles.
 
Yeah, gotta say I think Ryan summed it up pretty well in his response to the anti-Pats post before this one. The Yankee comparison remains a huge stretch. And how exactly have the Pats "won enough already"? If the Sox win the WS again next season, won't they have "won enough already" too?

I'll just say this about the Pats' run: that first SB where they beat the Rams was an enormous upset, and couldn't have come at a better time. That was back at the height of the period when the entire sports media (national, Boston, and of course New York) was having a great time mocking and ridiculing all of Boston as one big Loserville. All we were ever told was that the sports teams were all chokers, and that their fans were all a bunch of miserable losers who secretly enjoyed their lowly lot in life. The Sox and their fans of course got the worst of it, but the Pats with their history of tough defeats and buffoonish ownership got lumped in too. So when they pulled out that stunning victory on the final play of the game, it was like a big FU to all the CHB's on the local scene, and all the George Kings and Mike Celznics in NY. It also gave a lot of Sox fans who were also Pats fans something tangible to point to when they wondered if they'd ever get to see a Sox championship. I remember Opening Day at Fenway in '02, when the (then) new owners arranged to have the Pats come out of the Monster carrying the Lombardi Trophy with "Beautiful Day" playing in background...it was a great moment, and a fantastic reminder to the crowd that anything is possible.
 
That's all well and good if you were a Pats fan. For me it was only another year of my teams not winning. (Along with every other year.)

And that's what I'm saying--one title is fine, but these three have only helped make people hate me for having all these titles, which I don't really have!

The Red Sox can never win enough because of the crap we went through. It's a dagger to Yankee fans with each title we win. If you're saying the Pats winning help to make Yankee-types and New York media mad or whatever (which is fine), you also have to, as a Sox fan, take what they give us Sox fans for what the Pats do. And I still say it's different sports and none of this should have to do with any other sport.

I'm gonna do a whole other post about this. This all comes from me being from the "in between" land of Connecticut, while a lot of people just have this assumption that "I grew up here, these automatically are my teams in every sport." But there are so many people who that doesn't apply to. Those people are the majority, but they don't represent everyone.

Let's put it this way. If some guy on the Celtics murdered 10 people, and Pats fans (who happen to have never been Celts fans) had to deal with people seeing their Pats hat and calling them a murderer, that wouldn't be fair.

And I still say my comparisons to these Pats and those specific set of Yanks are totally valid. It's not like I think the Pats have 26 championships.
 
It's Peter at 4pm. First and most important, feel better, Matty. It sounds like you are sick. My hopes are with you.
OK, Jere....I coudn't resist commenting and complimenting you on your TWILIGHT ZONE humor. Enjoy the game....34-21 Pats. And yes, I realize that I potentially put my foot in my mouth making a prediction in the first place. Such is life! Have fun. Out on a limb-ly, Peter N.
 
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So to clarify: They've "won enough" (for the rest of us). And me and many Yankee fans are in the same group--non Pats fans. So when Yankee fans say the Pats have won enough, they also take that out on me, and why should I be held responsible?

(And as a fun bonus, if I say, "I'm not a Pats fan, I was a Jets fan!," they laugh at me.)
 
These deletions are me fixing my own mistakes.
 
Thanks, Peter.

To clarify more: I can take responsibility for all titles and foibles of my own teams, but I shouldn't have to for any other teams.

If the Sox win for the next 100 years, it will be worth it for the whole Yankees-dealing-with-it thing, and I'd be fine with all other fans hating us just to know Yankee fans have to witness us winning over and over and over.

Again, if all Pats fans were Sox fans, and all Yankee fans were (both NY football teams combined into one--another huge problem in this dilemma), it would be fine, and I'd be overjoyed with a Pats win, but it's not like that.)
 
So, let's sum up.

Pats fans: sad
The majority of Sox fans: sad
Yankee fans: happy
Jere: happy cause, you know, the Pats have been winning too much

Well, at least you can go celebrate with your Yankee fan buddies...
 
Jere, for me, neither the Pats or Sox can win "enough" titles. Tonight sucks for me, as a Pats fan, but you're not so I'd go with what Matty is saying and not worry about it. Pitchers and catchers report in < two weeks, and I doubt you'll have even a handful of people look at your Sox hat and attempt to give you shit about the Patriots.

Red Sox, 2008 edition starts soon. I'm ready, and I know you are too. Just let the rest of this crap slide off ya.
 

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