The New York Post is doing its best to try and turn Jimmy Rollins’ prediction of the Phillies in five into some big controversy, calling Rollins “mouthy,” saying the Yankees are prepared to “muzzle” him and doing whatever they can to get any actual members of the Yankees to go on record with something controversial. Not surprisingly, no one comes close to taking the bait. In fact, Johnny Damon basically says the only reasonable thing one can say in such a situation: “What do you expect him to say and what do you expect Phillies fans to expect? I wish he had predicted it the other way, but then there would have been a lot of angry Phillies fans.”
In other words a tempest in a teapot. Faux outrage from a paper who lives to stir this kind of stuff up. Fun to some degree, but ultimately meaningless.
Why the Post is bothering baiting people over Rollins I have no idea given that it is great at stirring up its own controversy from whole cloth. Did you read yesterday’s cover story Bob was talking about? Yeah, the “Frillies” stuff was cute, but the sheer Philly hate was something to behold. Some man-on-the street quotes from the article:
“Philly fans are a bunch of whiners and should learn how to dress. They should try reading GQ.”
“I don’t have hate for Philly exactly -- they are like our redheaded stepchild. It’s like a nothing city. It’s just insignificant in comparison to New York.”
“Their fans are whiners, the food is lousy and there is nothing to do. New York is all about being on top, with no excuses -- just like the Yankees.”
“The big meal there is a steak with cheese and onions on a hero, but they don’t even call it a hero. It’s a hoagie. What the hell is a hoagie?”
So forget Jimmy Rollins and his predictions. Let’s focus on the real competition here: the competition to see whether New York or Philly fans can do the most to shock the nation.
