jim wrote:PaintItRed and I were talking about this last night - are the Red Sox universally hated throughout the country, or is this just a St. Louis thing due to 2004? I honestly didn't know the Red Sox were really a disliked team until I started getting on Cardinal bulletin boards.
I think people used to like them alright. Old park, hating the Yankees, years and years of painful losses.
But now that they're obnoxious (meaning both the team and it's fans), it's pretty tough to tolerate them.
jim wrote:PaintItRed and I were talking about this last night - are the Red Sox universally hated throughout the country, or is this just a St. Louis thing due to 2004? I honestly didn't know the Red Sox were really a disliked team until I started getting on Cardinal bulletin boards.
If the Yankees are hated throughout the country, then the Red Sox would fall into the same category.
I've been living in some alter universe then. Yankees yes, but Red Sox? Why is this? They have won one WS in like 90 years. How can you hate them?
So I assume you hate the Yankees because of championships that they won back in the 30's through 50's?
FWIW, my dislike for Boston didn't begin in 2004, but more like in 2001 when it started to be Manny (and later, Ortiz's) team. I rather liked the Red Sox of the late 90s when they had John Valentin, Nomar, Mo Vaughn, Troy O'Leary, etc. When they started to phase into, well, what they are now, it became hard to root for them, especially when the underdog angle was pushed down our throats (because I don't see how they could be considered underdogs).
jim wrote:PaintItRed and I were talking about this last night - are the Red Sox universally hated throughout the country, or is this just a St. Louis thing due to 2004? I honestly didn't know the Red Sox were really a disliked team until I started getting on Cardinal bulletin boards.
If the Yankees are hated throughout the country, then the Red Sox would fall into the same category.
I've been living in some alter universe then. Yankees yes, but Red Sox? Why is this? They have won one WS in like 90 years. How can you hate them?
So I assume you hate the Yankees because of championships that they won back in the 30's through 50's?
jim wrote:PaintItRed and I were talking about this last night - are the Red Sox universally hated throughout the country, or is this just a St. Louis thing due to 2004? I honestly didn't know the Red Sox were really a disliked team until I started getting on Cardinal bulletin boards.
If the Yankees are hated throughout the country, then the Red Sox would fall into the same category.
I've been living in some alter universe then. Yankees yes, but Red Sox? Why is this? They have won one WS in like 90 years. How can you hate them?
Why do you hate Yankees?
For one, the 20 something odd world championships. How many years in a row in the playoffs? Last team to win back to back etc... The Red Sox didn't even make the playoffs last year.
Then there is just how the teams are run. Guaranteed 99% of the people here knows who runs the Yankees and would recognize him walking down the street. Can you say that for Lucchino? Werner? Henry? Because they do what owners do, kind of stay in the background more or less.
Comparing the cities themselves it's no contest for me. Boston is my favorite American city, New York my least favorite.
jim wrote:PaintItRed and I were talking about this last night - are the Red Sox universally hated throughout the country, or is this just a St. Louis thing due to 2004? I honestly didn't know the Red Sox were really a disliked team until I started getting on Cardinal bulletin boards.
I think people used to like them alright. Old park, hating the Yankees, years and years of painful losses.
But now that they're obnoxious (meaning both the team and it's fans), it's pretty tough to tolerate them.
Nice uniforms and ballpark though.
--P--
While Steverino was spot on with a few of his observations of St. Louis fans (I've never seen such fair weather football fans in my life), I have to also agree with Popeye. The Red Sox are a team full of obnoxious players - there's really no getting around that no matter how much of a Boston homer you are. What the guys do - going back to the cave-man shtick - is harmless and occasionally fun, but clearly obnoxious. They're not an easy team to like.
planet pujolsian wrote:
It's seems to me the most hated team is the team who's won the most recently with the most resources. Boston's probably taken the title from the Yankees for the time being until the Yankees stop losing in the first round of the playoffs. Heck, the Yankees almost became a sympathetic figure when the whole Torre thing went down.
I really don't think it's the success. It's the obnoxiousness of the fans who have tasted the success. It was the Yankees in the late 90's. It's the Red Sox now.
And yes, this would include Cardinal fans as well. I know quite a few obnoxious Cards fans. The whole "Best Fans in Baseball" thing annoys the crap out of me.
Just be happy that your team does well when they do well. Don't rub it in other fans faces, or think you're better than them just because you happen to pull for a team that's been doing well. I don't think your particular fandom has led the team to any more success.
