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Bwog salutes Israelites and Yankees today as opening days for tribe and team alike kick off. For the Jews, it’s the first night of Passover, the celebration of the Israelites’ escape from Pharaonic tyranny. For the Yankees and their fans, it was opening day, with a 9-5 victory over Tampa Bay; a good first step on the Yankees’ road to redemption after years of high hopes and higher salaries have yielded nothing but towering pyramids of championship disappointment.
Bernie Williams, sadly, has looked upon the promised land but cannot enter; he rejected a non-roster invitation back to the Yankees when his contract expired last year. But batting mainstays Jorge Posada and Jason Giambi each contributed with the first home run of the season and three runs batted in respectively, while shlimazel-of-late Alex Rodriguez – recently in the media for his alleged tsuris with Derek Jeter – managed a home run as well. With the Devil Rays ahead by two runs in the sixth, Jeter hit a bases-loaded single to tie the game; Bobby Abreu weighed in with an RBI single in the eighth, and Rodriguez’s long-awaited homer brought in two more runs to put the Yankees well in the lead.
For tonight’s services, Rabbi Yonah Blum will be leading off with the Columbia’s best-advertised seder in Low Library at 7:45 p.m. Other hot prospects for your week of breadlessness include the regular Hillel Seder, held in James Room, Barnard Hall, 8:30 p.m. (registration closed: to see if they’ll let your people go, e-mail rabbi@hillel.columbia.edu); Ohel Ayalah, founded by JTS’s very own Rabbi Judith Hauptman, will be holding seders for the young and disconnected tonight and tomorrow.
In case you’re wondering what Columbia, Jews, and Yankees all have to do with each other, consider this tidbit from the CU250 website: if your parents demand you go to medical school or “what, you want we shouldn’t be proud of our son?,” remember that “Hilltop Stadium, on the site of the present Columbia University Medical Center (165th Street and Broadway), housed the New York Highlanders from 1903 to 1913. (The team’s current name: the Yankees.)” L’Chaim!
-Nick Frisch
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36 Comments
@CML I mean, I come up with rational reasons for hating the Yankees, but these are really just a pretext for the fact that I do it because it’s fun. Sports fandom is all about passion! Passionate advocacy and hatred of one team or the other are basically equivalent. So we’re all on the same page.
I guess I’d argue that the present-day Yankees exhibit nothing more than a shameful shadow of their former franchise glory, but like some other smart guy up there said, my reaction to them is visceral, motivated not by the fact that I hate anyone on their team – not even Steinbrenner – but because it’s fun to do so.
Woohoo!
@Yankees fan Yeah, I’d agree that there’s nothing wrong with ‘hatred’ as long as its purely out of the passion of baseball and its traditions. I just have a problem with the haters who whine about the payroll and all that without really thinking it over.
CML, I think its funny that you describe the Yanks as a “shameful shadow of their former franchise glory.” Yep, all those division titles are really a shame. But, I guess when you’re a Mariners fan your standards go way up…lol.
@but then again without all that hatred and whatnot (going in any direction), well, the games would just be so much less intense.
@"Moneybags" it seems Fun being dubbed a name, then having your argument twisted and diluted by people attacking and defending it back and forth.
Anyway, I was just saying that I hear a lot about how the Yankees buy World Series wins (not lately…) and I was just pointing out that they also probably make the most revenue (don’t know about profits) out of any sports team. Of course I can’t back that up, so someone prove me wrong for my own knowledge.
The Yankees have been hated for being continually successful, and now it’s grown into a thing where you just hate the Yankees if you don’t love them because that’s what everyone else does. What I don’t get is why everyone doesn’t feel the same way about Boston who, besides Ortiz, are a bunch of thugs and assholes.
I have to agree with #30 and say that sports rivalries don’t have to make sense. Think Army v Navy. They’re all on the same team in the end, but it’s probably the oldest and best rivalry in sports.
Can’t all sports fans just get along and agree that every single one of us hates the Dallas Cowboys and Terrel Owens just makes doing so that much easier?
@reason More than anything it’s a reaction to their media and fanbase.
@i agree Plus, I mean, jeez, their fans hate on other cities and their citizens entirely, not just teams. Pretentious asses. Can’t we just have some good team on team hate/rivalry instead of fan-bashing, which is mostly based on where someone was born and raised, which is something outside of the person’s control. You know.. like race. Racists.
@eh, well Yes, my reason for hating the Yankees is not cerebral, it’s visceral. BUT THAT’S WHAT BASEBALL’S ALL ABOUT!! Put your massively expensive masturbatory brains down for a second and pick up a ball and bat.
GO RED SOX.
@yo- Fukkk the spankees
@you know it makes me proud everytime i hear someone say ‘Yankees Suck’ or that they root for their favorite team and anyone who beats the Yankees. The volume of hatred aimed at the Yanks just proves how great they are. You’ve got to kick a lot of ass over the years to get that kind of anger spewed at you.
And let’s not pretend that the people wearing all the anti-Yankees shirts and hats are doing so because of the Yanks payroll – people hate the Yankees because of the dominance. Especially Red Sox fans, who can’t complain about the Yankees spending since they have the 2nd-biggest payroll in baseball and just signed DiceK for a shitload of money.
@dang thats a pretty sweet yamaca
@Boston Sucks I’m sorry haters, but Boston sucks. Plain and simple. Boston might be the worst city on earth. Boston sucks more than just about any other place on this planet, and its not because its cold there 10 months of the year. Its not because the city is fucking boring and closes its bars at 2, even on weekends. Its not because the “T” (subway) closes down 15 minutes before the bars, thus encouraging drunk driving. Its not because the one strip club in the city doesn’t even let the girls strip. Its not because of that horrid accent which sounds like nails scratching down a blackboard to the civilized ear. Its not because of asinine street layout, the fucking disastrous big dig, or even the city’s provincial small-town mentality. No, Boston sucks for one major reason: The ignorant, racist massholes that inhabit that god-forsaken city. Those same people who find themselves rooting for neo-con Curt Schilling. The same fans who regularly booed Jim Rice, a regular All-Star, MVP, and Hall-of-Fame candidate, even though he was on their team, for being black. The same fans who, during the 1986 World Series, lead to Darryl Strawberry being removed by Boston PD for fear that, as the lone black starter on the opposition, he might be lynched following the Mets victory. Screw Boston. Screw the Red Sox. You people have no place in polite society, let alone baseball.
@Yeah That would be all great if any of it were true. Which it isn’t.
Jim Rice was pretty well revered by Red Sox fans, and a movement has been going on for a while to get him inducted into the Hall of Fame. Other “minority” players like Luis Tiant (El Tiante) and Rich Garces (El Guapo) were adored by Red Sox fans (sometimes against their better judgment). Mo Vaughn was loved until he got into some kind of drunk driving wreck, and Pedro Martinez was a fan favorite right up until the 2003 season. (2004 was iffy, and then he left)
Manny Ramirez gets a lot of flak in Boston, but not because of his race, but because he is a lazy ballplayer and his commitment to the team is always in doubt. Meanwhile, David “Big Papi” Ortiz is practically a deity in the Boston area.
Meanwhile, nobody really seems to mention that the one player that Boston fans hated most and for the least reason was Ted Williams. Yes, white guy, American war hero Ted Williams. He was booed and spat on constantly, and sometimes he returned the spitting. No matter what the good or bad the guy did, Boston fans hated him and never let him forget it. After his retirement, fans started to take in the depth of his achievement and realize that he was one of the greatest players ever. Now we have a tunnel named after him.
Also, Daryl Strawberry was not removed from any World Series game, NOR was he the sole black starter on the team. Shortstop Rafael Santana was black, as was Mookie Williams, not to mention Doc Gooden.
I understand being an insane rabid New York Yankees fan (if you perhaps have Cerebral Palsy) but lying isn’t going to get you anywhere with baseball fans.
@CML Jealous of the Yankees? Their aggregate salary is stratospheric and has a pernicious effect on ticket prices everywhere, and their ratio of wins to money spent is a joke. The only more sorry-ass franchise in all of major professional sports plays basketball four miles downtown from us.
On a given day in baseball, I’m rooting for two teams: the Mariners, and whoever’s playing the Yankees.
@ticket prices CML, there are a lot of things that are affecting ticket prices these days. Probably the biggest factor is the construction of new stadiums. We don’t really have any compelling evidence that the Yanks have pressured most other teams to increase their spending that much, as a lot of franchises are keeping their payrolls low.
Last year, I purchased a pair of standing room tickets to Game Six of the Astros NLCS game for 25 bucks each. I think individual salary caps only really affect individual teams, and recent history has proven that you don’t have to keep up with the Yankees payroll (in relative terms even) if you want to win a championship. Just ask the Marlins and Cardinals, or the many other low-payroll teams that came close (Houston, Detroit, etc.).
@yankees One of the stupider things Yankee-haters say is that they’re ruining baseball with their spending. Baloney. Many of the recent World Series winners have been small market teams, and the American League was represented by the Detroit Tigers last year. Spending isn’t screwing up the game.
People think the Yankees fucked up the MLB by putting an emphasis on stealing great players from less wealthy teams in order to win. But the Yanks have proven that this just doesn’t work. Look at the years they won the World Series and you’ll see that guys like Bernie, Jeter, Rivera, Posada, O’Neill, etc. were acquired by totally normal means (usually the farm system). I say this to make the point that the Yanks’ spending hasn’t ruined baseball at all, and until a salary cap is instituted, it’s dumb to expect a team that makes the kind of profit they make to not spend a proportional amount on players.
@nah but The Yankees being a bunch of cunts who think they’re still the team of destiny and don’t even wear names on their road uniforms HAS ruined their chances for anybody else to like them.
@ok, but Could you explain why the road uni thing matters? It’s just a tradition and certainly nothing to bitch about. If you’re watching on TV you’ll get the names anyway, and if you’re at the game you probably can’t really see the jersey, and if you can the names and numbers are always put on the scoreboard and are listed in the gameday magazine.
And I can’t tell if you’re serious about the ‘team of destiny’ issue. I’m not sure that anyone rooting for or playing for the Yankees thinks Athena is guiding them to victory each year. It’s true that they’re cocky and expect to win, but wouldn’t you if you had their talent, coaching, and history?
@People who actually like baseball almost automatically hate the Yankees.
@real Yankee fan Why must people who are true fans hate the Yankees? When I mention to people that I’m a Yankee fan, most of them ask me how I can support that team if I actually like baseball. I’ve lived in the New York area my entire life, and I’m a huge Yankee fan…how’s that?
The great thing about actually following a sport and a team is that you don’t have to just blindly support them. I’m much happier that Steinbrenner has given more control to Cashman (at least decision-wise), so the GM can curtail spending on high-priced free agents in the twilights of their careers. The last two offseasons, the Yankees have been much smarter with their decisions, and while they still have questions, what team doesn’t?
Seriously, though, all this Yankee hate makes me sick. People just assume that I must know nothing about baseball because I’m a Yankee fan. Just like commenter #25…in case you were wondering, no, I don’t have cerebral palsy. Bandwagons don’t just apply to following teams; it’s become popular to say, “Fuck the Yankees.” If you don’t legitimately follow the sport, keep your damn mouth shut.
@Wow guys 1) BWOG is a gossip blog and shouldn’t be held to super journalistic standards. It’d be boring it followed them.
2) We’re in New York. The NYT favors the Yankees. People can have favorite teams and write about them. Deal with it.
3) All you Yankees haters are just jealous. People claim that Steinbrenner just spends too much on them, but the NYY turn a monstrous profit every year.
@DHI If making profits made good teams, the Washington Redskins would be the best team in football, but they’re coming off of 5-11 and probably won’t be much better.
Worthington’s Law does not apply to sports.
@profits Yeah, I’d agree. The Redskins example isn’t good since it really doesn’t matter in football (b/c of the cap), but there are plenty of good baseball examples. The Rangers and Dodgers usually fall short of expectations, and the Mets had a good run of being one of the biggest spenders (Mo Vaughn, Jeromy Burnitz, Robby Alomar, etc.) and yet were really shitty at the same time.
But I think this argument favors the Yankees. That is, if $ is irrelevant, then why hate on them so much? I’ve never really heard a well argued case against the Yankees – the hatred seems to be more of an visceral kind than a considered kind.
@DHI No, I wasn’t using the Redskins to show anything about teams’ budgets, just to say that profitability (not budget or net worth), which Moneybags here seemed to be touting as a success on the part of the Yankees, didn’t matter.
Arguing over whether people should or shouldn’t hate the Yankees is pointless; you hate ’em or you’re for ’em, and either way you ain’t switchin’.
@well In defense of Moneybags, I think he was just saying that people who complain about the Yankees’ payroll need to keep in mind their profits as well. They made those profits in large part because of their success, and so they have every right to keep spending to maintain that level of success. A major reason that a lot of MLB teams aren’t spending nearly as much on their payroll is that they don’t have the profits to do so. I think the point is correct, and I doubt that he was trying to claim a relationship between spending and success. However, only Moneybags can tell us for sure.
@i agree bwog should be reporting on the red sox losing to the royals instead.
@DHI Pretty much anybody external to the Yankees/Red Sox conflict hates them both at this point.
Five years from now both Steinbrenner and John William Hentry will be licking the boots of the Lerners when the new Stan Kasten empire takes power and a veteran Ryan Zimmerman leads the young squad to victory. For now, though, the Nats have no starting pitching and will lose 90 games, so hopefully some other team of dudes who want to play baseball without their heads up their asses will step up and put the Yankees in their place.
If anything, Bwog should support the Nationals because Kasten went to Columbia law.
@Dude Fuck the Yankees.
@lets be neutral to the ny teams
and support the braves instead!
ATL what what
@baseball fan 2 you go to school in new york, plato. anyhow, i doubt bwog will really keep up these “salutes.” sans passover jokes, there’s not much inherent wit in rewriting box scores. the mets rotation, however – that’d be some good humor.
@real baseball fan but the yankees suck
@this is bullshit Please stop with this pro-Yankees garbage. We can’t have a school publication support a particular team.
@baseball fan Seriously, I really don’t want any pro-Yankees blather being shoved down my throat. This post is fine, but if the Bwog continues to support this team, lots of people are gonna be pissed.
@Tom If Bwog keeps posting about the Yankees I will stop reading this blog forever.
@Sweet. Can I hold you to that? Please?
@Yes you can hold me to whatever your little cold yankee-heart desires.
@A New Low Bwog reports on the Yankees winning. I demand the firing of all Yankees fans from staff, seeing as Yankees fans are not people