The Yankees Didn't Deserve This

"They'll win it in 6."

I was at a little deli from where I work, and it was early on a Friday morning. I was doing all I could to show my support for the Phillies, namely insulting Yankee's fans. I ran into a little "superfan." He was an older man, maybe in his late 50's, and he was dressed in a Yankee's coat and hat. I was making jokes about Cliff Lee's performance and countered with the results of Game 2. I said, "Well, we always give them Game 2; its us being nice." I don't recall the rest, but I do remember it came down to him saying, "Yankees in 6", and I remarked with some hesitation "Phillies in 5."

Over the weekend, this city got hit. Hard. Not only did we have to deal with 2 Phillies losts, but we also had to deal with the threat of a SEPTA strike. When that was gone, we had to worry about if our team could win a game again. We also got hit with the latest number, a 11% unemployment rate.

Life in Philly was taking a hit. Hard. The Phillies could and should have rallied this city back together again, but the SEPTA strike, in my opinion, spoiled the mojo of this city and its collective energy. At the same time, we brought this lost upon ourselves. How pompous and arrogant was it of us to start planning for a parade down Broad Street, simply assuming it would happen?

A win tonight and tomorrow would have given us all hope and joy. It would have been a much needed boost for the morale of this city that has been hit with more crap in the last week than we can imagine. A sports team brings us together and can bring out the best of us. Uniting for a common good, a common cause.

The Yankees didn't need this. They didn't deserve this win.

The Yankees aren't a team. In my entire life, they've never been close to a team. They are a group. They are a group of highly-paid men who play on the same team. The players are good, but there is no real sense of teamwork and collective will with the Yankees. Watching them isn't like watching a team effort, its more like watching a bunch of individual efforts.

On top of that, the Yankees have won the World Series nearly 25% of the time. TWENTY-FIVE PERCENT. They have 27 World Series titles to their name! Like one more or one less would make a difference!

And the fans... fuck you! FUCK! YOU! Come on! The stadium was empty sooner than you could imagine in Game 1 and 2, and tonight's game saw a crowd that was excited, but not even CLOSE to what you saw here in Game 5 of the World Series last year.

I saw no real passion in the Yankees, no real love of the game. The Phillies are a team in every sense of the word, and seeing Cliff Lee and Chase Utley set records and did incredible work and one of them should have been named the MVP, and Jimmy Rollins, Raul Ibanez, Shane Victarino... they were all amazing.

The Yankees didn't deserve this, but we certainly didn't play like it at times this series.