2008 Woodie Awards
Red Sox victory should be about celebration - not sexual exploitation
Derek McKinley
Issue date: 11/8/07 Section: Maine Sports
The Boston Red Sox's World Series victory is irrelevant at this point. It has been celebrated and forgotten; replaced with the New England Patriots rolling through the middle of the NFL season and the reinvigorated Celtics getting off to a good start in the NBA. Nevertheless, I'd like to revisit the night the Red Sox won, a night that lives in infamy as far as I'm concerned, and discuss something more pressing than baseball. The Red Sox were merely the catalyst for more serious events.
I've never witnessed a celebration on that scale before. I wasn't here in 1993 or 1999 when the University of Maine raised NCAA Hockey trophies. I wasn't here in 2004 when the Red Sox won their first World Series since 1918. When I got the chance to see the kind of celebration that people alluded to, I went along. I was particularly unenthusiastic about the Red Sox winning, and more depressed by the announced departure of Alex Rodriguez. I put negativity aside hoping that a night of celebration, even for reasons I didn't agree with, would be something fun to say I'd done.
Hundreds of students poured out of the Union and surrounding dorms to celebrate the victory with a bonfire. It seemed appropriate to celebrate something that so many UMaine students were passionate about, but it became apparent to me rather quickly that the celebration was not about the Red Sox World Series victory at all. I'm not saying it didn't start out that way. At first people were elated that the Red Sox had climbed to the top of the mountain for the second time in four years, but I watched the celebration devolve into a pathetic exhibition of sexual desperation. It saddened me to witness the behavior people find acceptable in the context of "celebrating a victory."
Having never participated in a celebration of such magnitude, I went in expecting little. I expected chants of "Papelbon! Papelbon!" and the ever-irritating "Yooooooukkk," but even those were just preludes to louder and more confusing chants of "Yankees suck! Yankees suck!" Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Colorado where the Rockies play?
I've never witnessed a celebration on that scale before. I wasn't here in 1993 or 1999 when the University of Maine raised NCAA Hockey trophies. I wasn't here in 2004 when the Red Sox won their first World Series since 1918. When I got the chance to see the kind of celebration that people alluded to, I went along. I was particularly unenthusiastic about the Red Sox winning, and more depressed by the announced departure of Alex Rodriguez. I put negativity aside hoping that a night of celebration, even for reasons I didn't agree with, would be something fun to say I'd done.
Hundreds of students poured out of the Union and surrounding dorms to celebrate the victory with a bonfire. It seemed appropriate to celebrate something that so many UMaine students were passionate about, but it became apparent to me rather quickly that the celebration was not about the Red Sox World Series victory at all. I'm not saying it didn't start out that way. At first people were elated that the Red Sox had climbed to the top of the mountain for the second time in four years, but I watched the celebration devolve into a pathetic exhibition of sexual desperation. It saddened me to witness the behavior people find acceptable in the context of "celebrating a victory."
Having never participated in a celebration of such magnitude, I went in expecting little. I expected chants of "Papelbon! Papelbon!" and the ever-irritating "Yooooooukkk," but even those were just preludes to louder and more confusing chants of "Yankees suck! Yankees suck!" Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Colorado where the Rockies play?
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 4
james nasium
posted 11/09/07 @ 10:02 AM EST
I agree that too many victory celebrations for sports teams digress into excuses for many types of unacceptable behavior. The joy exhibited by the actual game participants is not always transferred over to the celebratory crowd. (Continued…)
John Sawyer
posted 11/11/07 @ 11:47 AM EST
Typical Yankees fan. go back to New York.
Jeff Black
Jeff Black
posted 11/24/07 @ 2:50 PM EST
Yankees suck, go mets.
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