While I am a fan of recruiting (see: FM’s “Love it: Recruiting”), I’m not the biggest fan of spectator sports. In general, I think that sports at the professional level have degenerated to the point where rules are brushed aside in favor of showiness, and athletes are treated like gods rather than people luckily endowed with big muscles.
But there is one spectator sport that I love to watch: baseball, America’s favorite pastime. I don’t love watching any old baseball team—it’s only the Boston Red Sox that I have come to adore. What other team—winning or losing—pulls together America like the Sox? (Answer: none).
Having grown up in a family firmly split between loyalties—my dad is an avid Yankees fan, while my mom (quite rightly) supports the Sox—I have seen both sides of the spectrum. Sure, it’s tempting to want to support the shiny Yankee team, with their history, ridiculous number of wins, and brand-spanking-new stadium. But let me tell you something: that’s not real heart they’re showing—it’s just an unquestioned, routine, icicle heart.
If you really want heart, go find a member of the Red Sox Nation. We all know who had Babe Ruth first. We all know who had Rodger Clemens first. And we all know that even in the face of a thousand year curse, if enough fanatically dedicated sportfans gather together and cheer loud and long enough, we can overcome pretty much anything.
Plus, where else will you find such overwhelming loyalty and team support? Remember when the Red Sox won the series in 2004? What other win could reduce grown men to tears of joy, and give rise to the popular sentiment, “Now I can die happy”? Guess how many people showed up to the Boston victory parade... three million. THREE MILLION! That’s more than four times the population of North Dakota. People flew in from the far corners of the world to score red, white and blue plastic beads. We have some serious fanfare, Boston, and some serious love.
