They doth protest too much.
I'm a brand new sports fan. Well, I should be more specific, since I don't think I'll ever truly be a fan of all sports. I'm a brand new baseball fan, and even more specifically, I'm a brand new Dodgers fan. I've always said that if I were to follow a sport it would be baseball. I have fond memories of growing up around baseball lovers, I've always watched it in passing when I visit family, and I really like the pace of the game and its relative lack of testosterone-fueled brutality. It seems to me to be a rather cerebral sport, driven as much by psychology as by athletic ability. So it was a pretty easy sell when a whole bunch of serendipitous events led me to watch the World Series last year, and by the last game I was hooked. Then with this season's first Dodger game, I was head over heels for our boys in blue.
What I'm not head over heels for are rivalries, in their modern aggressive form. Maybe it's because I'm a new sports fan, or maybe it's because I'm not a typical sports fan, but I think the way sports rivalries have spun out of control is repulsive. Maybe it's because I'm from the Bay Area, and now live in LA, that the whole Giants/Dodgers hubbub seems particularly absurd. Let me be clear here. I understand why sports rivalries exist. But it's the way these things have turned into something more, something personal, something broader than just sports that's the problem. The ultimate irony is that despite LA's reputation as a giant melee of hooligans, it's my Bay Area acquaintances who are the most vicious and persistent. I know it's a rather unscientific sample. I don't know everyone in SF and I don't know everyone in LA, but with a pretty balanced representation from both sides, and with a pretty smart crowd on both sides, I'm left wondering why the vitriol always comes from the North, and why it so often extends so much farther than baseball. Here's where the Bay Area folks trot out the conflicts we've had at Dodger Stadium over the last few years, as if there aren't rowdy fans and conflicts at every stadium. But I'm not sure why the behavior of a few drunk gangsters justifies future hatred.
LA isn't for everyone, thank goodness. You need to be a little hardened to live here for the long haul. It's raw and unrefined and sprawling and over-exposed and not for the feint of heart. At the same time, all these hooligans who work hard and play hard here also relish and foster an easy-going laid-back culture. LA is what it is, and I'd never want anyone to be fooled into thinking it's something that it's not, despite its Hollywood reputation. I kindof like that it's hated for all the reasons people dream up to hate it, especially since I think that hatred is all completely misguided. It makes me laugh all the way to the beach. But what it ultimately comes down to is this: If you don't love LA, and you don't want to revel in all its raw energy and inconsistencies, then don't live here and don't come here and stop fucking with the people who DO love it here. Problem solved.
As for baseball, I imagine there's not much I can do to avoid the negativity from the North. But it won't stop me from sporting my Dodger blues and heading to the ballpark with all my fellow hooligans. I'll try to follow their lead, and take it all with a shrug and a smile.
What I'm not head over heels for are rivalries, in their modern aggressive form. Maybe it's because I'm a new sports fan, or maybe it's because I'm not a typical sports fan, but I think the way sports rivalries have spun out of control is repulsive. Maybe it's because I'm from the Bay Area, and now live in LA, that the whole Giants/Dodgers hubbub seems particularly absurd. Let me be clear here. I understand why sports rivalries exist. But it's the way these things have turned into something more, something personal, something broader than just sports that's the problem. The ultimate irony is that despite LA's reputation as a giant melee of hooligans, it's my Bay Area acquaintances who are the most vicious and persistent. I know it's a rather unscientific sample. I don't know everyone in SF and I don't know everyone in LA, but with a pretty balanced representation from both sides, and with a pretty smart crowd on both sides, I'm left wondering why the vitriol always comes from the North, and why it so often extends so much farther than baseball. Here's where the Bay Area folks trot out the conflicts we've had at Dodger Stadium over the last few years, as if there aren't rowdy fans and conflicts at every stadium. But I'm not sure why the behavior of a few drunk gangsters justifies future hatred.
LA isn't for everyone, thank goodness. You need to be a little hardened to live here for the long haul. It's raw and unrefined and sprawling and over-exposed and not for the feint of heart. At the same time, all these hooligans who work hard and play hard here also relish and foster an easy-going laid-back culture. LA is what it is, and I'd never want anyone to be fooled into thinking it's something that it's not, despite its Hollywood reputation. I kindof like that it's hated for all the reasons people dream up to hate it, especially since I think that hatred is all completely misguided. It makes me laugh all the way to the beach. But what it ultimately comes down to is this: If you don't love LA, and you don't want to revel in all its raw energy and inconsistencies, then don't live here and don't come here and stop fucking with the people who DO love it here. Problem solved.
As for baseball, I imagine there's not much I can do to avoid the negativity from the North. But it won't stop me from sporting my Dodger blues and heading to the ballpark with all my fellow hooligans. I'll try to follow their lead, and take it all with a shrug and a smile.