Steeler

Rudy Giuliani Rooting for Red Sox
For those of you who don't know, during his tenure as NYC mayor, every fourth word out of his mouth was "Yankeez." They treat him like royalty when he visits the Bronx. And if you're a fan, you DON'T root for the Sox, no matter who they're up against. I guess he's kinda given up on the NY vote.

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AMosely

This simultaneously proves that it is indeed a Red Sox nation and that Rudy is a bona-fide politician.

Did I mention that I will be attending tonights game? Sorry, just have to brag about that a little. GO SOX!

Switchcraft

I'm just glad to see all the same people who such a problem with jingoism and blind patriotism suddenly giving credence to the idea that if you like one particular team, you need to be irrationally hard core about hating another.

Apparently, left wing in this country is trying to win the idiot jock vote? Good luck with that.

AMosely

I think you're taking this too far - we're talking about sports and politics, not war. America's national pastime presents an entirely different (and trivial) circumstance compared to American policy - although in New York and Boston you may find some who disagree as to which is more trivial.

I do not understand the comment about the jock vote - if Guliani flip-flops and supports the Sox, how is that a sign of the left wing trying to win the idiot jock vote? Isn't he right-wing, or is even he considered too liberal for that? Regardless, in the end many Americans cast their votes on stupider issues than sports anyway.

Switchcraft

I don't see how you read anything about "war" into my comment.

And I don't really see how *I* could be "taking this too far," as I am a New Yorker and thus surrounded by people who actually think this is a non-trivial issue.

Ferris Bueller

Hey blind hatred for a rival team is part of sports. If Rudy cant keep to that, it's his problem when everyone brands him a traitor and eggs his car.

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|TG-6th|Ferris Bueller

AMosely

Here's where I got war : I assumed you were speaking to myself and Steeler, the only two posters in the thread, when you said "the same people who such a problem with jingoism and blind patriotism" - speaking for myself, I have a major problem with jingoism and blind patriotism when it comes to issues like war and foreign policy. I do not have a problem with these issues when it comes to trivial matters like sports. I think that's a pretty fat line - worlds apart. So, crossing that line, in my mind, is taking it too far - as in across a very wide line.

Anyone who honestly thinks sports is a non-trivial issue (in the real world, global perspective) is, well, taking it way too far!

ednos

It's a non-trivial issue. It's an enormous market, and it funds entire television stations through advertisements. The teams themselves are trivial, but sports as an economic entity cannot be ignored.

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The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. ~ Bertrand Russell
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Tarenth

Sporting competitions are battles and Sports in general is traditionally a replacement for a facination with war. Of course, recently the definition of a 'sport' has become more broad to apease some financial entities, but sports at their core is a replacement for war.

You gather an 'army' of your best, train them up, then send them against someone else's army in order to conquer and prove you are better than them. At the end one stands above all others and gets bragging rights until the next campaign starts. That's sports in general when looked at considering the major players in the field of football (soccer), american football, rugby, baseball, basketball, and hockey.

Fans of sports typically are fanatically loyal to their team, despise all others, and root for victory over defeat. Fanatical Patriots typically are fanatically loyal to their nation, despise all others, and root for victory over defeat.

There really is no difference between the two because if you think sports politics and scandals have less of an impact on the fans than national politics and scandals have on the politically aware then you are kidding yourself.

People who enjoy watching sports also enjoy watching wars. Its the killing that sets the two apart and where people start to slide away. Then again, thats what makes sports so popular. Its a violent competition in a warlike format without killing.

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It was a confirmed casualty some time ago.

Steeler

Switch, my point was that since Giuliani did in fact paint himself as a die hard Yankee fan, for him to root for the Sox under any circumstances seems like a betrayal of the team he so lovingly courted in his last job. Rhetorically speaking - few people really terminally care about one's absolute loyalty to a team, but in this case it really does go back on his previous political persona. Jokingly, Yankees fans just don't root for the Sox, no matter who they play. There's a reason it's one of the biggest rivalries in sports.

It also calls into question the sincerity of his previous fandom. Sincerity isn't really his strong suit anyway. He's a consummate politician in that regard.

Besides, who the heck roots for a league?

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icky

Geez, I ALWAYS did when I was a kid and a baseball fan. When the World Series came along and my team wasn't in it, I always picked one to cheer for, and it was always one from the NL. I'm assuming that there are others like me out there somewhere. Those crazy AL freaks with their DH. That just ain't right.

Now I don't even know when the baseball seasons end unless I happen to see a story about it in some internet forum.

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Peace through fear... since 1947!

CingularDuality

I always root for the team that knocks my team out. If the Rockies beat the Sox, that means that my Padres lost to the champs!

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sc1ence

I am sure this calculated move is going to cost him more than help him. It seems dumb to me. He must know how loyal yankees and redsox fans are. It was a calculated move on his part make red sox nation hate him a bit less.

the problem is it just makes him look like a flip flopper that will say anything to get a vote. People want a guy that will stick to his guns, even when he is wrong. That is part of what makes Bush so appealing to people, is he is a values guy.

Well rooting for the redsox when you are Rudi is going against values. really, in my mind it calls into question his judgment.

icky

All of this clearly leads straight back to this post.

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Peace through fear... since 1947!

Steeler

Too true.

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