Yankees

It's tough being a Yankees fan living a Johnny Damon toss away from Boston. I know what you're thinking: "Oh, he must get picked on a lot." No that's not what makes it tough. What's really tough is not being able to get the YES network broadcasts of every Yankees game. I've got to go out of my way to find out if ESPN/Fox/TBS are going to show a Yankees game on Boston Area television and plan my whole schedule around it.

When I do mysteriously stumble across a national broadcast of a Yankees game (i.e. yesterday on Fox), I'm rooting for a win so badly. If this win is capped off by an A-Rod home run in the bottom of the 9th to tie the game and a walk off single by Melky a couple batters later, then I'm really excited. If the night is capped off by watching the Mets (on one of the three days a year when I root for them as they play Boston) perform their own bit of 9th inning heroics to crush the souls of Papsmear and the rest of Red Sox Nation, I feel bliss.

It's this type of bliss that can help get me over a tragic ending to the Bruins season. A couple Thursdays ago when I got the news via my BlackBerry (I was in San Fran) that the Bruins season had ended, I was crushed, especially considering that Scott Walker (see previous posts) got the season-ending goal in OT. I was so torn up about it that I couldn't enjoy unpacking my clothes at the resort I stayed at in Newport Beach, CA because of all of the Bruins t-shirts I had planned on wearing that were now going to have to stay in the back of a dresser drawer.

This clouded mindset I was in blurred my view of a streaking Yankees team last weekend. Friday - Melky walk-off single. Saturday - A-Rod walk-off homer. Sunday - Damon walk-off homer. These wins would have definitely been more fitting if I was in a good mood waiting for the Bruins second round opponent, but maybe not as appreciated. I needed to get to a point where I hated one sport (Colin Campbell is still a moron) in order to get involved with another. Well, I'm involved now.

As the Yankees pull to a tie with the Red Sox for 2nd int he A.L. East and a half game back of the Jays in 1st, it's now time for me to devote every cheering muscle in my body to the Bronx. I'm predicting a long run this year even into October. Err, well, I'm at least hoping they can hold my attention until the NHL season starts again...