Friday, February 3, 2017

Will the Yankees be "Trump's team?" And if so, are we doomed?

Generally, unless my Giants are playing in it, I view the Super Bowl as a repulsive, brutal pageant that celebrates corporate fascism and drug-enhanced mutants. But this year's spectacle has roused up a new stench: 

It's 
political. 

The New England Patriots - America's second most successful pro football franchise, after Alabama - is Trump's team. For me, that simply adds a bit of incentive to root harder against the Pats, a team I hate on principle. Go Falcons.

Now, before you start frothing... I come to praise Caesar, not to bury the fukkin asshole: If Trump man-loves Tom Brady, so be it. He is exercising his god-given right to root, and nobody - not even that there Gaga lady - should give a rat's "
rah-rah-ooh-ma mah" about it. It's nice having a sports fan in the White House. We should all cut him some slack. 

Unfortunately, though, that's not our current world. 

As a brilliantly perceptive man noted in Politico recently, we are plunging into an abyss where everything - even sports - is taking on an us-against-them divisiveness. 

I say this because soon - like, next month - the Yankees likely will replace New England as King Donald's favorite team.

Yes, he claps for the Mets, but it's Yankee Stadium where he sips shamrock shakes with Billo and Rudy; it's Randy Levine who supplicates him at Trump Tower; it's Paulie O'Neill, whose endorsement rang out in Ohio; it's John and Suzyn that make his little hands flutter like butterflies. Like it or not, for the next four years, the Evil Empire will be lashed to Trump like Ahab to the whale. 

And it's going to hurt us.

Again, forget your feelings about Trump. The question here is: How does this NOT undermine us? At the least, it's a lingering controversy, which other teams happily avoid. At the worst, it splits the fan base and the team. When the President is cheering from the owner's box, the players get asked about it. Whatever they say pisses off somebody. And if the Yankees clamp down on locker room opinions, eventually that becomes an issue.

On the road, the Yankees could become "Trump's Team," making them even more unpopular than they already are. And there's little upside. Ardent Trump supporters in Cleveland won't switch allegiance and cheer for the Yankees; their hatred for us burns hotter than a billion suns, and it won't change because they privately think Donny Landslide shares cabana girls with Lonn Trost. For half of America - actually, 51 percent - it'll be their first-ever reason to boo Didi Gregorius.


If we were a dynasty like the Patriots, or the Yankees of 1998, we'd shrug this off like flakes of Cashman's dandruff. It might even embolden us. But this is a young team that will chase a Wild Card. It won't need distractions. 

Which raises the big fear: We melt down in May, turning Trump's team into a punch line on Saturday Night Live. If a just few players bomb - let's not name names - everything could go south to Mexico fast. Trump could push Prince Hal Steinbrenner into sign some executive orders, shipping out prospects for another Chase or a Jacoby... the baseball equivalent of invading Iraq.  

Imagine Trump turning up on Opening Day to throw out the first pitch. Listen to the cheers and jeers. Now, picture the bleachers in the seventh, with six beers into every foghorn's belly. WrestleMania.

Brace yourselves, everybody. Soon, Donald Trump will be America's Number One Yankee fan. 

Impeach?


(UPDATE: Patriots fans wavering because of Trump.)

21 comments:

John M said...

Jeez, Beaver...I mean, Duque...does everything come back to Trump and politics? What about Trump and hair? Or Trump and his enormous gut? Or Trump and bad suits? Or Trump and his "Children of the Damned" children? Or Trump's wife's lovely pale blue Ralph Lauren inauguration coat? Or Trump and his bad taste in gold everything? Or Trump and Kellyanne's neck tendons? Or Trump and old white men in more bad suits? Or Trump and junk food? Or Trump and Mitch McConnell's chins? Or Trump and it's not easy being orange?

I mean, there's so much else to talk about.

KD said...

If Clinton had won we'd have her as a fan too. Remember her famously pretending to be a Yankee fan? At least the President comes by his fanhood honestly.

Leinstery said...

Hilldog: Well now the fact is I've always been a Yankees fan

Couric: I thought you were a Cubs fan

Hilldog:(realizing the jig is up) I am. I am a Cubs fan.
then she trails off into the prepared line about how she needed an American League team and when she fell in love with the Yankees as a young girl

el duque said...

John, you're right. I gotta step back. It's that post I did on Cito Culver. It rattled me.

Local Bargain Jerk said...


Like it or not, he's the man in charge. And I have to say, so far I agree with almost every decision he has made. Some of those decisions have been very controversial, and I know a lot of people don't like him, but he has surrounded himself with some of the greatest minds and most talented people in the world. I'm confident that history will judge him as one of the best, if not the very best this country has ever seen. And there's absolutely no denying his amazing leadership qualities. These are just a few of the reasons I love Bill Belichick! Let's go Patriots!!!!!



(Sorry, the above was sent to me by my girlfriend who saw it somewhere else. Pass it along for a laugh to someone who needs it.)

el duque said...

Well done. You had me going.

Anonymous said...

HAHAHA!...THAT WAS GOLD LBJ!.....BUT DAMMIT, IT'S TRUE TO LIFE!...(JUST ADD TRUMP'S NAME ALONG SIDE TO BILL BELLICHICK'S)...... KD IS SO RIGHT, HILLARY AS A YANKEE FAN WAS AS BELIEVABLE AS HER DENIAL OF HER CELL PHONE DESTRUCTION, BLEACHING AND FLAT OUT LYING ABOUT HER CLASSIFIES EMAILS.... IF YOU BELIEVE ANY OF WHAT SHE WAS SELLING, WELL, THAT'S WHY YOU PICKED THE WRONG CANDIDATE FOR THIS PREVIOUS ELECTION..... BOOYAH!!!!

Anonymous said...

Yeah, you had ME going, too, LBJ - - I was preparing to assess my sterling appraisal of you, for possible modification.

KD - - It is possible to be both a Cubs fan and a Yankee fan; I was both, for many years - - although the Yankee fan in me would always win out easily....

I stopped being a Cub fan when the Ricketts family bought the team; no more - - although I read they have a daughter who is part-owner, and doesn't agree with her parents on politics - - not enough, though, with that radioactive family. LB

Great list, John M - - though you forgot Trump and his tiny hands; Trump and his rosso di levante-lined hallways; Trump and his obsession with his daughter; Trump and his ratings obsession; Trump and his alternative universe; Trump and his lawsuits; Oh, crap, you're right, there's soooo much else to talk about - - such as: how 73% of the country wants the Pats to lose Sunday to Atlanta (Yours, Truly, included) LB (No J)

Anonymous said...

P.S. - - Trump was born & raised in Queens - - so, how does THAT make him a Yankee-fan, honestly?? Or dis-honestly, which seems more likely to these eyes. LB (No J)

KD said...

POTUS being a Yankee fan from Queens easy to understand. Do I need to remind this group that the Mets were an expansion team? Damn you people are like a dog with a bone

Anonymous said...

WHERE DOES BILL CLINTON AND HIS BLOWJOBS FIT IN HERE???
UNETHICAL????
BOOYAH!!!!!!!

K:D said...

10 bucks to the first person showing evidence that big Yankee fan HRC ever went to Yankee Stadium for anything other than a cynical photo op. I'll just need your Paypal email but I think my money is safe.

Anonymous said...

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2020 PRESIDENT TRUMP (DONALD..2 TERMS)!
2024 PRESIDENT TRUMP (ERIC)
2028 PRESIDENT TRUMP (DONALD JR.)
2032 PRESIDENT TRUMP (IVANKA)
2036 PRESIDENT TRUMP (IVANKA..SHE'S SHARP)!
2040 PRESIDENT TRUMP (BARRON)
2044 PRESIDENT TRUMP (BARRON..OF COURSE)!

GET USED TO IT MY FRIENDS.!..CONFORM!!!! DON'T THINK IT CAN'T HAPPEN!!! KEEP AMERICA GREAT!!!.....AGAIN!...AND AGAIN!...AND AGAIN!..AND AGAIN!...AND AGAIN!...AND AGAIN!!!!

Anonymous said...

You're asking for it again, A-C....obviously, you have no intentions of keeping any truce....and how do we know that you're not on his payroll?? Mayhaps, we might even recognize yer' name. As far as the e-mails you keep harping about: there was an article this past week which says that nearly all of Mr. Wonderful's staff has e-mail addresses on a PRIVATE, non-government server, somewhere in TN; they have, of course, assured us that they won't use that server for government biz - - if you believe that, I do have this toll-bridge I don't need anymore, which I might be willing to sell you.

and, KD: I was born & raised in Iowa - - does that make it hard to understand why I am a pretty-much lifelong Yankee fan?? Furthermore, I never said anything in defense of Hillary's fandom. I just said I know it is plausible to be both a Yankee fan and a Cubs fan - - don't hang Hillary on me! I worked hard, and donated against her, right up into the end of the campaign. LB (No J)

The one thing which might explain if the Orange human Orange-u-tan is a real Yankee fan, is, like St. George, he only likes to WIN - - not like all of us other LOSERS.

Anonymous said...

anonymous...I AM ALL FOR A TRUCE...BUT YOU ARE HILARIOUS....YOU WANT TO SIT BACK AND JAB, JAB, JAB, WITH YOUR VIEWS, ON OCCASION, WHICH IS FINE....BUT WHEN I FINALLY RETORT MY OWN VIEWS, (SOME OF IT TONGUE IN CHEEK), YOU WILL HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT!....I MUST REMAIN SILENT FOR YOU....WHAT MAKES YOU SO RIGHT ALL THE TIME??? .. I'M TRYING TO RESPECT YOU, BUT CAN'T YOU SEE WHAT YOU ARE DOING??? THIS IS WHY I CALLED YOU A "BULLY".....YOU DON'T REALIZE IT, BUT IN TODAY'S WORLD IT IS SERIOUSLY CALLED CYBER "BULLYING" WHAT YOU ARE DOING (ALTHOUGH, A MILDER VERSION)......NOW, I'M A BIG BOY, AND HAVE NO PROBLEM HANDLING IT....BUT BE CAREFUL...IN TODAY'S WORLD, YOU COULD FIND YOURSELF A PROBLEM..... I WILL NOT BE SILENCED FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE.......PEACE anonymous.

Stang said...

I ON THE OTHER HAND *WILL* BE SILENCED FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE

Anonymous said...

Again?? I'm bullying poor widdow all-caps?? You gotta' be kidding. You said it: most of my comments WERE subtle, little jabs - - and mostly meant to be light-hearted: for example, I was just following John M's exercise, to find non-POLITICAL things to talk about (neither he, nor anybody else said non-tRUMP - - that was part of the gag....but you have to go overboard - - not once, but twice. There's nothing even remotely funny about 32 years of tRUMPS running what used to be a country....and how did Slick Willie's blow-jobs get in here?? I didn't mention the Groper-in-Chief (not since the supposed truce, anyway.
Nobody's asking you to be silent about your views (though we all pretty much know what your political views are now).
Your Orange-Haired Golden Boy made people pay for lectures where he said his secret to "success" was "when someone hits you, hit them back, ten times harder than they hit you" - - some secret to "success". My advice is just give back what you get - - and if you ever ditch the caps, then it would at least give the illusion you're not shouting all the time.
P.S. - - I never said a word, above when you egregiously misspelled "appetite" above - - but, what the hell - - don't you have spell-check, or something?? Your friend and personal cyber-bully, LB (No J)

Anonymous said...

Aw, Mr. Mustang, please don't be silent for anyone's convenience; how would Gotham City make it without Batman, after all?? We need you, Man! You're one of the more stable of us.

Anonymous said...

....WHAT'S WITH YOU AND MY SPELLING, anonymous???... LOL... I SPELL LARRY ROTHSCHILD'S LAST NAME WRONG,(SORRY, I LEFT OUT THE "S", GOD FORBID), AND YOU POINT IT OUT??? ...LOL..... YOU SAY I SPELLED THE WORD 'APPETITE' WRONG IN MY POST ABOVE..... CHECK ALL MY POSTS ABOVE.....NO WHERE IS THE WORD APPETITE......I BRING UP THE FACT THAT PEDRO MARTINEZ IS SUPPOSEDLY HELPING LUIS SEVERINO OUT, IT ANNOYS ME,(BECAUSE DON'T WE ALL HATE THE RED SOX, AND DON'T WE ALREADY HAVE A PITCHING COACH?)..AND YOU MAKE FUN OF THE COMMENT (WHICH YOU ARE ENTITLED), BUT, THIS IS WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT WITH YOU..... YOU ARE LIKE A BABY.... YOU'VE GOT A PROBLEM WITH ALMOST EVERYTHING I SAY, POLITICAL OR NON, PLUS, YOU POINT OUT ANY MISSPELLING??? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? LOL WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?....GET A GRIP..... IN CASE YOU DIDN'T REALIZE, SPELL CHECK DOESN'T APPLY TO EVERYONE'S LAST NAME, (BUT YOU KNEW THAT, DIDN'T YOU)??? LOL!

JM said...

Oh, my. It's going to be a long four years. Hope Judge stops striking out so much.

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