Since the Yankees and Phillies are two teams especially loathed by many if not most Mets fans, I was curious as to how the Mets fans of my acquaintance felt about the current World Series. So I simply asked some of these folks who they were rooting for–or if they were avoiding the Fall Classic all together. Obviously this survey was quite informal and highly unscientific, in addition to the sample size being tiny, but here are the results, anyway [drum roll please]:
Yankees - 67%
Phillies – 22%
neither – 11%
The reasons behind their decisions were varied and interesting, if not surprising: A few mentioned wanting to see Alex Rodriguez redeem himself and come thru in the Series; although one respondent was hoping A-Rod would succeed only because he feels the third baseman is “the player most Yankee fans hate.” (Actually, he’s the player most despised by Yankee haters. He’s not doing too badly in The Bronx these days, in case you haven't heard.)
One young lady bluntly stated, “I hate the Phillies, Eagles, Sixers, and Flyers, more than I could ever hate the Yankees.” For some, the NL East rivalry was not enough to stop them from cheering on the Phillies, or disrupt years of an antagonistic tradition when it comes to the cross-town team. And there were those who chose not to take sides one way or the other.
But the strongest response of all was undoubtedly this one:
“Met fans who are rooting for the Yankees are stupid. Any ‘Met fan’ who isn't rooting for the Phillies is not a Met fan. And if I have to explain that to them or anybody else, then it ain't worth explaining.”
Yikes! I’m not getting in the middle of that one.
Well, except to say…I disagree.
I’m fine with the cross-town rivalry or even indifference. Cool. Fine by me. But, hate? I could never hate the Mets, for instance. I mean, yeah, I’m still pissed at the organization—and a couple of the players—for the handling of the Willie Randolph fiasco, but Tom Seaver, Dwight Gooden, and Darryl Strawberry are some of my fave all-time players; I’m also a HUGE fan of the ‘86 Mets. (And not just because they beat the Red Sox. But it doesn’t hurt. heh heh) As a New Yorker, for me to hate the cross-town team is to loathe a cousin of mine just because. But I digress. (This ain’t about me, after all.)
Anyway, it was fun doing this little survey. Thanks to all who participated.
