Twelve miles south of Albany along the New York State Thruway lies a critical junction in the sports world. At this point one must chose to either take I-90 and follow the pilgrim hats to "Red Sox Nation" or continue on the Thruway to the so-called "Yankee Empire."
It is a choice of idealogy. Do you want to me a devoted Red Sox fan who lives eats and breathes the Red Sox to the point where you drive everyone crazy? Do you want to beleve that your team is somehow better because they have won one, count 'em one world series in the past 86 years? And finally do you want to believe that the team with the highest pay roll is somehow evil, even though your team is in a very close second? If so, then you should follow the pilgrim hats. On the other hand, if you believe that having the highest pay roll should guarantee you a world series, and you like pointing out to everyone else that your team has one 26 world series then you should consider taking the trip down the Thruway.
I, unfortunately, had to take the pilgrim hats. Don't get me wrong, I love living in Massachusetts; there is much hiking and beautiful scenery all around. It is just that the fans here constantly like to remind you that they are very passionate about their red sox. Not one mile into Massachusetts on I-90 is a sign saying, "Welcome to Massachusetts home of Red Sox, 2004 world champions." No mention at all is ever made of the Patriots, who have one three of the last four super bowls, including the last two. Red Sox fans like to think that they are the best fans in baseball, only because being a Red Sox fan has been overly romatanticized. The poor Boston fan who has been waiting 86 years just to see their team win a world series. Well I got news for you, most of these guys have not been waiting 86 years. I bet there are not too many people who were alive when the Red Sox won the world series in 1918 (conincidentaly, they beat the Cubs who have not won a world series since 1908). Therefore, what makes these fans anymore special than me? I have not seen any of my teams win a world series. Why is it so much more for them?
No, Red Sox fans are not the best fans in baseball, no matter what kind of nation they live in. Take the Indians for example. They hold the longest sell out streak in baseball. They sold out 455 games. I brought this up with a friend of mine, who is a Red Sox fan, and he calmly told me that the Red Sox will easily break that record, especially coming off a world series victory. Its this kind of arrogance which makes them hard to talk to. 455 consecutive sellouts is five and a half seasons! What makes it even more amazing is that the Tribe did this while not winning one world series, and at a time when baseball's popularity was in decline!
So here I am now, in the midst of Red Sox Nation, keeping my toungue bit so I do not upset the locals. As I said before, I love living in Massachsetts, but I think next time I reach twelve miles south of Albany, I will turn around and go North.