Your next speaker grew up in Brooklyn when the Dodgers were still there, and nevertheless rooted for the Yankees. ~George Will at CPAC
How does treason to one’s home borough recommend a man to anyone? You might as well say, “Our next speaker grew up in America during the Cold War, but nonetheless supported the expansion of Soviet communism.” How on earth does it make him comparable to Margaret Thatcher? Was she also in the habit of despising her hometown? I think not.
What sort of decent person roots for the Yankees anyway?
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March 2nd, 2007 at 1:56 pm
clarkstooksbury
There Goes Bill Kauffman’s support.
March 2nd, 2007 at 1:57 pm
Bubba
“What sort of decent person roots for the Yankees anyway?”
Are you asking a serious question or being sarcastic? I can’t tell, so I’ll assume you’re asking a serious question.
There’s this conceit, especially among East Coast baseball aficionados, that the Yankees are “America’s team.” Therefore, to root for the Yankees is to root for America, the Yankees are the team true patriots root for, etc., yada yada yada.
But as you suggest, what these snobs fail to understand is that the rest of America is not nearly as in love with New York as they are, and we especially despise that arrogant organization known as the Yankees. George Will may win Senor Rudy a few East Coast fans with his Yankee schtick, but to the rest of the country, it rings pretty hollow. Even more than that, it sounds like a lie.
March 2nd, 2007 at 2:04 pm
Daniel Larison
My apologies if it wasn’t clear whether I meant to be serious or not. When it comes to mocking and opposing the Yankees, I am always quite serious. My dad was a Dodgers fan from when they were in Brooklyn, and he wasn’t even from Brooklyn (our family hails from Jersey), and I grew up in what was then the Dodgers’ AAA club town in Albuquerque, so I imbibed an abiding disgust for the Yankees (and the Giants) when I was very young.
I don’t know whether it’s a lie that Giuliani turned on the Dodgers, but it is a story that has been circulated about him for a while, so he clearly likes whatever message it is he thinks it sends. If he is making up the story, he has made a mistake in repeating it to a national audience; if it is the truth, who could possibly trust such a no-good turncoat as the President?
March 2nd, 2007 at 2:36 pm
James Kabala
What borough is Rudy’s father originally from? That might be a factor. I think he has said his father was a strong Yankee fan who took him to Yankee Stadium, but whether his father was a transplanted Bronxer or himself a traitorous Brooklynite, I don’t know.
It could also be that the Yankees were a team with a strong Italian-American tradition (Joe DiMaggio, Tony Lazzeri, Frankie Crosetti, Phil Rizutto, Yogi Berra), although the Dodgers at various times did have Dolph Camilli, Carl Furrillo, and (only half-Italian, obviously) Roy Campanella.
I hate both Giuliani and the Yankees, but I need to know more before I get indignant about this.
March 2nd, 2007 at 3:12 pm
Daniel Larison
Okay, that’s a fair point. If he could claim that he was sticking with his father’s team and his father was from another part of the city, that would lessen the offense. He would have more of a reason for being a Yankees fan, but even so it’s a pretty dodgy (pardon the pun) kind of loyalty to have.