There is always plenty of good old fashion hatred when it comes to sports teams and how they feel about each other. I could name plenty of examples of teams that don't get along. Here in Europe there are weekly examples of this especially in soccer matches (sorry, I just can't call it football...especially because its not).
But some sports rivalries transcend the field. I would say the Atlanta Braves vs. the New York Yankees are a good example of that. First off, everyone hates the Yankees (or so I thought). They spend more money on their roster than Sweden spends on its military. They are arrogant, they always win, but most important their fans are jerks. And if you are a Yankee fan reading this (or having someone read it to you) you know its true.*
When the Yankees and Braves play there is more on the line than a baseball game. In the back of everyone's mind it's the North vs the South...its rich vs poor and it's the city vs the country.
In 1996 the Atlanta Braves were riding high. We had won the World Series in 1995 and stormed back to the championship again in 1996. (side note - any of my British friends that are reading this I don't want to hear a word about how its not the world Series if the WORLD is not competing. Let me clear something up. If the world CAN'T compete then it IS the World Series. You can go put the best team of all stars together from around the globe and I will bet you 20 to 1 that the Milwaukee Brewers could beat them 45-0 in 5 innings.
At any rate the Braves marched up to Yankee Stadium in 96 and promptly took the first 2 games from the Yankees. The Braves dropped the third game, but then dominated the 4th taking a 6-0 lead. This WAS it...not many teams are going to overcome and 3-1 deficit in the World Series. However, the Braves started to come un-glued in the 6th inning after Right Field umpire Tim Welke couldn't get his fat self out of Jermaine Dye's way and a routine pop fly was dropped. It went downhill from there and the Braves ended up losing in extra innings.
The point to this long story is simple. I hate the New York Yankees.
But that is okay right? There are no New York Yankee fans in Sweden...or are there? If I had a nickel for every Yankee hat I see in Sweden I could retire next week. At first I thought it was a novelty. Being so far from home it is just nice to see something that reminds you of the US. I can tell you that sentiment faded pretty damn quick. I started to seeing more and more Yankee hats...everywhere I went I saw a Swede wearing a Yankee hat. What the @!&#??
Why are Yankee fans following me to Europe? Is there no end to this torture? I see so many Yankee hats here I'm certain that I am going to see a Yankee hat on the subway one day and as the head under the hat slowly turns up to look at me its going to be that of a laughing Derik Jeter. He would say, "you can't escape the Yankee curse! (insert evil laugh).
Anyway the point of this is...I hate the New York Yankees.
I hate the Alabama Crimson Tide too, but so far...no Alabama hats have been spotted.
*(footnote) Larry Schapps is the one exception to the rule about Yankee fans. He is a pretty nice guy. If you are reading this Larry, I meant to say all Yankee fans are jerks except for Larry.*
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