So, since I moved out to the East Coast, there has been no shortage of peer pressure for me to switch sports loyalties and cheer for all Boston/New England teams and forget where I came from. I have resisted. I have stayed true to my roots and kept my loyalties intact (as any legitimate fan should do), and not without consequences.
For anyone living under a rock, the Red Sox are the end-all, be-all of sports in this town. These people live and die by how the Sox are doing. Anywhere you go in Boston during the summer months (and ESPECIALLY toward the end of September), you'll hear a conversation about baseball. Will they make the playoffs, will they win the AL East, will the Yankees come from behind and steal their thunder, will they win the World Series blah blah blah blah blah. I'm amazed any work gets done. Ever. And it's not like in other parts of the country where there are people who like baseball and people who don't. It's EVERYONE. It's like a religion. Anyway, everyone I work with grew up on the East Coast (or has lived here for 20+ years) and I am the lone little Tigers fan, upon whom all abuse is heaped. Now this was great when one of the maintenance guys made a super cocky bet with me about a Red Sox/Tigers series in which the Tigers swept and I got a free lunch. But as the season progessed and the Tigers threw away the division and are not looking so good for the wild card (@$&^#%$ Yankees) I get no end of hearing about it. I was out sick yesterday and someone started a nasty rumor that it's because I couldn't face how badly the Tigers' season was ending....sigh.
And now is the added bonus of football season. Despite overwhelming reasons to stop cheering for the Lions, I just can't do it. And I enjoyed the brief, shining moment when they were 2-0 for the season, until last Sunday, which I'd rather not even talk about. I'm sure that most of you have heard about CameraGate/SpyGate/Beli-Cheat by now (if not, the Patriots were caught cheating during the Jets game). Shortly after that, someone put up a sticker (from our label maker) on our key box that said "Cheaters Patriots" which I thought was funny and pointed out to everyone else. I was UNIVERSALLY blamed for this. Now, there are three reasons I didn't do it:
1) I'm not stupid enough to taunt an office full of people
2) I would never have called attention to it if I had done it, I would have waited until someone ELSE noticed it
3) I would definitely have come up with something more clever than "Cheaters Patriots."
The next day I came into my office, bleary eyed as I usually am before noon, sat down to read my email and notice one from our building engineer that says, "I'm out today, and I didn't do it." A suspicious email if ever there was one. At that point I start to look around my office and notice that there are stickers saying "Looser Lions" (that's how it was spelled on the stickers) ALL over the place. I have found 16 of them so far, and there have been indications that there are still more. On my door handle, on my tape dispenser, my computer, the filing cabinet, the bottom of my desk, the picture on my wall, and the back window where I still can't reach to get it down. That was my favorite. You see the abuse and the false accusations? I do have to be honest here and tell you that I got my revenge in taping down most of the things in Bill's office with packing tape so he'd have a nice little surprise when he got back in the office, but still. I maintain my original innocence.
To add insult to injury, at some point during the middle of Sticker Day I noticed that in addition to Lions-hating stickers I also had some that said, "No playoffs for the Tigers". Ouch. It's a tough life I lead.
Anyway, if anything, this has reaffirmed my faithfulness to Detroit athletics.... but I wonder, is it worse to be a cocky, obnoxious cheating winner or a sad, it's better not to even get your hopes up perennial loser? I don't know, you decide.
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Go Braves!
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