Champs Again!

Alright, after letting it set in for a couple of days I wanted to share a couple thoughts about the Greatest Franchise ever taking home another title.

There's one thing that struck me as a little odd in my reaction to the last out on Wednesday night. It actually felt slightly anti-climactic watching the final out. But it wasn't because I didn't care. Actually I was much more into this World Series than many of the past ones the Yankees have played in, but I think the difference is in how I view things. The older I get, the less I focus on results. The process is what really matters, whether it's baseball, school (how many of us knew how to get the grade without doing any actual learning?), or life.

So even though almost every non-Yankee fan will complain about the lack of a strict salary cap and blame the Yankees for ruining baseball by buying championships, let's remember that no matter how much money you spend you don't get a free pass to the World Series. The process has to be the same for the Yankees as it would for any other team. Before the season I honestly thought it would be hard to root for the team with such high profile free agents bought last off-season, but as the summer rolled along and the more games I watched, the more I came to feel a part of this Yankees team, and that is what makes being a fan really enjoyable.

And as much as everybody hates the Yankees, it's clear that they also need the Yankees.. As much as I love watching it, baseball simply would not get the ratings it needs to survive without a villain. And if you don't think the Yankees aren't the epitome of a villain then you're crazy. Football ratings are so good because the American people love the product. Outside of the die-hards, baseball lacks the appeal of football and needs other story lines to drive ratings. Need proof? Look at the ratings for the last 2 World Series. The Yankees/Phillies averaged around a 12 (translated into X-million viewers, not sure of the exact formula), where the Phillies/Rays averaged a 7-8. That's a huge difference in number of viewers, because the Yankees will draw interest of people around the country who simply want to see them lose.

If you look at the highest rated Series in history, most of them involve the Yankees. One exception would be 2004, game 4, when the Red Sox were about to clinch their first title in a thousand years.

I'm just glad I'm on the fun side of the fence when it comes to the Yankees!