A Met Fan’s Pledge: My Daughter the Yankee Fan
My receding hairline, a grin somewhere between sarcastic and endearing, and perhaps above all else, loyalty. On a long list of things I can thank my father for, these are just a few. Loyalty is a polarizing character trait and has been since day one, literally. It has made men, ruined others and in some instances destroyed an otherwise good name, figuratively. Seriously, when was the last time you met someone named Judas? How about Brutus?
Et tu, where does your loyalty lie? As a New York sports fan it undoubtedly rests with either the Jets or Giants, the Mets or Yankees, the Rangers or Islanders and the Knicks or a general disdain for basketball. There is no in between.
Now I am not the breed of fan who automatically hates the alternative team. It’s just not how I feel and I don’t feign anything when it comes to sports. Which makes the decision I’m making that much easier. You see, my father and I have suffered the indignities associated with being Mets fans for far too long. A real fan cannot just pick up and change jerseys to become a fan of another team. You root for the name on the front of the jersey, not the back; learned that when I was 7.
This is precisely why we have suffered together for so long. We are loyal Mets fans, and for that I thank my father. I understand that this is my fate, for better or worse, and I wouldn’t want it any other way. However, the Wilpon’s most recent transgressions coupled with the recent birth of my daughter has led me down a dark, and troublesome path. How do I prevent my innocent daughter from suffering as her father, and grandfather did before her? One fan cannot stop the Wilpons, or change the fate of the Mets so what can I do?
When Izzy was born, a Yankee fan friend of mine sent some infant Yankee gear as a gift with a note reading, “Don’t let her be a loser like you.” I laughed at the gesture, and buried the clothes beneath a mountain of baby clothes. Today I realized that this was a mistake. The only way out from underneath a cycle of suffering is to change. What is that saying, the definition of insanity is when someone does the same thing repeatedly and expects a different outcome? Not me, and not my baby girl.
Isabella is being raised a Yankee fan. The suffering associated with being a Mets fan dies with Mark Newman, and I won’t have it any other way. I will forego the bonding we could share by being Mets fans together. Her first summertime visit to a ballpark will be in the Bronx. She’ll never know the pain that Mets fans have come to expect. I actually don’t think that this will be that hard. As a matter of fact, I think I have found a portal to alter my own emotional rooting interests. When I see the joy that Izzy derives from the Yankees winning ways, which history will tell you is inevitable, I won’t have to feign rooting for them. Rooting for your child’s happiness is as genuine as it gets.
Mark Newman works as a lawyer in White Plains. He’s a Mets, Jets, Knicks and Islanders fan. E-mail: markienew@gmail.com. Twitter: @markienew (with a new and improved feed coming soon.)
Adam has worked in the local news industry for the past two decades in Westchester County and the broader Hudson Valley. Read more from Adam’s author bio here.
