The Boston Globe’s Kevin Cullen is a self described lifelong Red Sox fan, but stresses “I respect the Yankees and my sons do, too.” And with that in mind, the Cullen Family patriarch submits to his fellow Massholes, “this would be a nice time to retire the stupidest chant in the world: Yankees suck.” I guess Kevin won’t be ordering the above tee for either of his kids.
Beyond being crude and moronic, the phrase “Yankees suck” is simply outdated. Its origins are from a bygone era, when we all knew deep down in our hearts that no matter how far ahead the Red Sox might have been in August, no matter the score and inning of a game in October, the Yankees were going to win. And there was nothing we could do about it.
But that’s over. It’s been over since October 2004, when “Yankees suck” should have been put out to pasture. Shouting “Yankees suck” at Fenway Park today is like yelling “No Taxation Without Representation!” at Faneuil Hall.
Whatever you think of “Yankees suck,” it used to mean something, but now it doesn’t. It is mindless, as those who chant it often are. I was at Game 7 of the Celtics-Hawks playoff series, and when it became apparent that the C’s would win, some in the crowd started chanting “Yankees suck.”
“Dad,” my oldest asked, “why are they saying that at a Celtics game?”
“Because,” I replied, “they’re too stupid to think up anything else.”
Personally, I have never yelled “Yankees suck,” just as I have never sung the chorus to “Sweet Caroline,” or participated in The Wave. I have, I must admit, watched “Sox Appeal,” the low-rent version of “The Dating Game,” which takes place at Fenway Park during a Sox game.
But I watch that for laughs. Sort of like the way I watch the news. But, again, “Yankees suck” has never sprung from these virgin lips.
Cullen is certainly entitled to raise his kids however he pleases, but if the profane chant was borne out of frustration and futility, how might he account for similar chants heard in the Bronx long before and after 2004? Or the way “18 and 1” will occasionally be heard at Yankee Stadium when the Red Sox open a big lead?
Perhaps these fans are “too stupid to think of anything else”. And then again, some might also have their own absurdist P.O.V. that doesn’t require being told by a Jumbotron when or what to cheer.
I would tend to agree that no one outside New England wants to hear about the rivalry again, the Red Sox won the world series and that means the rivalry has been over for years now.
Don, maybe you didn’t get the memo but the rivalry produces nothing but sold-out games and huge tv ratings. The rivalry will be dead when the Sox and Yanks trade players TO EACH OTHER at the deadline when they are both out of contention. It’ll be at around the same time that the U.S. is energy independent.
And people think blogs will replace print journalism? I wish “bloggers” would have the courage to handle such a penetrating subject. Thank you Mr. Cullen- you are a true journalist and should be pround of your insightful and thought-provoking work.
Actually, Rog, far from “not getting the memo,” is everyone aware that the original rivalry was between the Yankees and the Washington Senators and was so intense- primarily because the Yankees crushed the Senators all the time- that there was a popular broadway play about the rivalry called “Damn Yankees?” I understand that was 50+ years ago, but heck, I’m 40 and when I was a kid people still talked about it. I get it that sometime in the 1980s this rivalry “became national” and other people outside of the respective cities heard about it. But as an east coast resident, I’ve had to tell my share of Bostonians who got the heck out of that city to cool it because “no one cares anymore.”
you will NEVER hear 18-1 at Yankee Stadium.