The Perfect Villain
Posted by Stephen Donnarummo, WTNH.com
on October 28th, 2009 at 05:15:23 pm , 1506 views
I have come to accept certain truths in life. I have to pay my taxes, I have to go to work, and I will never grow up to be Hugh Hefner. I also know that I root for the single biggest villain in all of sports, the New York Yankees.
As Yankees fans around the country gear up for Game 1 of the World Series tonight, there is no question that pretty much everyone outside of those Yankees fans is rooting for the Phillies. And you know what? I have no problem with this. Every story needs a great villain, the Yankees fit the bill perfectly, and the rest of baseball should be thankful for the Yankees.
Think of this in movie terms. Darth Vader, Hannibal Lector, Norman Bates, and so on. All of these characters are far more memorable than their counterparts, and make their respective movies memorable. You root against them, but there is a part of everyone that wishes they could be more like them. That is the New York Yankees. Every sports fan hates them for what they are, but wishes their team was just like them. Name one sports fan wouldn't want their team to be a contender every year, if all it meant was losing favor with the fans of other sports teams? Waiting.... waiting... no one?? Thought so.
Without the Yankees, there is no villain, and the story falls flat. Say what you will about sportsmanship, but people enjoy the games more when there is drama, when there is a clear cut good guy and bad guy. It's the same formula the pro wrestling bases their billion dollar industry on, and in baseball, the Yankees are an entire team of King Kong Bundys, Iron Sheiks, and Randy Ortons. Would you care if this World Series was the Rockies versus the Twins? Of course not. Regardless of the quality of the games, ratings would plummet and the World Series would be a second rate story.
The Yankees are what the World Series needs. People will watch, even if just to root against them. You can call them the evil empire, you can say they buy their players, and you can even say they are what's wrong with sports. But no matter what, the Yankees bring drama, the Yankees bring storylines, and the Yankees make the World Series matter. The Yankees are the perfect villain.
8 comments
Anyhow, I don't mind the fact that my oldest sister, who is a Red Sox fan, and my husband have jokes back and forth about this. My sister one time served her whole picnic with Red Sox napkins and plates. My husband laughed his butt off. Another time, she came to our house all dressed in her Red Sox reds and said she was having trouble entering our home because of the big Yankees flag outside.
However, I drew the line this week when my cousin, who is a Mariners fan and thinks he knows EVERYTHING about baseball because he coaches little league, told me that all Yankees fans are ignorant and ugly. I can handle almost anything, but don't call my husband ignorant or ugly. Even my sister, the diehard Red Sox fan, said our cousin was rude and obnoxious to me.
They are NOT the Evil Empire to us. They are a great team with great legends and great new legends. GO YANKS!
We have real folk in real games.
If there wern`t folk betting and curseing the other teams we could all have fun and celebrate dispite the outcome.
~Peace Glenna~
...come over to the dark side...
GO YANKEES!!!
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