Sunday, June 2, 2013

Mom and I and the Yankees

There was nothing but mom and I and the TV. Dad had died in 1992. I had gotten to N.Y. to see Gurumayi but beyond that my participation in Siddha Yoga seemed to be tailing off. We had gotten a VCR to watch videotapes of Gurumayi's talks. Then suddenly, I went for cable TV and with that came ESPN. My participation in Yankee games became more than checking the score in the Gainesville Sun. Mom used to pay for me take intensives in Siddha Yoga and those came by satellite so was it any wonder that when the small dish, about the size of a large pet as one of the stars from Murphy Brown put it, was it any wonder that I would want it. It was cheaper than cable, too, for all its networks but this is not an ad for satellite TV. What its about is how I became identified with the N.Y. Yankees. Is there any need to go into it? Mom and I watched, then we got that Xtra Innings thing and we were watching practically every game the Yankees played. Mom convinced me she knew nothing about baseball and was always asking me questions about the game. She made it simple for me and I became a fan of the anything's possible view that held that even if you are down 3 to 6 runs in the 9th, you can still win. I was quite surprised when the Yankees did exactly that. And happy. Mom and I were both happy with the N.Y. Yankees from the years 1994 to 2000. So delightfully happy. But then, after meeting the Mets in 2000, the Yankees stopped being the power they had been. They weren't America's team anymore. Joe Torre wasn't playing that National League ball he had brought to the Yankees originally. Players retired. Well, times do change. I certainly wanted more out of life than watching baseball and do want more but having a Yankee cap these days I feel like I am actually judged for being a Yankee. This isn't N.Y. but I know it could be. I lived there and know how New Yorkers love other teams like the Dodgers, the Giants and of course now, the Mets. It is deja vu. Not all over again because it was not deja vu in the 1960's when I met all the Yankee hatred. Not just Yankee hatred but baseball hatred. People hated baseball. Give them football and beyond that, give them soccer and lacrosse.
So, to make a long story short, it's just a feeling. It's a prejudice I think. A prejudice that America has for all things American. Baba, Gurumayi and all that, nothing, it's your sports identity that matters. Or maybe your politics and always of course you sexual identification. Are you Gay?
 

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