Rivalry Renewed

Perhaps you heard what Hank Steinbrenner said about the infamous Red Sox Nation.

Red Sox Nation? What a bunch of [expletive] that is, that was a creation of the Red Sox and ESPN, which is filled with Red Sox fans.

Go anywhere in America and you won't see Red Sox hats and jackets, you'll see Yankee hats and jackets. This is a Yankee country. We're going to put the Yankees back on top and restore the universe to order.

Perhaps he was upset about Theo Epstein taking a cheap shot at Mike Mussina. Perhaps it was just the inevitable Steinbrenner coming out. But he's right.

Red Sox nation wasn't a defined entity until 2004. And then it exploded exponentially with wannabes who couldn't spell Papi. Now I'm not sure if you counted Sox hats vs. Yanks hats who would have more, but the Yankees outsell any team in the country, and in the world.

Now let me address the morons that ESPN employs to "analyze" baseball.

About an hour ago, the Baseball Tonight men just ripped into Hank for his comments about ESPN being full of Red Sox fans. They went on to say Hank doesn’t know what goes on behind the scenes at ESPN. John Kruk even invited Hank up to Bristol to check it out himself.

Alright, that sounds pretty good. Hank probably has never been to the ESPN studios or witnessed the production of a baseball broadcast. But he's still right, and ESPN's hurt that someone of substance finally called them out on it. Not a minute after the Baseball Tonight guys finished ripping on Hank, they run off this beautiful commentary.

Kruk said that Josh Beckett was a HOF pitcher.
Hmm...based on what, Kruk? 4 postseason starts? His 77 career wins or his 3.74 career ERA? He had a great year last year and has had a handful of great playoff starts, but that doesn't make you a HOF pitcher. Only a year ago, Beckett posted an ERA over 5.00 and led the league in home runs allowed.

Noted Sox fan Peter Gammons said that Jason Varitek was more important to the Red Sox than any other player on any other team in the game.
Right. A catcher that misses nearly 30% of the teams games over the last two years and then hits around .240 when he's in. I don't doubt he's an essential part to that team, but he's not even the most important player on his team, let alone in the entire league.

Then they all agreed the Yankees will struggle due to the fact that they have to rely on two kids (Hughes and Kennedy) in their rotation.
But the Red Sox will be fine. Perhaps they failed to realize that lardass Schilling is out and Boston too, will be relying on two kids (Buchholz & Lester). But they'll be fine, they're the Red Sox.

You know, in that segment, Donald Duck predicted that Donald Duck would win both the AL MVP and the AL Cy Young. And I'm beginning to think Donald is more baseball-savvy than any of the idiots ESPN parades out in front of their cameras.

ESPN is located in Bristol, CT. If Red Sox Nation actually physically existed, Bristol would be it's capital. Washed-up Sox beat writers go to Bristol to wither up and die. I've heard the argument that the Yankees get the most coverage, but none of it's positive. Everything's criticized. Journalism should be fair and balanced, not blatant propaganda.