There are thousands of baseball blogs out there. If you didn't have to make a living, you could spend your entire day reading them. Literally. The majority of those blogs are team related and that makes perfect sense. Writers of those blogs are following their passions and writing about the team they care about the most. Plus, when you write about a particular team, you have a built in fan base of people who share your passion. All of that makes perfect sense. It also makes sense that there are more blogs concerning the Yankees than most other teams. What becomes unfortunate about this system created is that many of these sites have tunnel vision. Rational thought gets lost when your focus is only on what makes you most passionate.
Consider these words from one such Yankee site, which won't be mentioned by name: "The SF Giants beat the Phillies last night to set up what should be the least watched and cared about World Series in history." For those of you who follow this Flagrant Fan, you know that despite the "general" status of this blog, the Yankees have always been the favorite team. As such, it has often been a struggle to stay rational when discussing them and the outcome of their games and players. But, if the Fan had ever written the line mentioned above, it would be time to stop blogging.
Fortunately, there are Yankee blogs that remained a tad more rational about the outcome. Consider the blog, "It's About the Money" and their recent post (http://itsaboutthemoney.net/archives/2010/10/25/reacting-rationally-to-losing/). The difference between the two sites is the ability to look at the big picture and understanding that MLB is bigger than just one team and that the world doesn't live or die depending on whether your favorite team just won or lost.
Perhaps the series will be the least watched. The ratings do in many cases go up when the Yankees or the Red Sox are involved just like golf ratings improve if Tiger Woods is competing and basketball ratings improved when Michael Jordon was competing. That's a shame really. There are just as many great golf shots and basketball plays when other players play. And those who tune out of the World Series because their teams are not involved are going to miss some good theater.
It would be akin to a Chicago Bears fan to say that the "greatest football game ever" between the Colts and the Giants was uninteresting. Never mind the fact that that one game helped make the NFL the power that it became. Perhaps there were Bears fans that felt that way and tuned out. If they did, they missed a great game. No?
"It's About the Money" is dead on in that when you have to win three series to be the champion, the field is always the favorite. The writers of that site also pointed out that any other way of looking at it diminishes what the Yankees did accomplish and what the Rangers accomplished this season. Mostly on the road, the Yankees record for the playoffs this year was 5-4. That's not an embarrassment by any means.
Yes, the Fan's team lost and that is sad. But, this Fan has been a huge MLB fan for a lifetime and as a Fan, this writer is stoked about seeing Lincecum versus Lee and Josh Hamilton and the under-appreciated Vlad Guerrero and Buster Posey. The Rangers appear to be the better team. But the games haven't been played yet and that's the drama of it all, isn't it? And no matter who wins, the fan base of the two teams have an extraordinary moment in the sun. Shouldn't we all be thrilled for them? We should because we know (particularly Yankee fans who have had 27 years in the sun) how good that feels. It's always nice to share. Isn't that what we tell our kids?
1 comment:
Fortunate to be a baseball fan first, Yankee fan next. Should be a terrific match-up! As the ratings go, television will be disappointed because nothing drives viewers like the Yankees. Lovers of or haters, they gather eyes.
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