I've been talking to a few Yankee fans about how Game 5 went, and if they might be a little worried that the Yankees missed an opportunity to close out the Angels in their ALCS matchup.
The answer I get back is invariably, no, we're not worried about it. Afterall, the Yankees are coming back home and they have Andy Pettite going in Game 6, and in the worst case scenario, they have C.C. Sabathia going in Game 7. The consensus seems to be that there is no way that the Yankees will lose those two games. There is no way that the Yankees will lose the last three games of the series after being up 3-1.
Hearing Yankee fans talk, I find myself being transported back to 2003. The Cubs had a 3-1 lead in the NLCS and Carlos Zambrano lost to Josh Beckett in the last game in Florida. Cubs fans were not worried. We knew they had Mark Prior and Kerry Wood scheduled for Games 6 and 7 at Wrigley, so we were supremely confident that the Cubs would be going to the World Series.
It didn't matter that the Cubs had a long history of coughing up a chance at history. Whether your frame of reference was 1984 or 1969 or any other team that supremely disappointed you, you felt that 2003 was going to happen for the Cubs. Of course, we all know how wrong we were.
Yankees fans have much more success in their history from which to draw confidence, but let's not forget that they were the perpetrators of the biggest playoff choke in baseball history when the Red Sox stormed back from being down 3-0 in the ALCS. That team also had homefield advantage and lost both games in Yankee Stadium, where previously, most teams' playoff lives went to die.
Yet the thought of the Yankees not marching on to the World Series seems completely impossible to Yankees fans. I wish my memory was so short when it comes to the Cubs. I know that I will never believe anything is inevitable until the final out of the clinching game is recorded. Because of 2003, I may like the Cubs' chances and be horrendously disappointed when they lose, but I shall always at least be prepared for the ultimate letdown.
It would be kind of fun if the Yankees fans started to understand that mentality.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
4 comments:
I agree. Yankee fans just do not know what it's like to BLEED Pinstriped blood like we bleed Cub blue. Maybe one day, Yankee fans will understand what it takes to be a TRUE fan. That team has so many bandwagon fanatics that it just drives me nuts! Either way, Cubs 2010 will be great :D
The Yankees are not alone with bandwagon fans. The Cubs get plenty of people who jump on when things are good, and stop paying attention when things go bad. Wrigley was awfully empty at the end of the year even though those tickets were all paid for.
I don't know if either fan base can claim that they are TRUE fans. Yankee fans have it easier in many ways, but they also have expectations that are through the roof as a result. Cubs fans suffer more without ever reaching the ultimate prize, but then, we hardly ever expect to.
Its just different, and I'd persoanlly like to see what it's like to live like a Yankee fan and maybe see them learn to live with the constant disappointment of a Cubs fan.
Oh well, go phillies!!1
As strange as it sounds, I'm now actually pulling for the Yankees. My need to not have a team repeat as champions overrides my need to see the Yankees fail.
Post a Comment
The easiest way to comment is to choose the Name/URL option from the Comment As dropdown menu below. You do not need to put in a URL for this option to work.
Sometimes upon submitting the comment, you will get an error saying there is a problem. Submit the comment again and it should work. I am looking into correcting this glitch.