The definitive treatise on why the New England Patriots will NEVER be the New York Yankees, no matter how much people like to see Patriots fans' reactions to that comparison.
Red Sox vs. Yankees on this front is a trickier matter. I got a long and thoughtful comment from a Yankees fan after suggesting the Yankees' offseason spree this year vaults them once again into a separate category from Boston. That comment still has me thinking, and the comparison remains up for more debate.
OK, but do you really want Frank Deford carrying the torch? I think that comes off as a pretty lame "definitive treatise" and that you could probably do a lot better yourself. People hate the Patriots because they're winning now. When the team's fortunes change and they're not winning people aren't going to be dancing on their grave for more than a year. People will always dance on the Yankees' graves no matter how long they're down.
Posted by: Jeff | January 13, 2009 at 11:00
thanks for the (somewhat critical) vote of confidence on doing a better job myself...maybe 'definitive treatise' was too strong a phrase. but i'm also not in the habit of researching FJM before linking to whoever i'm linking to...just happened to hear that piece on one of my NPR podcasts and liked it. wasn't even aware of who it was by, really, till your comment. can't speak to anything else deford has ever done.
good point about the short-term nature of the pats vs. the yankees hatred. i've even started to notice a lot less haterade for the pats even this year, not long after arlen specter was calling for a waste of congressional resources to look into spygate, despite the fact that the horse was already dead and beaten to a pulp. so there's def. something to that.
i guess to sum up, no matter what the team or specific comparison, the short-term nature of the modern American memory is what really gets my goat. basically people thought the yanks comparison was apt because both pats and yankees had won a lot recently and had been the center of attention recently. completely ignoring the longer-term history of both teams as well as the wider context they operate in, which in both cases could not be more different.
People can hate the Pats for winning all they want. But it's the flat-out inaccuracy of comparing them to the Yankees that really drives me nuts. Deford isn't making that comparison specifically in that piece, but he's highlighting the payroll excess which is, to me, the single reason that comparison will never work on any level.
Posted by: beth | January 13, 2009 at 14:24
Yeah, that wasn't meant to be a passive aggressive insult. I'm a Yankees fan (in Boston) and I have your blog in my RSS reader. If you blogged garbage I wouldn't bother. Deford always struck me as a little out of touch which was what I was going for. I think the FJM article illustrated that well.
The Pats cheated (like other teams probably did), got caught and were punished for it. End of story. They'll never even hold a candle to the Cowboys in terms of being hated.
Posted by: Jeff | January 14, 2009 at 12:45
That's certainly my view of what happened, and the hate does seem to be fading--but you wouldn't know the Pats were less hated than the Cowboys last year, not with Senators getting involved and all the talk of stripping trophies...not to mention the Yankees comparisons. :)
But you make good points, and I thank you for your readership and thoughtful comments.
Posted by: beth | January 14, 2009 at 13:03
I just wanted to say I love the banner/logo at the top. And I'm sorry the Pats didn't get in the playoffs this year with an 11-5 record.
Posted by: National Sports Memorabilia | January 20, 2009 at 12:02