After the heartbreaking end to the 2003 baseball season, I decided that, during the following season, I was going to make a movie about being a lifelong Sox fan in the one county in New England where Boston Red Sox games aren't shown on TV. It would show me desperately trying to tune in the radio over static, as well as the Baltimore Orioles games (?) on the adjacent station to the Hartford station that airs the Sox. It would also show what I deal with living amongst Yankee fans and Yankee media in the New York-Metro area (Fairfield County, Connecticut.) I even planned to start my little documentary on New Year's day 2004, wearing my "Cowboy Up" shirt (glad I didn't end up immortalizing that), with a blanket of snow out the window behind me.

Laziness set in, and before I knew it, spring training was around the corner. I hadn't filmed anything.

Then I was tipped off to these things called "blogs." As with anything else that crops up in this culture, I was wary at first. In fact, I'm surprised I didn't start a blog about how stupid blogs are. But I realized it was a way to get my thoughts down, with the added motivation that a person could actually read them. Instant publication. I wouldn't have to worry about writing too much, like on message boards. And most importantly, it was free.

My first influence was Bambino's Curse, which was written by a really intelligent dude, Ed Cossette, in Virginia. Good stuff, but he took himself a little too seriously sometimes. And inexplicably ended his blog after the 2004 World Series. (In fact, it was East Coast Agony's extreme hatred of Cossette that made me realize that nothing was sacred on this here internet, and my own blog loosened up a bit from there.) Then I found Joy of Sox, a dream website for me, as it then combined left-wing political talk with Red Sox talk, and I decided I needed to get my own space going.

At first my blog was all text, without links or even an option for the reader to comment. It took a really long time before I got my first e-mail about the site. Just getting a few readers over a period of months was very encouraging. "I only started this five months ago and four people have written to me!"

Eventually came the comments, the links, the pictures, the drawings, the audio, and the video. And the friends and the enemies. In May 2005, I finally left Connecticut for New York City. I love New York, it's the Yankees I hate. I've had a ten-game plan at Fenway since the '04 season, and I buy a bunch of other games as well. I get to Fenway by taking the train from New York to New Haven, grabbing one of my parents' cars, and driving up to Boston, where my girlfriend, another die-hard, lives. I also travel to see the Sox in various other cities each year. Whenever I see them, I'm armed with a camera or cameras, for posting pics here.

So this blog is my movie, which continues to roll to this day. I'm glad that after my first three seasons of blogging, I have a record of my feelings throughout what would become a World Championship season, a post-World Championship season, and a non-playoff season in a no longer "cursed"-world.

To sum up. Me: 31-year old, fourth-generation Sox fan guy. Brought up to hate the Yankees. Know more about their history than most Yankee "fans," having grown up following them on TV, rooting against them while rooting for the Sox on radio. All my friends growing up were Yanks or Mets fans except one, Pat, who still goes to games with me at Fenway.

This blog's main goal is to make people laugh. Second goal: to make people learn something about the Red Sox and/or Yankees that they may not have known. Third goal: to show people pictures and videos from my adventures, baseball-related and otherwise. I'd like to stress "otherwise," since I'm going to be putting up a lot of random videos from my decades-long collection of junk. Oh, and the final goal is to have people react to whatever I do here. The comment section is free for all, female or male, baseball fan or not. Some sites, and especially message boards, give off the feeling like they're some exclusive club. (They often are.) I don't want anyone to feel weird commenting here just because they never have before. This isn't a country club. Just walk in and speak your mind. I only ask that if you have some personal issue with me, or you want to threaten to kill me, talk smack about my mom or girlfriend, at least have the courtesy of sending it in a personal e-mail to me, instead of posting it in the comments section: Two2067@aol.com. If you disagree with me, I'd be happy to debate you right here on the blog. Just be somewhat mature about it, please.

Terms to know:

"Dunbar" = Yankees

"Eh, no Peg" = No

"Terrible job!" = (Terrible job if you need "terrible job" defined for you.)

Thanks for reading,

Jere S.
New York, NY
October 21st (!), 2006

Labels: About This Blog

I'm a dude called Jere, 30-ish, born and raised in small-town Connecticut, about 40 miles from New York City. My county has always been considered part of the New York market, and is not within New England Sports Network's territory, despite its name. (Last time I checked, all of Connecticut was part of New England.) I was raised a Red Sox fan, but I never got to see them regularly on TV. I grew up rooting against the yanks on channel 11, with the sound down, and for the Red Sox on WTIC-1080 radio out of Hartford. My family's motto was "I love New York, it's the yankees I hate." There was just no ignoring that "other" team, and there still isn't. The most important thing is that the Red Sox win. But the most important thing is that the yankees lose. See what I did there?

Last year, I finally moved to the great city of New York, home of everything, including some of the finest yankee-haters you'll ever meet. There are actually more Sox fans around where I live in Manhattan then there were up in Fairfield County. I proudly wear my Red Sox apparel on a daily basis.

I started this blog two years ago, as a way to basically give my point of view of the rivalry--to let Red Sox fans, and anyone else who cares, just how much crap is spewed out of the mouths of Steinbrenner cronies like Michael Kay, Jon Sterling, and traitor Suzyn Waldman. And also to expose the weaknesses that the yanks consistently have. The media will tell you about a classy, all-powerful organization, but I will help you see their tradition of deception and chicanery (that's an old Church Lady phrase), as well as their history of other teams' errors and walks, and blindest-ass luck any people or group of people have ever experienced in the history of the world. (They call it "mystique.")

I also go to a lot of Sox games; at least ten every year in Boston, as well as in other cities. I take lots of pictures of players on and off the field and post them here. I also make movies--some about the Red Sox, some not. They can be found by clicking here. I also do a lot of trivia quizzes because they rule.

I can rest easier nowadays, of course, what with the events of 2004. But just experiencing five seconds of a Michael Kay- or Jon Sterling-announced game, or seeing some dude who admits to knowing nothing about baseball slap a yankee hat on, thinking he's turning himself into a "winner," makes me remember that there won't ever be a reason to stop hating the yankees.

This blog isn't about the score or the stats, although I know my baseball and I will give you that stuff sometimes. It's really about my take on things from the perspective of someone behind enemy lines. And also about goofing off and attempting to be entertaining. Pre-requisites for understanding what the hell I'm talking about are simple: Know your SNL past, your Bill Murray movies, your music that's not invented by a guy in a suit, and maybe some baseball, and you'll be gold. I'm also a left-wing, commie, pinko, vegetarian, straight edge, bleeding heart liberal feminist...you know what I'm saying. Making fun of people who happen to have been born without a penis, pale flesh, or in a country other than the USA will not be tolerated.

Terms to know:

TJ: Stolen from WFAN's Chris "Mad Dog" Russo, this is short for "terrible job," and is used to describe someone doing something stupid or poorly. Damon signed with the yanks? Terrible job. or TJ by Chan on that whole "deciding who to root for" thing.

Chan: Refers to my friend since freshman year of high school, and now my roommate here in New York. Chan is his last name. According to him, it's like Smith in China. Which is weird since that's my last name. He's actually from Hong Kong, and despite my efforts to convert him, he's been a yankee fan ever since he moved to this country, thanks to our friend and legitimate yankee fan, Jim.

[yankee fans, please note: I grew up around mostly yankee fans. Most of them laughed at me and called me names, but many of my friends were and are yankee fans, too. I don't literally want to kill you, and this is supposed to be in good fun. Your team just makes me kind of, uh, pissed sometimes. As do those of your kind who don't exactly "pay attention until October," so to speak. If you're a true yankee fan, and you want to debate anything rationally, you are always welcome. Please identify yourself, though, as opposed to commenting anonymously. That goes for everyone, actually. And even if you do post anonymously, and the only thing you can muster up is "YOUR STUPID," that is your right. Your punishment is not that I will delete your comment, but I will leave it up to show just how dumb you are, and you will only make the real and intelligent yankee fans look worse. Thank you.]

Mr. Dunbar: After Johnny Damon signed with the yanks, some people felt that Sox fans should cheer him when he returns to Fenway. I countered by comparing this to having your mom divorce your dad and marry the man across the street who used to molest you. You wouldn't side with her after that, right? I called the mythical neighbor "Mr. Dunbar." Hence, the yankees are sometimes called that, or simply "Dunbar." The fact that Dunbar is the company that carries money around is just a sweet, sweet coincidence.

Finally, a note on words: I am a bit of a spelling/grammar-"Nazi." That doesn't mean if you accidentally make a typo in your comment I will go off on you. People can tell who knows how to use the English language and who doesn't. Even those who know will hit the wrong key every now and again. But if you come in here and consistently write "your" instead of "you're," or just demonstrate that you don't know certain common-sense rules, you may get slammed. But that would really only happen if you're making fun of me/my mom while using the incorrect language. Exceptions would be if you're new to the English language, or you know it, but have your own style that you consistently use. Like, for me, I never capitalize "yankees." I know that it's correct to capitalize prooper names, but I choose not to in that instance, because that would be giving them too much credit.

Have fun. Tell me what you think. Comment or e-mail me whenever at Two2067@aol.com. And don't forget to click on some links on the right side. A lot of people are doing a lot of interesting things.

Labels: About This Blog

[Edit 4/4/06: Updated version from April 2006 here.]

It's midnight. April 3rd is here.

For the faction out there that doesn't care about baseball at all until the season actually starts, and are coming back to this blog for the first time since October, or are new to it, here's a summary:

I'm a dude named Jere, turning 30 years old this year. My day job is "proofreader," but I am really a rogue artist, making whatever form of DIY art I choose to make on any given day (when I'm not sitting around on my lazy butt), and having more fun than a millionaire could ever have on a proofreader's salary. I mean hourly rate.

I live in Western Connecticut. Born here.

I've listened to and rooted for the Boston Red Sox on radio my whole life, while watching and rooting against the New York yankees (whose name I never capitalize.) This is beacause I'm in what's considered "The New York Area," aka "The Tri-State Area," and I've never been able to get New England Sports Network, despite having always lived in New England. But since my parents, both lifelong Sox fans, moved to the New Haven area, I can go there to watch the Red Sox.

As a result of this area never getting to see the fun-lovin' World Champion Red Sox, all the casual baseball fans are decked out in shiny new yankee gear, (or Mets when they're doing better than the yanks) making me want to vomit every time I step outside. I see more Red Sox fans in New York City than I do around here.

I'm not your average baseball fan as I am a liberal and a feminist who doesn't drink, doesn't eat meat, and doesn't treat women and minorities like crap.

I used to go to Fenway a few times a year, a number which has gone up of late, as I am now a 10th-Person Plan subscriber. I see a game or two at yankee Stadium yearly, except for 1997, as I was so disgusted after the yanks won the for the first time in my life (that I was fully conscious of). When I go, I always wear my Red Sox gear. I've also seen, or will see this year, the Red Sox play in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Cleveland, Cooperstown, Toronto, Chicago, and Kansas City.

I write a lot about:

1. The Red Sox from the point of view of an eternal optimist who is frequently sad and cynical anyway, is suffering from Peter Pan syndrome, professional crastination disease, and what has to be some form of autism, and likes to joke around, at least until the next mood swing.

2. bostondirtdogs.com and how he/they attempt to speak for all Red Sox fans, while usually having the opposite opinion of me (and stating it like it's fact.)

3. Michael Kay, yankee radio announcer and talk show host, and how he's the most arrogant, disgusting, pure-evil filled ego-maniac of all time, and how, in my opinion, should die. (And other sports media.)

4. My divine hatred of the yankees, including its players, past and present, announcers, management, and scum-sucking owner.

5. The habits of bandwagoning yankee fans in the wild.

6. Stuff I see/rip off from other blogs. See links section.

7. Bands and musicians I see perform. And any movies I see, and the very few TV shows I watch.

8. Left-wing politics, but not enough as I should. Once I get a really big fan base, then I'll get to the brainwashing.

9. Pop culture things that no one remembers or cares about except me.

10. Movies that have Bill Murray in them.

Wacky neighbors: Pat, who shares the 10-Game Plan with me; Chan, who is Chan.

I don't plan on ever having any ads on my site, except for the one text link that blogger makes you put up. I do this for fun.

Thanks for reading.

2005 starts today. Let's go Red Sox.......................


[Edit 5/5/05: This is all still true, except that I now live in New York City, home of the biggest chokers in the history of baseball]

Labels: About This Blog