A New York Yankees Fan's Guide to the Media

Never mind what’s happening on the field, one area the Red Sox have clearly beat the Bombers is in the PR arena. EVERYBODY LOVES the Sawx, but the Yanks can’t seem to please anybody, while the Beantown boys can do no wrong.

Jeter can’t win an MVP because he bats second, is a middle infielder and doesn’t hit with enough power...but Dustin Pedroia (bats second, plays second base and hit all of 17 home runs) is hailed as the best player in the AL.

The Yankees build a state of the art stadium and are crucified because there are a few seats in center field with an obstructed view, the Sox play in Fenway where the girders are strategically placed so that you can either see the batter or the pitcher, but not both.

When it comes to media personalities Yankee Fans have two choices, those who hate the Yankees and those who REALLY hate the Yankees. What follows is my informal list of the indignities we are faced with everyday

The WFAN — 660 AM

The New York based sports call-in show, the first and largest all sports radio station in the country,  is, unfortunately the flagship station of the rival Mets, so you know they are contractually obligated to “dis” the cross their crosstown rivals

WFAN’s on the Fans

Mets fans are unduly obsessed with Yankees fans. I remember one guy calling in during a Mets hot-streak to say that “Isn’t it great being a Met fan, every win is a slap in the face to Yankee fans.” Like we care.

When not indulging in delusional bouts of momentary superiority, they are depressed over the latest set back to the point where they’re lining up to jump off the Whitestone Bridge.

The Announcers

For the most part they at least pretend to be unbiased, and off course Mike Francesa, who bleeds Yankee blue with the best of us. Chris Mad Dog Russo made a career of being Yankee hater.

(What other team has “anti-fans”? People who actually identify themselves by what team the root against. What kind of twisted toilet training could have resulted in such negativity?)

Since Mr. Russo has traveled to the alternate universe of digital radio, the “Yankee hater” mantle has been passed on to Steve Summers, aka “the Schmoozer.”

The nickname is some what ironic. Between the whinny voice and the attempted borscht-belt comedy bits, its hard to imagine anyone schmoozing with the schmoozer


TV Media

Fox Sports and ESPN  Maybe I’m overly sensitive, maybe I’m slightly paranoid or maybe there’s a demographic report out there that says Yankee-haters drink more beer than Yankee fans, but neither of these TV networks has anything good to say.

If the Yanks are ahead, every walk is a rally in the making. If they’re behind, the other team is the reincarnation of the ’27 Yankees.

As for the announcers, ESPN’s Joe Morgan doesn’t want us to forget Big Red Machine and spent the whole 1998 season telling us that us that  that Yankee team wasn’t as good as it looked (that particular team won 114 regular season games, four consecutive pennants, three World Series, and came within a Mariano Rivera bad throw to second to winning a fourth).

Joe Buck and Time McCarver on Fox just can’t stop talking about “Red Sox Nation.”

Print

New York Times — Perhaps the most puzzling phenomena is the love affair the NEW YOR times seems to have with the team in Boston. So far this year we’ve been treated to stories about Jason Bay, Kevin Youklis, the ubiquitous Dustin Pedroia, What’s Wrong Big Pappi, Why Manny is a Jerk, and the quaintness of Fenway Park.

When the Red Sox beat Tampa bay in the first game of the season, the headline read “Red Sox Restore Order to American League East”. REALLY!!! AFTER ONE GAME!!!

My theory is that since so many of the time reports undoubtedly went to Harvard, they have something of an urban identity crisis. They identify so much with Boston, they just assume the rest of the world does, too.