(image courtesy of: http://media.abc6.com)I have been asked a'many times as to why I love the Boston Red Sox. As a girly girl fashionista, that keeps up with her celebrity gossip, those who initially meet me group me into the dreaded " Pink Hat Fan" category. College guys I dated questioned how I could love reading Vogue every month and lusted over Jimmy Choos in issues of Harper's Bazaar, while juggling MLB Gameday on my laptop. Impossible, everyone seems to think.
No, no no. Not impossible. Don't get me wrong. I have a vast collection of (what I consider to be) stylish Red Sox hats in multitudes of colors. I indulge in buying player t-shirts from my local Olympia Sports. But, I know what an ERA is and what a RBI is. I know current and past rosters. I loved the Red Sox before they became the popular, winning Red Sox team of today. I sat, 10 months old, in a Red Sox onesie in 1986 as the ball rolled through Buckner's legs in the World Series (we have all since forgiven him). My Dad recalls when him, my mother, and their friends all huddled around the television in our old Gloucester, MA house, champagne in hand, only to be letdown again. My father stood upset and unsettled in 1986, but never let his devotion wain. Let's just say I was bred to be a die-hard fan.
Another person who was devoted? My grandmother. My Grammie. She lived all seventy-something years before she passed when I was in middle school. She loved the Red Sox. Year in and year out. She wore her blue and red (not pink!) hat proudly, and insisted, like the rest of Red Sox Nation before 2004 that, "this is the year." Grammie never got to see the year that her team finally won. Her entire life she watched, rooted for and loved a team that never win. That's real loyalty there. Imagine staying with a guy for seven decades that never allowed you to celebrate. That's how Grammie and the Red Sox lived their life together.
The Red Sox mean a whole lot more than a few World Series wins and Green Monster seats to me. I recently stumbled across this article in the Boston Globe where Julianna Baggott wrote, "'Red Sox fans have steel-lined hearts - completely recession-proof.'" While I'm unsure if the Red Sox helped myself and my family prepare for today's economic downturn, I am sure of a few things. Being a Red Sox fan taught me how to bond with my family, regardless of adolescent tantrums and meaningless arguments. Being a Red Sox fan taught me the personification of determination. Being a Red Sox fan taught me to admire and be loyal, regardless of status. I'd be lying if I said that somehow, being a Red Sox fan somehow didn't shape me into the confident person I am today.
I'd also be lying if I said being a Red Sox fan didn't teach me to be the slightest bit superstitious. But, that's a whole other story...
-M
No, no no. Not impossible. Don't get me wrong. I have a vast collection of (what I consider to be) stylish Red Sox hats in multitudes of colors. I indulge in buying player t-shirts from my local Olympia Sports. But, I know what an ERA is and what a RBI is. I know current and past rosters. I loved the Red Sox before they became the popular, winning Red Sox team of today. I sat, 10 months old, in a Red Sox onesie in 1986 as the ball rolled through Buckner's legs in the World Series (we have all since forgiven him). My Dad recalls when him, my mother, and their friends all huddled around the television in our old Gloucester, MA house, champagne in hand, only to be letdown again. My father stood upset and unsettled in 1986, but never let his devotion wain. Let's just say I was bred to be a die-hard fan.
Another person who was devoted? My grandmother. My Grammie. She lived all seventy-something years before she passed when I was in middle school. She loved the Red Sox. Year in and year out. She wore her blue and red (not pink!) hat proudly, and insisted, like the rest of Red Sox Nation before 2004 that, "this is the year." Grammie never got to see the year that her team finally won. Her entire life she watched, rooted for and loved a team that never win. That's real loyalty there. Imagine staying with a guy for seven decades that never allowed you to celebrate. That's how Grammie and the Red Sox lived their life together.
The Red Sox mean a whole lot more than a few World Series wins and Green Monster seats to me. I recently stumbled across this article in the Boston Globe where Julianna Baggott wrote, "'Red Sox fans have steel-lined hearts - completely recession-proof.'" While I'm unsure if the Red Sox helped myself and my family prepare for today's economic downturn, I am sure of a few things. Being a Red Sox fan taught me how to bond with my family, regardless of adolescent tantrums and meaningless arguments. Being a Red Sox fan taught me the personification of determination. Being a Red Sox fan taught me to admire and be loyal, regardless of status. I'd be lying if I said that somehow, being a Red Sox fan somehow didn't shape me into the confident person I am today.
I'd also be lying if I said being a Red Sox fan didn't teach me to be the slightest bit superstitious. But, that's a whole other story...
-M
