The Morning After

So, women’s basketball season officially started this weekend, and as of today I’m ready to apply my full attention to the Scarlet Knights. Of course that’s because my beloved Red Sox lost last night to the Devil Rays (yes I know they prefer the new sanitized name… so sue me.) I thought all along that the series would go seven games – these two teams played each other tough all season long. I had hoped for an alternate ending however. Worse yet, it might be my fault they lost.

I went to an open practice yesterday for the women’s basketball program. (Looks like a hugely talented team – watch for future posts!) After the program they were giving away photo sheets of the team. I went down to get a couple from one of the students passing them out. I grabbed the one he handed me, and then as I was getting ready ask for a second one for my wife he looks at me and says “Go Rays!” I realized I was wearing my Red Sox ball cap. His taunt peeved me so I just grabbed the second poster and said “I’ll just grab two if you’re going to be a smart ass” to which he replied “Go Rays! Go Rays! Go Rays!” I told him to “shut-up” and I walked away. That’s right, I yelled at a kid, and in doing so might have generated enough bad karma to create a reality in which the Red Sox could not win game seven.

When did it become OK in America to harass complete strangers about their sports affiliation? In the office we get on each other about our teams. I work with some some pretty rabid Yankee fans and we just can’t help ourselves. But we KNOW each other. The kid at the game had no idea who I was – and what’s more I doubt he was even a Rays fan. He wasn’t wearing any team paraphernalia. He just wanted to give a Red Sox fan (who he didn’t know from Adam) a hard time. As a Red Sox fan living in New Jersey I can tell you this happens all the time, and it gets tiresome.

I apologize to the kid, not for snapping at him, but for the low level of my retort. Maybe if I had come up with something a better zinger I’d be getting ready for baseball on Wednesday, instead of basketball on November 4th!