Welcome to the BallHype Spotlight Series, Volume 3: Fightin' Words, a series of debates on sporting subjects vital and trivial. In this edition, Patrick Smith and David Chalk of the fantastic baseball blog Bugs & Cranks provide a counterpoint on whether ESPN's obsession with the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox is good for baseball fans. We begin with Mr. Chalk. Enjoy.


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Smitty's view:

I have a friend who believes that, unless you were born and/or live in Manhattan, the Bronx or Westchester County, N.Y., rooting for the Yankees is a character flaw. He believes that, given a choice of teams to root for, people who choose to root for the Yankees are morally deficient.

Hey, I didn't say it. He did.

I don't cast moral judgment on Yankee fans who aren't born into pinstripes. But my friend's point makes sense. What's more, in 2008, that point extends to the Red Sox; if you're not from Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire or Maine (OK, and maybe a little piece of Connecticut), you have no business rooting for the Boston Red Sox.

But anyone who spends 10 minutes a week watching ESPN is bombarded with "news" of those two teams. They're the Duke and Carolina of baseball. Wanna know how Clemson or NC State or Virginia did? Tough rocks, bud. The Worldwide Leader can't get enough of Coach K and Roy Williams. Thus, neither can you.

By its obsessive coverage of the Yankees and the Red Sox, ESPN tells fans in Cleveland and Kansas City and Philadelphia and Houston to fuck off and enjoy this week's theatrical saga of whether Hank is mad at Joe. Or whether Theo wore the gorilla suit again. Like foie gras geese, we've been force-fed the Green Monster and Monument Park for so long that we're too fat and full of toxins to be entertained by the Texas Rangers or the San Diego Padres.

Manny. A-Rod. Youk. Moose. Tek. Joba. Big Papi. Melky. Dice-K. We don't even have to use these guys' proper names anymore; ESPN has made them even more familiar than the players on the teams we actually root for. I'll prove it: you have two seconds to tell me who plays first base for the LA Angels of Anaheim. One thousand one. One thousand two. Could you do it? You probably know it's Casey Kotchman, but it took you longer than two seconds to name him, even though he's hitting over .300 for a first-place team. But Jason Giambi and Kevin Youkilis come to your head in an instant. Why? Because they never left.

There's so much I know that I shouldn't know. And I know it because of ESPN. I like sports. I watch ESPN. Thus, I'm bludgeoned with Yankees and Red Sox non-news, day after day throughout the season. I shouldn't know that the Yankees pass around a pair of thong underwear, sharing it to break out of hitting slumps. And I shouldn't know that Daisuke Matsuzaka auctioned himself to fans for a night of sushi. Both those things are fine. But, as a fan of neither Boston or New York, I shouldn't know them. But thanks to ESPN, I do. Whether I want to or not.


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Chalk's reply:

When I hear people say they don't care who wins when the Red Sox play the Yankees, I'm reminded of people who won't vote because they think the Democrats are just as bad as Republicans. Certainly, the Sox aren't perfect, but they're nothing if not an acceptable alternative to fascism.

One of the stupidest things I have ever read was a comment left on Bugs & Cranks last October:

"When Boston won [the ALCS over the Yankees] in 2004, it was a big deal to Boston fans… It was not a big sports story for anyone else it was turned into one by ESPN."



My response went something like this:

The curse was not a national story? Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Bucky Dent, Carlton Fisk, freakin’ Aaron Boone, Bill Buckner — persons of regional interest? No one would’ve thought twice if not for the evil NY/MA/CT media hype machine? Come on. One of the two or three most epically, historically cursed franchises in sports history wins the World Series after coming back from 3-0 down against the evil empire — that's not interesting to anyone outside New England?

It should be interesting to everyone, because everyone should hate the Yankees because everyone should hate evil. (Unlike Smitty's friend, I'm not giving any passes even if you live in or are from the Bronx, Manhattan or Westchester.)

People try to say the Red Sox are now just as bad as the Yankees. Poppycock. If they’re weren’t any Yankees we could hate on the Red Sox, but there are Yankees, so thank god the Sox are doing what they’re doing. You gotta fight fire with fire, absurd payroll with absurd payroll. But the Sox are also doing it with soul — Manny’s hair, Papelbon’s dancing, those things wouldn’t be tolerated in the Bronx. Most of all, the Red Sox don’t pay grown men millions of dollars and then tell them when and how they need to groom themselves. And because of the rivalry, when the Red Sox win titles, it’s like the Yankees lose three times. And that's awesome.

Media coverage of sports is never merely reporting scores, it's recording the drama behind the scores. Drama thrives on "the clash of mighty opposites." (I think that's from Hamlet -- or a TNT commercial.)

The Yankees and Red Sox are the mightiest of opposites. ESPN isn't powerful enough to make them as interesting as they are. But at least in this case, ESPN and the rest are smart enough to focus on something dramatic and interesting.


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So who's right? Speak up, Royals fans.


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