After the Yankees lost to the Angels 5-3 this afternoon a friend of mine, big Yankee fan, came up to me and said, “You know, I’m really sick of how long it takes them to sweep a series.”
Straight-faced and completely serious. “It didn’t happen for the longest last spring,” he continued, “now, they ain’t even sweep the Angels. What’s up with that?”
“Dude, you are the reason why people hate Yankee fans,” I told him. “What’s a matter, winning the first two series of the year isn’t good enough, winning the Whirled Serious last fall wasn’t enough, you greedy bastid?”
“See that’s how you and me are different,” he said. “You focus on October, I want total domination all season.”
Now, what do you say to that?
Up at Yankee Stadium today, there was more of this kind of piggish behavior as Javy Vazquez was booed after a pedestrian outing. We know the story here, success breeds entitlement. That doesn’t mean we have to like it. Ah, but what would rooting for the Yanks be like without some good, old fashioned self-loathing? Walt Kelly put it best:
Christ, they booed him? I'm glad I missed that. Fuggin' 'ell.
I am just a fan of the game and the Yankees. I won't go to the new stadium even if I could. As I have noted before, when they booed The Mick, I used to cry. Maris left because the fans didn't like him. He could have had a number retired. What do they think the booing will do?
Like the choice of the word "pedestrian" to describe the outing. I am reminded of a Ray Bradbury story where a guy out walking aimlessly is taken to a psychiatric hospital. You did not have that in mind, did you?
i hope javy has a good start next time.
just to keep this nonsense from building steam.
[3] amen
Hell if Chamberlain turned in a start like this, he'd be getting gold stars.
Cold and rainy here, dreaming of Jazz on a Summer's Day...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCVg1UOADO8
[3] I only caught the first 2 innings so I'm not that upset. Did you catche Treme? I liked it. I dug the music the most.
[6] i spotted you over at somm. i had been meaning to tell you about that site for the longest - glad you found it.
we have very extreme nyc spring weather here - i have dressed wrong every day this week.
since you posted some jazz - i am not sure you saw in an earlier post my recommendation that you check out treme, but if you can, try to watch it.
[7] haha was just recommending it again to ok jazz.
yeah, i liked it. takes all of his shows a second to unfold, but i enjoyed it so far - yeah the music was really enjoyable.
i haven't seen either of javy's starts yet.
[8] Hey Ms. October, yeah I recently discovered somm through Edge of Sports..both sites been blowing my mind! Makes you realize how bad most sports journalism really is (Banter excepted of course)
Read about "Treme" online, but I still haven't seen "The Wire" yet..Mrs. Jazz and I planning to hit that this summer, then catch up on Mad Men, then "Treme"..although saw that a tv-only Fassbinder sci-fi film from the 70s is being re-released, that jumps to the top of the list :)
[10] no doubt.
well, enjoy your sci-fi film :} hope you enjoy the shows as well.
[11] Dwil is all over that Ben Roethelisberger situation..sad and obvious what kind of double standards going on here..
Unfortunately the film is only on at Anthology in NYC..bit too far to head to on my Saturday afternoon off..all hail the glory of the internet though, am hoping to find it somewhere...
Have held off on the Wire and the Sopranos now for awhile..am afraid will become addicted and lose too much time in front the tube..
I was at the game and I don't really think the crowd booed as much as they groaned. It wasn't a very vocal crowd either way, so maybe any audible response was magnified.
One other crowd related observation...in each Arod AB over the first two games there wasn't a single comment about his ability to come through in the clutch. In past seasons, there would always seem to be at least one moron would preface every Arod with the same tired comments. Now, those people have nothing left to say.
[13] It's because he finally came through
13) I stil know Yankee fans who will go out of there way to find something to dump on him, even one that I work with who doesn't give him credit for last fall...yes, this person is insane.
I've noticed a more relaxed Yankee fan (including myself) this season. It feels as if the natural order has been restored and a more positive outlook has returned. Of course, the Yankees haven't hit a tough stretch yet, but I really believe winning another World Series has removed a lot of the Red Sox fan-type pessimism.
Given that the media is harping on Vazquez's 2004 season (and Jeter said as much during his postgame interview), I don't think Vazquez will ever shake the "can't play in NY" tag.
while i would never do it, i am conflicted about booing javy (in theory, if as william says, it didn't even happen). booing arod was doubly moronic, because it ignored all the good things he did and could possibly (probably didn't) get in his head and make him a worse player when it mattered most.
booing javy is different, because he has never done anything good for us and he is the author of something catastrophic in yankee history. by no means is he singly responsible and by no means does this signify that he won't help out this year, but i'm not gonna get all defensive for him if some fan unloads on him for sucking (i know he didn't suck today, just in theory) - both now and in 2004.
but then it should be over. get it out of your system and move on, because constantly flogging him and ourselves over 2004 is just useless. it's what red sox fans would have done before they won. now they even cheer buckner. winning is supposed to make that stuff go away, and i think it mostly did. at least for me.
[16] if i type faster, i will avoid obsolescence
[18] I don't think it's fair to say Vazquez was the "author" of the 2004 collapse. Vazquez may have written the last chapter, but he wasn't the primary author. I can think of at least 3 or 4 others to whom I'd assign more blame.
Personally, I am not a fan of booing anyone who is giving a full effort. I don't see the point.
[20] i specifically meant the grand slam.
[21] The grandslam was pretty much the last chapter. The main plot had already been written.
yeah, i totally agree, i just meant that the grand slam was the "something catastrophic" i was referenceing, not the entire collapse
Now, what do you say to that?
I think I'd say something like this ....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MRmxfLuNto
I don't like booing a non Pavano, and even as someone who held Vazquez very much responsible for 2004, 2009 World Championship helps me push that to the side and concentrate on what Vazquez does in 2010.
But that cuts both ways. If he continues pitching like this, and I wasn't at all impressed with him today, I don't want to hear about how good he was in 2009.
the fish dfa'ed jose veras.
i don't think javy should've gotten booed.
[24] that pretty much rules. i bookmarked the page!
Go Hughes!!!
I didn't hear any booing at the game, either. Although in the 1st inning, after Vazquez walked Torii Hunter, I heard someone a section over yell, "go back to where you came from". I thought that was a lil harsh. And kinda early for it, too. I mean, the guy hadn't even surrendered any runs yet.
Personally, I think Vazquez will be fine. I'm predicting 13 wins for him.
Fans sit in stands, players are on the field. There is a reason for that because fan can't play.
The players have more respect for each other than some of fans have themselves.
It's way too early, and far too late (forget '04 already) to get on Javy's case -- and booing is something I'll never do. Not my team or theirs.
I'm sticking to my 12 wins expectations, and hoping for better - but the Yanks can afford to pay their #4 guy a million per win.
.