I thought there was a thread along these lines earlier in the season, but I couldn't seem to find it...so, my apologies if I'm being redundant here.

Anyway, curious what others think of this whole Red Sox/Yankees rivalry.

I'm sick of it. Not in the sense that I think we should all shake hands and be friends. Not at all. But I'm sick of having to play the Yankees, period.

I just don't enjoy the games. Instead, I'm filled with anxiety, anger, and hatred. If the Red Sox take an early lead, I take no pleasure. If we go up by six or seven runs, I get excited, but the excitement is short-lived - anxiety takes over once again in the latter inning.

I see Gary Sheffield, and the only thing I think is, "God, I'd love to see him get drilled in the face with a fastball right here."

I see Alex Rodriguez, and the only think I think is, "Wouldn't it be nice if he had a crippling tumble down the dugout stairs?"

I see a Yankees fan on TV cheering at the game, and all I can think is, "Have your fun now, because if my wish is granted, you'll get home and find out that your little sister has AIDS."

Seriously. It's nothing but hate, more hate, a lot of fear of losing, and a complete, total inability to enjoy the game as it unfolds. And I don't want it to be that way. I don't condone wishing any of the misfortunes I just detailed upon anybody, not even Sheffield and A-Rod and Yankees fans. I don't want a ballgame -- a game, for God's sake -- to be something that I can't possibly enjoy until it's finally over.

It isn't fun -- it's torture. And when my schedule has been such that I'm having my first opportunity to watch the Sox in a week -- only to find that we play the Yankees all weekend -- it makes me want to mow the lawn, or go to a movie, or do anything and everything that involves not watching baseball. Honestly, if we could just have one season where we didn't have to play the Yankees even once, I wouldn't miss the rivalry. Not one bit.

As much fun as it is when the final score shows more runs for the Red Sox than for the Yankees, geting there does so many bad things to me mentally and physically -- things over which I have no control, so ingrained is my hatred of the Yankees -- it's almost not even worth it anymore.

Most baseball fans who aren't fans of either team are probably sick of it. Blame ESPN, FOX, and all the baseball columnists who turn to the Sox/Yankees rivalry when they don't have any original column ideas.

I've been sick of it for a while. Prior to the 2003 season, I could walk up to the ticket office on the day of a game and get good seats, even for Sox/Yankees series. Now it's changed and I blame the rivalry.

It's not even Red Sox fans, it's "I hate the Yankees" fans. I really feel like there are people out there that feel that hating the Yankees is more important than liking the Red Sox. Theses moronic masses are the same people that didn't realize that New England had a football team until Parcells took the Pats to the Super Bowl. It attracts so many bandwagon fans, the fans that are taking prime seating from you and I, but claim all the while that they are "diehard Red Sox fans", which seems redudant and insecure to me. Honestly, if you have to tell me that you're a 'diehard Sox fan', you probably just picked up your jersey at Bob's the other day and you're trying to hide that fact.

Anyway, the rivalry. I'm tired of the coverage, the overdramatization, and the hoopla that surrounds it, but what I'm even more tired of is the fact that the people at FOX and ESPN can't let it go. The Sox beat the Yankees and then won the World Series, yet they still want to squeeze every last drop out of this angle. However, I still see "The Story of the 2003 ALCS" and that silly Cubs/Red Sox curse special BS on ESPN Classic every third day, but no tribute of the 2004 Playoffs or some special on the Sox bending the "curse" over and making it their bitch. Nah, we can't have that.

Regardless of what the Sox do, the big media outlets still treat them like some loser club because it's great for their ratings if they make this "rivalry" mean something.

This isn't the 70's, these guys don't all hate each other. They all might hate A-Rod, but most of these guys are pals, have the same agents, play gold in the offseason and such. This isn't some bad-blood rivarly, so why continue treating it like one?

And I get absolutely no joy out of watching these games. My friend's wife, a "Yankee fan" (quotes used for sarcastic emphasis) hasn't said a friggin word about the Yankees since the Sox embarassed them in October, but they win tonight and she starts flapping her gums. Hey, I didn't say one word when the Sox beat them and then won the World Series. I don't do that crap. However, every Yankee fan that I know will be giving me sh*t about this tomorrow and even more if they happen to take the weekend series.

This rivarly has no feeling to me anymore. I used to work my social life around these games. They felt like events. But Pedro is gone, Clemens is gone. The "curse", even thought I thought it was complete BS to begin with, is gone. The Sox bested the Yankees and now I look forward to seeing the Angels, Texas, Cleveland, rather than seeing another friggin series with the Bronx Boredom.

So, rominer, I do share your feelings on the rivalry and have some of my own.

Sorry,

It has been there since the beginnings of the American League, and I love it!!!!

The games between these two teams are not the slightest bit enjoyable to watch, that much is absolute. Not only are they nerve-racking because the stakes have been driven up so high, deservedly and undeservedly so, by recent history, media and acquaintances, but no lead is ever safe when these two offenses collide. That much is evident. Plus from a pure baseball perspective, with the defenses they put out there and their offensive approaches to the game, it's not always the prettiest baseball to witness.

But, the rivalry still means so much to being a Red Sox fan, and so much to baseball, although not so much entirely that is needs to be shoved down America's throat. And, when the Sox do win, and Mueller hits a walk-off vs. Rivera, or they do come back from 0-4 in the ALCS, or Tek does bop A-Rod in the face, it is the bitterness of the rivalry that makes these moments all the more sweeter. If all the anger and anxiety is a necessary evil to feel that joy, I guess I'll take it.

Also I would have to say that diehard fans definitely hate the Yankees more than bandwagon fans. No? Unless you are saying that they are trying a little too hard to hate the Yankees. I definitely hate the Yankees, it is a feeling not worth trying to control, but that does not make me any less of a Red Sox fan.

Another point that diminishes the appeal of these regular season Sox/Yanks series is not only the ridiculous frequency of them these days, but also the general acceptance that no matter who wins these games, these two teams will eventually face each other in the ALCS anyway, so these games mean little. Smart fans know that won't last forever though.

I like how rivalries in the NFL get tweaked a bit. The Pats vs. Dolphins/Pats vs. Jets are longstanding rivalries, but not simmering ones. You want to talk simmering, take Pats and Steelers. Or, a few years ago, Pats and Broncos (who owned NE). The shifting of power (and creative scheduling) is what makes the NFL so much fun to watch: as a Pats fan, you get to keep your longstanding hate of the J-E-T-S-! but you also get to breed new hate against Ben Furburger and the Stillers.

In MLB, it's highly unlikely a blood rivalry will ever develop between the Sox and Tigers, or Royals, or Mariners. It could, though: all you need is the clash of the right casts of characters, but alas scheduling prevents us from ever finding out. [The only "rivalry" the Sox have that comes close to the MFY is the D-Rays, but only because of reasons that everyone on this board is obviously aware of.]

There is my thesis: the NFL knows how to keep things interesting. Hey Selig, why not experiment with this -- instead of having schedulers (and, by extension, the media) shove MFY down our throats 9 times in the first month, throw 10 games against Baltimore against the Sox? or 10 games against the White Sox or Twins? Try to start a new rivalry, and stop beating the old one (for which the crusty old sportswriters continue to thank you! ) to death.

What I hate is the one-sideness of all the pre- and post-game coverage/hype. If the Red Sox win, it's like it's just one ballgame out of 162, while if the Yankees win its supposed to be a reaffirmation of the natural order of the universe where the Yankees are predestined by God to lord over all creatures in their dominion.
And I'm not just talking about the NY press. The national outlets especially and even the Boston press sometimes are guilty of this too.

The reason I'm so sick of the rivalry is along the same lines: I hate playing the Yankees, and despise the adrenaline rushes and pits of depression that come from watching the games.

The joy of beating them is great, but it's more like the feeling you get when you and your friends win a bar-fight. It's visceral and almost disturbing, and you still feel beat up and bruised.

Losing to them ruins my day, espcially because I know I'm going to have to take the cracks from the people at work who love to see the Sox lose. And the Yankee fans, who are starting to smack-talk again. It makes it worse to be in non-Sox country, so not too many commiseraters.

Perhaps if they go back to the balanced schedule and eliminate inter-league play, and the games are less frequent, it would make the season more enjoyable. All I want to do when we're playing New York is to get the series over with- it's like a chore that I HAVE to do.

Two things have to be distinguished, the hype in the past few years trying to 'sell' the rivalry and the rivalry itself. People who aren't genuine fans got interested because of the hyped rivalry, these people got into it as a fad and, like all fads, are now getting sick of it.
The rivalry though is not something that can really come or go, or be enjoyed or be sick of. It just is. It's always been. It's there. Hype comes and goes but to be sick of the rivalry is to be sick of the Sox or the Yankees, they identify themselves in opposition to each other, they depend on each other to provide themselves with definition. Through a vilification of the other the self is defined. This is not something to be sick of it's just the case. It is the nature of each ballclub, its ground into the fabric of New England and New York baseball.
The selling and hyping of this for commercial ends, that can be gotten sick of but the rivalry isn't something that can be bought or sold, it just is.

Although as the biggest Yankee fans will tell you, they are sick of the rivalry because to them the Sox are an inneffectual non-factor, yet still maliciously wish an irrational death upon them even when they are not in contention...

Great posts.

Couple of observations:

1) the "rivalry" only means anything as long as both teams are competitive; it
tends to be feast or famine for both of these franchises depending on the decade

2) I think the rest of the country is interested as long as it is not rammed down our throats by the media, namely ESPN and FOX

3) I think the rest of the country would rejoice whomever wins if they are beaten by a smaller market franchise with a reasonable payroll

4) baseball is supposed to be fun; Red Sox-Yankees is seldom fun when you can't even watch because of anxiety, anger, frustration, sense of impending doom, etc.

Cherish it while you can; we may in store for leaner times over the next five years.

This rivalry is awesome.....The stakes when these two teams face up are so high, how can you tire of it? I agree watching games against NYY it feels like every play is magnified, similar to the playoffs.....But what is bad about that?

All great points. I couldn't agree more. I like watching baseball, taking it all in, appreciating what's going on. The peripheral stuff has turned it from some enjoyable games between two good teams into overdrawn death matches that are really not very satisfying at all. The thrill is gone.

I always look forward to moving past them in the schedule, look forward to other teams, ones that the fans TLB described haven't really heard of.

As JTB mentioned, the peripheral crap is really what I've grown tired of. But I have NOT grown tired of the baseball. Games between other teams only sporadically approach the level of play exhibited in the vast majority of Yankee/Red Sox tilts.

Then, you add in the plot lines of history (although not as heavily as the networks), plus the strong affinity for/knowledge of baseball in the two areas, plus the historic rivalry between the cities ... add salt, simmer on low heat for a hot stove season, then voila!

My wife, the Goddess of all Goddesses, says to me the other day after everyone really started to get on Renteria, "I had no idea that sports was just soap operas for guys. I would have become a fan much sooner." She's kind of right in that this pristine, intellectual game we love so much is surrounding by a carnival atmosphere that cheapens it to a degree. But the games themselves have lost no luster for me. Perhaps it helps that I have to watch 90% of games at work with no sound, so I can't have a Pine Tar Helmet Memorial Caniption Fit every time McCarver says something stupid, or Kay is a pompous ass, or Trupiano calls a fly out like a home run.

Don't you feel a little more relaxed though after last year though, not only for the fact Boston won it all, but because the Sox proved anything is possible, even coming back from a 3-0 deficit? From here on in, the rest is just gravy. Sure, I'm just as critical of the Sox, and my hatred for the Yankees is just the same, but there's a different comfort level going on, like the force is with us so to speak. As for the torture analogy, isn't it supposed to be that way?

Personally I agree with some of the others with how this same old story gets shoved down people's throats on a national scale, and wouldn't blame anyone outside the perspective areas to be sick to death of both teams. Seriously now, is it really necessary to have 2 nationally aired games two days in a row in the month of May? Selig and Co. is part of the problem, and should be making the Nets show other teams on such a high profile weekend. No, I'm not thinking of myself and 2 less games of McCarver-Buck/Morgan-Miller.

My thoughts on the rivalry....

I'm sick of all the goddamn hype about it. You know, there's other games out there, and there's other team rivalries out there that are just about as fun. I mean Red Sox/Orioles is shaping up to be something interesting, You also got Dodgers/Giants, Mets/Yankees, ChiSox/Twins, ChiSox/Cubs, Cubs/Cards, the list goes on. There are other fun little rivalries out there, I just wish that you know, the other ones would get a little focused. And the idiots who write about how dumb it is can go to hell too because they're just adding to it.

That being said, I think the games speak for themselves more than the press makes it out to be. I mean there are some great games that have been played between these two, and just focus on them. Focus on the things that have gone on in the season series, and leave the fans out of it. I hate the dumbassed fans who hate for the sake of hating. Those ones make me sick. Does it make them not a true fan? Not really, but it's an annoying character flaw to have. Granted, I don't like the Yankees that much, but I'm not gonna make an ass of myself by chanting "Yankees suck" at a goddamn Devil Rays game

The sheer drama of the games themselves is what I go for. Oh yeah and it doesn't help if a brawl are two are involved, depending if they deserve it or not. I have my list of Yankees I like and dislike.....well it's not really like it's more respect. I'd rather just be a fan of the Red Sox than be a Yankee hater. Besides isn't it love that conquers hate?

The Sox and Yankees will forever be tied together because of their pasts. Its the best rivalry in sports and the teams/fans don't like each other. The media blows it up but remember these are the teams that faced each other in back to back ALCS'. As well as being division rivals - as well as being the best two teams in baseball with the two highest payrolls. The players (AROD, Schilling, Trot, ect.) also add fuel to the fire by the comments they make about each other in the offseason. Sheffield was making similar comments last year and the owners even talk sh*t about each other. The on the field fights just add to the intensity as well.

Nothing beats going to a Yankees game at Fenway. The atmosphere is unbelievable and like someone else said it feels like the playoffs every game. I agree though that they shouldn't have scheduled the Yankees for the first and last series of the season because thats a little ridiculous. When the Sox play the Yanks though there is no way I would miss watching the game and I love when they play.

This for the none of you unfamiliar with the backstory...

Actually I was just giving the reasons why there is so much hype to the rivalry.

I could not agree more. I have not grown tired of the baseball at all. I love it when these two teams match up. The intensity gets ratcheted up and you have guys making unbelievable plays that, IMHO, don't get made in a "normal" night game against Kansas City. The competition is terrific.

I have, however, grown tired of all of the periheral garbage associated with this rivalry. If I hear one more commercial for the "Boston vs New York Poker Challenge" or whatever the hell it is called, I am going to snap and head over to the programming offices at NESN with a truck full of body bags. There is more than enough drama and intrigue associated with this rivalry ON THE FIELD. We do not need any artifically inflated garbage for off the field.

Fox and ESPN's (Yankee Ballwashing) media coverage might have something to do with it too.

Doom seems less impending, yes.

But the problem I have (on top of the national media hype, which in addition to being overblown seems rarely to even capture the essence of the rivalry as I see it) isn't really on a conscious level.

On a conscious level, I know that a single defeat at the hands of the Yankees in May is not the end of the world, not the end of the season, and not even a sign that the Yankees are necessarily the better team. On a conscious level, I know that these two teams have been very evenly matched for the past few years. On a conscious level I know that the drama of a Red Sox/Yankees game is unparalleled in baseball (or at least in Red Sox baseball), because even when the games aren't close or well played, the intensity is high.

On a conscious level, I know that my hatred of New York, New Yorkers, and their beloved baseball team is irrational, unhealthy, and a waste of my energy.

But it's what goes on at a subconscious level that has me burned out on the rivalry. Because no matter what I try consciously to convince myself, it still feels less and less like a game, and more and more like every pitch is truly a matter of life and death. When "life" is the result, there is not a higher high -- every hit, every run, and especially every victory against the Yankees really does help sustain me through the day, into the next, and sometimes beyond in ways that I can't explain.

But it's the lows -- every error, every double play, every run allowed, every defeat, every shot of a Yankee fan smiling or cheering on TV -- that I can't handle anymore. They make me physically ill. They make me mentally crippled. They make me ornery and mean. They consume me. And as much as I enjoy being a diehard fan, I do not enjoy being consumed. When I witness a loss to the Yankees, I can't sleep through the night. And when I do sleep, I have nightmares about the game. And when I'm in that semi-conscious state between sleep and waking, I have replays of the game running through my head. In the car. At work. Everywhere. Everything. It is suffocating.

So I guess it's not the rivalry that I'm sick of, per se, but rather my inability to cope with the rivalry. Maybe what I need isn't to put the rivalry to bed, but just to see a therapist. I don't know. But if we could at least maybe cut back from 18 or 19 Sox/Yankees games a year to only 11 or 12, maybe the rivalry wouldn't be quite so omnipresent and consuming.

I agree the entire Boston vs. New York Poker Challenge is ridiculous. It's a stupid idea and the players don't even play on teams so its not Boston vs. New York. Its a bunch of New Yorkers and Bostonians playing poker - not on teams. It could end with a couple New Yorkers playing each other or Bostonians. Either way who cares because I have no idea who anyone is so I really don't care who wins. Its all crap.

What really burns me about the rivalry is how it affects the people off the field. I hate how there are certain bars I can’t go into during a game day because being a Sox fan in a NJ bar may cause a riot (and it isn’t any better for a Yankees’ fan in Southie). I hate how the most intelligent, rational people become frothy-mouthed lunatics and only shout verbal barbs at each other. And this happens on both sides of the rivalry. I get a bag of peanuts thrown at me in Yankee Stadium after Tek hits a homerun and some moron throws a beer on a Yankees’ fan at Fenway. Idiocy doesn’t know the difference between Red or Pinstriped. I have seen the worst of people on both sides and it pisses me off.

Now, even with all that said; I do enjoy the rivalry. I like being able to go into a fairly neutral bar that has intelligent, sane Yankee fans during game day where the baseball talk consists of arm slot, delivery, OPS, and splits instead of hearing “Yankees Suck!” or “1918”. However, there may be a good natured barb thrown in, but that too is a fun aspect of a rivalry.

I agree with both sides about the rivalry. It is great to see the two teams play each other, because there is intensity, and it's two great teams facing one another.

However, the media has definitely blown up the rivalry more then ever, because especially with what has happened within the last few years. Such as the whole deal with Jose Contreras(this really isn't talked about), Pedro and Zimmer, Aaron Boone's homerun, A-Rod going to the Yankees, etc. Then the post-season with the Red Sox coming back down 0-3, and winning four straight. They have to show clips or bring up the stories all the time.

It is ridiculous how FOX and ESPN show all the games now as if these games are going to decide the season. I could understand showing the last series late in the season when the division is on the line, but showing every game in April and May, and making every Sunday game the game Sunday night game of the week is annoying.

However, I believe last season was when the rivalry really peaked, and so the media is just thriving off that. Of course nothing will never ever happen again like last season. I think in a few years this rival will die down . It's not going to go away, but in the sense it will simmer down where it be shoved down our throats.

When I saw the two teams face off last year in July in Fenway, there was no denying the electricity in the ballpark, and there was definitely a rival. There really isn't no rival like this anymore in baseball, because the Giants and Dodger rivalry is gone(at least in San Francisco). It's just a bunch of thugs more concerned with fighting over the cities of SF and LA then the actual game itself.

I do really enjoy rivalries but this Yanks/Sox thing has gotten ridiculous. Even to the way some ESPN (check PTI for example) pronounce the names of the teams to act like they're natives. I know the Orioles are in first but the loss to them last night was no where near as bad as the first game we dropped of the recent Yankees series. Every time one of their pitchers come up, I hope V-tek drill him in the face and puts him out for the season. I think it partly has to do with all the pre-game previews you get of the series all week. It's like a football game, the way they look forward to the game on Sunday six to seven days out. They're already talking about the next series, six weeks away and pointing out the lessons each team has learned in the recent series. I love the rivalry but enough is enough.