I was listening to John Ditullio's show on WHTK this morning, and I was already in a sour mood — I was headed to the DMV at the time. But I became perturbed after a couple Yankees fans called the show and started ranting and wailing about this year's team like they have nothing better to do on a weekday morning than worry about a stupid baseball team.
Before I go any further, I should note that I've been a casual Yankees fan my whole life. I root for them, but it's not life or death to me. I'm sorta happy when they win, and when they lose, hey, football is only two months away. In fact, after living in Indiana for seven years, I've developed an affinity for the Cubs, partly because it's hard not to love lovable losers, and partly because most Cubs fans aren't wankers like most Yankee fans. Cubs fans are the saddest, sorriest lot in sports fandom. They've come to accept losing as the standard, and that's how they approach each season. They're pessimists, and so am I. It's a perfect fit.
Then there's Yankees fans, who seem to think the world revolves around the Bronx and who plunge into a mix of bitterness, anger and depression with every single loss. Most Yankees fans believe its the Yankees' God-given right to win the World Series EVERY year, and when that DOESN'T happen, the world comes to an end. Many Yankees fans are spoiled, belligerant, arrogant and obnoxious, precisely because they feel their team SHOULD win every year, and they almost have disdain for fans of any other team, because in their mind, everyone should love the Yankees because, well, they're the Yankees. Duh. And when Yankees fans come across a fan of another team who has the gall to actually cheer for that team instead of the Yankees, a shouting match isn't too far away.
And that's why the rest of America HATES Yankees fans and, by extension, hates the Yankees themselves. I submit that the Yankees are loathed so much because their fans make it easy to loathe them. Yankees haters don't hate the actual Yankees as much as they hate Yankees fans.
Now, having said all that, I now a few die-hard Yankees fans, and I love them dearly, partly because I admire their ability to feel so passionate about something. I wish I had that type of passion and devotion. I guess I'm a psychoemotional nihilist — I don't believe in love, I don't believe in the basic goodness of human kind, I don't believe there's a single trustworthy politician, I don't believe in much besides a vague concept of a Creator and maybe Adult Swim.
So I'm very jealous of Yankees fans — they BELIEVE in something. Like it or not, there IS a Yankee tradition, a Yankee heritage, a Yankee legacy, and their fans believe in it wholeheartedly. And if that helps them through life, like I said, I'm very jealous.
In many ways I wish I was a devoted Yankee fan, because then I'd be a part of something bigger than me, something communal and shared. I think many astute Yankees fans — yes, there ARE astute Yankees fans — are well aware that they are hated as much as their team is, and that only strengthens their convictions and their solidarity.
So I guess I have mixed feelings about wholehearted Yankees crazies. They can be abrasive and irritating, but they also have things I don't — passion, faith and fellowship.
My message, then, is two-fold. To Yankees fans: please try not to be so obnoxious. To Yankees haters: please try not to be so jealous.
