The Yankees Suck Chant Sucks

Watching the weekend sweep over the Yankees was by far the most enjoyable time I've had watching baseball this year. Every game was wildly entertaining on multiple levels, and I had the pleasure of being at the game on Saturday.

I do have to bring up one thing that came up in each game. Near the end of those games when the Sox had the lead, be it the eighth or ninth inning, starting slowly, but gaining a head of steam, you could start to hear the inevitable cheer, "Yankees Suck, Yankees Suck."

This chant bothers me in many ways. The foremost being that, the Yankees don't, in fact, suck. Actually they're pretty fuckin' awesome. Winning the division, what is it now, 9 years in a row. Now I hate the Yankees as much as anyone, but let's put things in perspective. Would the defeat of the Yankees in 2004 ALCS been nearly as much fun if the Yankees sucked? Of course not.

I was in my local after we won the seventh game of that series and a couple of idiots (no pun intended) tried to get that chant going. I responded by yelling, 'the Yankees don't suck. That's why it's so awesome that we beat them,' much to the delight of some of the other patrons.

Remember how the World Series was almost, almost, a let down. That's cause the Cardinals sucked, and we just steamrolled over them. There was no drama, so it wasn't nearly as exciting.

One of the things that really bothered me about the chant before we won the World Series was that it made us sound like sore losers, and revealed what a deep seated inferiority complex we, as Red Sox fans, have when it comes to the Yankees. It was like, 'well we can't beat you, so we'll call you names.'

You'll note that there are never any Devil Rays Suck, or Kansas City Royals Suck chants. That's because they do suck and no one needs to point that out. (Though given recent history we might need a KC Sucks chant).

After the World Series, I was really hoping that this chant would die out, but it still seems to crop up (maybe not as vociferously as before 2004) and it's always embarrassing.

By far the worst thing for me is when the Red Sox are in another ballpark like the Sky Dome…err Rogers Centre, or the Trop, where Sox fans can have a dominating presence at an away game and the Yankees Suck chant starts. You'll note it's always when we're losing late in the game. It's as if we know we're going to lose, and it's the one way we can make us feel better about it…trying to denigrate a team that's not even there. The next to worst is when we're playing another team besides the Yankees at Fenway and the chant starts. Always the same situation.

I had one glimmer of possible relief when the Sox were up in Toronto…one of the games where we actually beat them. I thought, I wasn't sure, but I thought I heard a Red Sox Suck chant brewing. That made me happy. That made me think that the Red Sox are finally in the Blue Jays Fans' heads. Now if we heard that chant this weekend in the Bronx we'd really have something...