I actually had a very similar reaction (just ask my brother), although I did not articulate it nearly as elegantly as you did here, Eric.

Fuck the Yankees. (And fuck the Phillies, too. Just not as much.)

I want them all to fail, and the score to be like 30-29 with every pitcher coming in, and then Dick Torino having to come in and he blows out his arm.

but I can equate this to my love of the WWF in 7th-8th grade (98-99). The Rock, Stone Cold, DX, and Mankind were the shit at the time all Faces that the crowd loved. The Rock was always my favorite starting when I first saw him join the Nation. Then he “went” corporate, the people’s elbow and champion became the corporate elbow and champion. Fans hated him, and like any impressionable youngen I wanted too. But, I couldn’t it was ingrained in me to root for the guy no matter what.

I really dislike the Phils, but I really don’t know what it’d take for me root for the Yankees.

We really can’t be rational about who we’re truly going to root for when the game was on the line. Back in 1999, after several Braves players made some objectionable comments about Mets fans, I resolved I was going to root against the Braves. But once that first pitch came along, I knew I couldn’t. I’d been rooting against the Yankees for so long, it just wasn’t in me to root against their opponent.

As for how the media coverage will be different if the Phils win, I think there’s some truth to that. But I also think that you’re going to see a lot of “Finally, a team of REAL YANKEES” stories being written, which will be just as nauseating.

So we can hear about the vaunted “Phillies Dynasty” for years to come, while Wright/Reyes/Beltran continue to get absolutely shit on by everyone for not stacking up to Rollins/Utley/Howard. Jayson Stark can write “The Last Night of the Phillies Dynasty” after they win their 4th title. Yeah, that sounds just peachy.

I watched the game last night with two very reasonable Yankee fans, a Sox fan and a vociferously anti-Yankee Cubs fan. I was pulling for Pedro to do well but felt nothing, good or bad, when the Yanks eventually won the game. I hoped this meant that I was truly at peace in disliking both of these teams and not getting too involved in this WS.

Later in the night, however, I heard the “highlights” of John Sterling from the radio broadcast and I realized that I just want the Yankees to lose. That guy drives me up the fucking wall.

because many of my friends are fans and I’d rather be out with them having fun than cut my nose off to spite my face. It doesn’t need to be any more complicated than that.

I think I would root for them over any national league team. Any dislike that I previously had for the Yankees is gone. I do not see them as a rival to us in anyway.

Although great point about the media coverage, Eric. I do legitimately feel bad for Utley and Lee. The rest of the team can go fuck themselves though.

I’m kind of exhausted from this conversation now.

Everyone knows this is a nightmare World Series for Mets fans. (That reminds me; Jon Stewart has been pretty funny about it.)

Anyway, wouldn’t it be pretty interesting if Mets fans had to keep secret the team they were pulling for in this WS? I thought about this because, since I hate both teams, I’ve been wavering between which team I want to lose more. Like, it even changes from pitch to pitch. It’s emotionally exhausting. And none of my friends really knows where I stand. (Even I don’t really know.) And since the bottom line for most of us is “Eff ’em both,” why not keep secret that you’re leaning toward either?

There’s a combination of factors at work here, I think. First, I haven’t lived in New York full time since 2002 and have lost touch with many of the Yankee fans who so bothered me from 1996-2001. Second, I spent four years in Delaware acquiring an intense hatred for all things Philadelphia (except Cheesesteaks, they still rock). Third, I’ve acquired a strong sense of New York pride since leaving NY. Actually, I started developing it after 9/11, which coincidentally was the only other time I’ve ever rooted for the Yankees. It’s only intensified as I’ve realized how much most other places suck in comparison. Fourth, I think a big factor is the fact that the Yankees didn’t make the playoffs last year. If my hatred of the Yankees was a balloon, it was at its most oxygen filled right after the Subway Series, and it’s been slowly deflating ever since, and with the Yanks not making the playoffs last year, it pretty much died completely. I know they have some of the same players, but that one missed year seemed to sever the connection to the ‘96-’00 teams to me. This just doesn’t feel like the Yankees anymore. I’m sure if they win and the fallback comes, I’ll remember just how much I used to hate them, but right now I can’t find it in me to root against them. Plus, it’s pretty awesome rooting for Mariano Rivera instead of against him.

Not root for them, but hope they beat the Phillies. The Yankees, we have no baseball rivalry with them as much as we have a “sibling rivalry” with them, that comes to a head six times a year, with the Subway Series. Other than that, though, the Yankees mean nothing to us. The Phillies, they are baseball rivals, and division rivals. Why would a Mets fan in their right mind want a division rival to win the World Series? If the Yankees win, it’s easy enough to mute out their fans- including us people here who still live in the city as well.

yankee fans = annoying and arrogant
phillies fans = annoying and insecure

or it was something like that. at school in Maryland, thats quite a few Phillies and Yankees fans in my classes. all the phillies fans are wearing phillies gear every day and making a hug g.d. deal out of everything. all the yankees fans just quietly go about their business in normal attire until you bring up the topic, at which point, things can get mildly annoying.

for me, in neutral territory, its an easy call. phillies fans, and philly fans in general, are MUCH worse than yankee fans. they are tantamount to boston fans. so go yankees. please beat the phillies. but if all your players get injured in the process i wont mind.

So I have to deal with the bullshit “red october” and “phightin’ phils” garbage on tv all the time. I really have very little beef with the yankees because I’ve lived here for 13 years and frankly watching the yankees win and feeling insecure about it is what being a mets fan is all about. I know that whenever The Mets do win a championship, they have a team that will be talked about for decades to come and have (good) books written about them (Fuck You Jason Stark.) No one outside Philly will give two shits about the 2008 Phillies in 10 years whereas the 69 and 86 Mets will live forever.

and have to put up with the bandwagon Red Sox crap and douchey Red Sox fan crap. So I want to see the Yankees win just so everyone around here can shut up.

Root for any team – it really doesn’t matter because you don’t control the outcome (unless your name is Jeffrey Maier or Steve Bartman). I’m rooting for the Yankees, as per my cool top 10 list from a previous post, but if the Phillies win, so f’king what? What can I do? Nothing.

• At least by these measures, I avoid disappointments. Stoicism perhaps, despite its storied bad reputation, could actually prolong your life when used properly.

But PLEASE, at least do this much – if you hate both teams so much, don’t watch them on TV. In fact, if I had some clout, I’d organize a boycott of the televising of the World Series! Send them TV ratings to the trenches! Hey, at least the people in the West Coast and North are contributing to this meaningful cause! Packers fans are our biggest friends in this matter, as a historic game imparts on Lambeau Field. Even if the games aren’t concurrent (take note of this before responding and calling me an ‘idiot’), they’ll forget a World Series is even taking place – my knowledge of demography suggests this is a good possibility. Few play baseball up there anyway and they aren’t fans of the Yankees or the Phillies, so why should they care? My point exactly.

Write a letter. Inform your local boycott chief. And say F.O. to FOX. (On behalf of the matchup and corporatist sponsorships.)

Viva la resistance!