Guide to being a fan of Boston sports

[EastonBlues22]

I don't really have any problem with Boston baseball fans...they're just like fans anywhere else. I'm not particularly fond of the "East Coast Attitude" that I often run into every time I travel east, but that's not something that translates specifically to baseball.

Anyway, I don't like the Red Sox largely because they've gone from an underdog to a team that's bullying the league with its resources. They've morphed into the Evil Empire part deux (an irony that I don't find endearing) except they make better decisions and better use of their resources. That's not wrong, by any means, but I don't have to like it and I'm sure not rooting for it.

[ghostrunner]

PaintItRed and I were talking about this last night - are the Red Sox universally hated throughout the country, or is this just a St. Louis thing due to 2004? I honestly didn't know the Red Sox were really a disliked team until I started getting on Cardinal bulletin boards.

Outside of Cardinals fans (who have other reasons) I think the feeling is that the highly coveted big name players are likely to now go to one of two teams, and your favorite team has little shot at keeping them or obtaining them. There's some justification for that - Clemens, Pettite, Johnson, Schilling, A-Rod, Abreu, Beckett. Not only that, but both teams probably drive up salaries in general.

Both teams get more coverage than any other team. While I know there's differences between football and baseball, I think the NFL proves you can market a game played in the Midwest. MLB probably can't get things that equal, but in my opinion they can do a better job and I don't think it's healthy for the sport in the long run.

Cardinals fans have it easier in these respects. We've kept our big name players for the most part, and we get a pretty decent amount of national exposure (however a lot of that is Albert and maybe La Russa).

Then there's the whole "long suffering" Sox fan thing, along with the presumption that the Sox are some sort of sacred institution. That gets really old when your team starts buying up players. So there's a lot of jealousy involved, but I think that's the right of your average medium or small market fan.

A lot of these things are overblown, but there's a kernel of truth in them.

*As far as the players go I actually like almost all the Sox players. It's the franchise I don't like.

[Socnorb11]

PaintItRed and I were talking about this last night - are the Red Sox universally hated throughout the country, or is this just a St. Louis thing due to 2004? I honestly didn't know the Red Sox were really a disliked team until I started getting on Cardinal bulletin boards.

If the Yankees are hated throughout the country, then the Red Sox would fall into the same category.

I've been living in some alter universe then. Yankees yes, but Red Sox? Why is this? They have won one WS in like 90 years. How can you hate them?

So I assume you hate the Yankees because of championships that they won back in the 30's through 50's?

Talk about holding a grudge!

And 60's. And 70's. And 90's.

So what's the standard? When is OK to hate the Red Sox? How many world championships can they buy before we won't be judged for thinking they're jerks?

[JL21]

So what's the standard? When is OK to hate the Red Sox? How many world championships can they buy before we won't be judged for thinking they're jerks?

When did I judge you or anyone else for thinking they're jerks?

As far as i'm concerned, I don't give a flying cow if you hate the Red Sox now. Or tomorrow. Or yesterday. Knock yourself out. As I stated earlier in the thread, I've resigned myself to the Sox hatred amongst Cardinal fans.

And I'm not even going to get into the "buy" comment.

[jim]

PaintItRed and I were talking about this last night - are the Red Sox universally hated throughout the country, or is this just a St. Louis thing due to 2004? I honestly didn't know the Red Sox were really a disliked team until I started getting on Cardinal bulletin boards.

If the Yankees are hated throughout the country, then the Red Sox would fall into the same category.

I've been living in some alter universe then. Yankees yes, but Red Sox? Why is this? They have won one WS in like 90 years. How can you hate them?

So I assume you hate the Yankees because of championships that they won back in the 30's through 50's?

Talk about holding a grudge!

And 60's. And 70's. And 90's.

So what's the standard? When is OK to hate the Red Sox? How many world championships can they buy before we won't be judged for thinking they're jerks?

The beauty of being a fan is there is no standard, it's always OK. I'm just trying to understand it.
The strong personalities of the players I can sort of understand - but outside of Manny who are we talking about?

[Socnorb11]

So what's the standard? When is OK to hate the Red Sox? How many world championships can they buy before we won't be judged for thinking they're jerks?

When did I judge you or anyone else for thinking they're jerks?

I didn't say you, specifically.

I was talking about the premise of this thread.

[Popeye_Card]

I'd also like to add that there's a tinge of jealousy.

No one else has Fenway Park. Few other teams have the financial means to make big dollar mistakes, and just write them off and keep rolling. The ESPN thing? It's not that they're talking about the Red Sox (and Yankees), it's that they're not talking about our team(s).

--P--

[Socnorb11]

And yes, this would include Cardinal fans as well. I know quite a few obnoxious Cards fans. The whole "Best Fans in Baseball" thing annoys the crap out of me.


--P--

Obnoxious Cards fans didn't write that slogan........

[ghostrunner]

And yes, this would include Cardinal fans as well. I know quite a few obnoxious Cards fans. The whole "Best Fans in Baseball" thing annoys the crap out of me.


--P--

Obnoxious Cards fans didn't write that slogan........

To be fair, the same is true for some of the Sox stuff.

[Socnorb11]

And yes, this would include Cardinal fans as well. I know quite a few obnoxious Cards fans. The whole "Best Fans in Baseball" thing annoys the crap out of me.


--P--

Obnoxious Cards fans didn't write that slogan........

To be fair, the same is true for some of the Sox stuff.

What do you mean, that they're fans aren't the ones spending all of the money to buy their success?

That's true......