Agreed, but unmoved.
I am a life long Yankee fan, and am not ashamed to say that - not even now, with the vultures hovering overhead. Of course I don't agree with most of what I've read in the posts, but I do acknowledge that everyone has a right to their own opnions. Still, it's too bad that people are almost vicious in their hate of the Yankees. As a Yankee fan, I definitely do not like the Red Sox, but I appreciate and respect players like David Ortiz, etc. From my experience not too many "Yankee haters" feel that way, though. They hate everyone on the Yankees just because they play for the Yankees. For that reason, I have a special respect for people like Cleef - who live and die with the Red Sox, as I do with the Yankees. Cleef doesn't like the Yankees at all, but he does appreciate good players like Jeter, Rivera, etc. As I said, everyone is welcome to their opinions, but I defiintely don't agree with the person who said Jeter is a fake, and the other one who said that Joe Torre sucks. By the way, just because I'm a Yankee fan doesn't mean I like everyone on the team, or the owner. A Rod only cares about one thing - A Rod. He needs to go, although I'm not holding out much hope that the Yankees will be able to unload him.
The Jeter and Torre bashing is absurd, that's not just my opinion, it's informed insight. Bashing MeRod is another story. Someone that cares for him needs to plead with him to just STFU!!
The Yankees didn't choke, they got beat by a better team (perhaps not a better 'lineup' but a better 'team').
And Steve, I like the Yankees, grew up with them on WPIX, named all my chickens and a cat after them (Mickey and Munson were my favorites) but I do not - and will not - root for them. I like underdogs, something the Yankees have never been in my lifetime. I root against the bullies, and their budget makes them bullies.
The Yankee fans - all of them - feel it's their right to go to the championship every year; that's both good and bad. Good for them to have such a successful organization that they expect it like a birthright, but bad in that it pits EVERYONE else against them.
Some teams are easy to root for (Cubs, Marlins, and this year Detroit) because the expectations are small. Other teams are very simple to root against because we all like surprises and despise bullies; the MFY's in the World Series has gotten old for the current baseball generation.
I'm happy to see Joe Torre stay, he's a good coach, and as far as sitting on his hands, well, it's not his job to advance runners or knock them in. I see the MFY's as one of the best coached teams around. Torre is a PR man for the players on the field. They have more coaches than any team. Don't look to him to win games. They have the best players in the world, it's entirely up to them.
I think a lot of their excellence has to do with having such a great leader in Jeter. He's like a coach on the field. Every time he takes an extra base, or advances a runner, or makes a great effort on a ball, he's teaching the rest around him. There is no coaching that can ever match what
he does for the players around him.
MeRod has been there two years and hasn't picked up a single thing from Jeter. That's no one's fault but his own, that's not coaching, he's a grown man (more like a little boy, but you get my drift hopefully).
He's also been a loser everywhere he's gone, and teams have gotten better upon him leaving. That's all fact.
That being said, I hope they keep him forever. I feel terrible in the thought of rooting against someone and hoping they fall down, it's unhealthy. However, I sincerely smile when I see yet another error, and yet another strikeout or weak ground ball with RISP.
Please save your MFY bashing. Enough has been said.
(feel free to PM me with it though)