Surprise, Surprise, Sour Grapes In Red Sox "Nation"
One of the best things about being a Yankee diehard in New England is, just about every year you get to experience a very entertaining event here. This event usually happens late in the baseball season and sometimes in early October. For people who experience this event for the first time, they may find it pathetic or even alarming. Yet, for those us who have gone through this seemingly every year, it's one of the best parts of the baseball season. The event? It's the Red Sox "Nation" whine.
The "Nation" whine usually centers around the manager of the team. He's usually blamed for every loss. No, the "Nation" never gives the opposition any credit, for it's always something the manager did that cost the "Fenway Faithful" a much desired win. Sometimes, the whine is directed at a Theo Epstein free-agent signing that has gone bust on Yawkey Way. Other times, the whine is directed at the umpires. You know, they're all against the Red Sox. But more than a manager, a poor free agent signing, or an umpire, the whining is usually directed at the 26-time world champion, New York Yankees.
Today (August 7th) the official whining season began here in New England, and not to my surprise, it was directed at the surging New York Yankees who are in the process of erasing a 14 1/2 game Boston lead that was established on May 29th. The only thing that surprised me about this whine, was I couldn't figure out who was more pathetic, the fans or the New England media.
You see Yankee fans, today in New England, the Boston fans and New England media weren't talking about the rise of Melky Cabrera and Robinson Cano. They weren't talking about the consistent hitting of Jorge Posada nor Derek Jeter. Nothing was said about Hideki Matsui's fabulous July. They didn't mention Bobby Abreu's offensive surge, nor the dominating pitching of Mariano Rivera. No, the self-proclaimed "most knowledgeable fans in baseball" and the astute Boston media ignored all this, and pointed to the Yankees "easy schedule" as being the reason why the Yankees are closing in on Boston.
Most of the papers around here have pointed out "there is nothing to worry about" because soon, the Yankees will be playing "tough teams". The local sports shows were flooded with whining Red Sox fans saying the same thing. Mind you, we heard nothing about "easy" teams when the Red Sox had a 14 1/2 game bulge on May 29th, but now, that the lead is shrinking at an alarming rate, the whine is focused on the Yankees playing "easy" teams.
All the talk today about "easy" and "tough" teams, and lack of talk about the real reason why the Yankees are winning, once again proved to me that the label "most knowledgeable fans" and "astute media" should not be given around here. The whine got so bad today, that I spent some time to look up how both New York and Boston fare against "tough" and "easy" teams.
I went back to June 1'st (and stopped after the last started series in July), and took a look at the Yankees and Red Sox series wins against "tough" and "easy" teams. Interestingly enough, June 1'st started the second straight series win the Yankees had against a "tough" team, the Boston Red Sox. Here are the results:
Series won against +.500 teams New York 5 Boston 4
Series lost against +.500 teams New York 2 Boston 3
Series won against -.500 teams New York 7 Boston 5
Series lost against -.500 teams New York 3 Boston 3
Series tied against -.500 teams New York 0 Boston 2
Not much difference is there? Keep in mind, this is two months worth of data. Now when Boston was running away with the division, I didn't hear any member of Red Sox "Nation" or any member of the local media talk about "easy" teams. Yet now that the Yankees are on a tear, the reason that is being thrown around here is, they are playing "easy" teams.
Now you may ask how could almost everyone around here miss the actual reasons why the Yankees are surging? Well, members of the "Nation" and the media, were too busy writing off the Yankees in May. Too much time was being spent on planning an "elimination day" and not enough time was being spent on the real reasons (an unbelievable amount of injuries to the starting rotation, and slumps by Abreu, Matsui, and Cano) why this Yankee team got off to a slow start.
According to the whiners here, soon the Yankees will start playing those "tough" teams. So now, if the Yankees win series against those teams, what will be the excuse then? You guessed it, Red Sox "Nation" and the media will just blame the manager.
Hi,
Just a note to let you know, as the baseball season draws down, that the NY Yankee baseball team's claim to have "won more sports championships than any other team" is not correct. This clam seems to be made once in every TV broadcast of Yankee games.
At least one team, the Gaelic Athletic Association’s Kerry Team (the Kingdom is the nickname) has won 34 to date and is going to try for their 35th on Sunday, September 16, 2007.
Kerry won their first championship, beating London in 1903, the year the Yankees moved their franchise from Baltimore to New York. Kerry lost at the old NY Giants field, the Polo Grounds in 1947. That much-recounted championship game was replayed as a National League game on its 50th anniversary in 1997 in NYC at Downing Stadium on Randal’s Island of west 125 street.
Kerry won this rematch in a well attend game that drew spectators from Europe, Australia and the Far East. Former Mayor Giuliani was part of the festivities. I talked with him myself. I also attended the 1947 game at the Polo Grounds.
From Wikipedia Encyclopedia
Kerry
"
Gaelic football History
Kerry are the most successful team in Gaelic football. They have won the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship on 34 occasions. The county holds a number of distinctive records in football championship history. Kerry has played in more All-Ireland finals than any other team - 52 in all as of 17 September 2006. Although Wexford has the honour of being the first team to win four-in-a-row, Kerry has won four consecutive titles on two occasions (1929-1932 and 1978-1981).
The Kerry team of the 1970s and 1980s is considered one of the greatest of all time. Of the 20 All-Ireland finals held during those two decades, Kerry participated in 12, with victory coming on 9 occasions. In 1982, Kerry came within one minute of winning an unprecedented fifth All-Ireland title in a row. However, a late goal by Offaly's Séamus Darby snatched victory away from the Kingdom. This goal was voted third in a poll to find the Top 20 GAA Moments.
Towards the end of the 1980s Kerry went into decline and failed to appear in an All-Ireland final for 10 years having last appeared in 1986 and not again until 1997. This however markeed the beginning of another Kerry golden era of sorts. Of the last 10 all Irelands, Kerry have contested 6 and won 4. Many have spoke of teams like Armagh and Tyrone, who have both beaten Kerry in recent finals, as becoming successors to Kerry's reign but Kerry have come back time and again and are the current 2006 champions. All-Ireland Senior Football Championships: 34
1903, 1904, 1909, 1913, 1914, 1924, 1926, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1937, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1946, 1953, 1955, 1959, 1962, 1969, 1970, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1997, 2000, 2004, 2006 "
Also, check the Webb at gaa.ie
All the best
Jimmy@aol.com
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