• Tweet
• Sharebar

Once again for the 27^th time the Yankees are World Series Champions.  Their legions of fans are overjoyed.  On the flipside, an even larger number of fans are furious.  It seems that if you are not a fan of the Yankees then you probably hate them with a violent passion.  ESPN or other sports media does not help matters with constant coverage of the team.  But why do people hate them so much?  Don’t get me wrong I am not a fan of the Yankees, I really don’t like them but I don’t hate them like so many people do.

Is it because they win all the time?  They are one of the most successful professional sports team.  Do people not like them because of their past success?  They don’t seem to hate the Boston Red Sox after they won their 2 World Series.  I wish the teams I follow won championships all the time.

Is it because of their fans?  Yes, Yankee fans are very obnoxious, loud and think all sports should revolve around the Yankees.  Yankee fans aren’t any more annoying then other groups of fans.  I love the Minnesota Vikings and sometimes the inane ramblings of their fans make me want to scream.  Although, that doesn’t make me hate the team.  In the time of sports talk radio and internet message boards there are just more avenues for fans to spout their opinions.  It becomes clear that all fans can get on your nerves.

Lastly, and probably the biggest reason for the hatred, is the amount of money the team spends on players.  For years the Yankees have had a payroll in the $100-$200 million range.  People claim that they don’t win championships, rather they buy them.  Really they are just taking advantage of the flawed system that Major League baseball has set up.  There is no salary cap in place so there is nothing to stop them from spending whatever amount they see fit.  Since they make so much money from their own television network, new stadium and other revenue streams, they are able to out spend other small market teams.  It isn’t fair but I wish my favorite team would spend that kind of money to sign all the good free agents in the off-season.  That’s every fans dream.

I guess I just don’t get the nearly universal hatred of the Yankees.  Again, I am not a fan of the team and don’t even like them but I don’t outright abhor them like so many fans do.  But maybe it’s for the best because any sport does need a villain.  After all, people love to see the bad guys get what’s coming to them.