No More Rooting Against My Teams' Rivals

I'm sitting here in my living room in Gainesville, Florida, watching the New York Yankees play the Boston Red Sox on ESPN. It has come around full circle for me with the baseball season: we're nearing the end of the regular season, but I remember watching the Yankees play the Red Sox in the season opener. From a TV screen inside Junior's on 45th and Broadway near Times Square in Manhattan while I was chomping down on a half-pound hot dog loaded with sauerkraut (with cheesecake for dessert). Back then I rooted for New York, and I am rooting for them now. This I do in spite of the fact that I want Tampa Bay to beat out the Yankees for the American League East title.

In the past, as the season would wind down in whatever team sport I was following, I would begin to follow my team's main rivals in the standings or polls and automatically root for their opponents, so that my team would benefit from their losses. There are two problems with this tactic. One, I have at times pulled for teams that I really didn't care for and against teams that I really liked. Two, while concerning myself with how everyone else was doing, my own team often floundered and ended up eliminating itself from post-season glory, without the aid of anyone else. So now I don't care how opponents of the Tampa Bay Rays or the Atlanta Braves are doing in baseball, nor am I concerned how divisional and conference rivals of the Miami Dolphins and Florida Gators are shaping up in football. The way I see it, if these teams can't cut the mustard on their own, then I don't care whether or not they back into the playoffs or championship contention through their rivals' misfortunes. So that's why I'm pulling for the Yankees, my traditional favorite when they're playing the Red Sox.