Thursday, July 10, 2008

We're NY, we deserve it, dammit

I can't stress enough how much I think Hank Hal is off-base here (in bold).

"This is New York, and the fans deserve a team with marquee players," Steinbrenner said. "Where we want to end up is a tremendous mix of young talent
and veterans. And the veterans, the free agents, they cost money. And we realize that. We are going to have a lot of money come off the payroll, and that's going to give us some options. But believe me, we're going to use a good portion of it to get this city the team it deserves."

What really bugs me, REALLY BUGS ME, is how he uses the word DESERVES, like we're somehow more deserving than any other city. Again, I'd bet most Yanks fans don't hold this belief. We want to win every year but in no way do the level-headed fans think we're more deserving than others.

I know he's simply pandering to the fans, but NY doesn't deserve a team of marquee players. Heck, I bet most fans recognize that you need exactly what he says in his second sentence: a blend of youth and veterans. That doesn't mean an all-star in every position.

I caught some (largely justifiable) grief by bashing Sawx fans since they had a lunkhead represent their Nation by attacking a guy in a car with NY plates on it. That lunkhead no more represents the collective thoughts/beliefs/values of the RSN than does Hank Hal for the Yanks fan base. Again, we all want to win all the time. But no one has a right to claim that they "deserve" to win merely due to geography.

That's akin to someone saying the USA deserves to pay less for gas because, well, we're the USA.


UPDATE: I realized that this was the mild-mannered Hal uttering those Hank-isms. My apologies for the gaff.

4 comments:

Mark said...

Jason,

Hear hear! Though of course you know there are plenty of people out there who think we're all entitled to cheap gas because of [something or other]...

And there may actually be teams that deserve to win, but wouldn't they be, like, the Cubs or something? Or the Indians? Or the Rays? (Whom I am secretly rooting for this year, my Sawx be damned.)

tadthebad said...

Mark, don't take this the wrong way, but I'm embarrassed for you.

Jason @ IIATMS said...

The only 2 ways I am rooting for the Rays are:

1) They face the Sawx
2) The Yanks aren't in the playoffs (and even then, it will be tough)

Mark said...

Thanks; thanks for the support. I don't actually want the Rays to beat the Sox. But if it comes to pass, and the Sox are gone and the Rays still in it...well, I can't be held responsible for my rooting at that point.