Damn Yankees

Living in and loving New York City as a Red Sox fan is a complicated situation. 2003 and 2004 were the absolute height of emotional intensity and conflict as I was still new to the city and it was the apex of baseball drama for the rivalry. My mother's friends sometimes ask me if I became a Yankees fan from living in New York for so long. My stock answer is, "Do American soldiers who come back from Iraq come back with a love of Iraqi culture?" Maybe a little extreme, but I hope you get the point.

Living in enemy territory is additionally complicated, because there is the part of you that realizes the absurdity of some of your more closed-minded friends. I've had friends from Boston argue that Derek Jeter is a terrible player and "no way would I every sign him", which is simply a ridiculous statement. You learn to be more impartial in your appreciation of the game.

However, you're also on the front lines and deal with Yankees fans on a daily basis. As a coworker who's a Mets fan once put it, "Yankees fans are all dicks. There are lifelong Yankees fans who were formerly nice people that became dicks during the winning 1990s. Then there are people who are just dicks and don't give two shits about baseball. However, they became Yankees fans as another channel through which to express their dickishness". Truer words hath never been spoken.

This year felt a little weird. In the past I would've been rooting with every ounce of my being that the Yankees lost. However, after seven years in NYC, I have enough friends who are lifelong Yankees fans who I knew would be genuinely ecstatic over a win. There was a part of me, that as Mariano took the mound in game 6 that actually thought, I guess I'm happy for them. Picturing an old boss with his family, watching his son's first Yankee championship, or close friends who are intense baseball fans celebrating with their friends and families, or even friends in Asia rooting away in their mornings, made me for a brief moment actually think that I didn't mind the Yankees winning. Maybe its the painkillers, or the yoga and meditation I've been doing in physical therapy, but I felt I'd achieved an internal peace that made me happy for everyone.

Then, high in the stands, I saw a massive sign, "New Home, Same Destiny!"

I hope it pours down rain on today's parade.