THERE ARE CERTAIN THINGS YOU DON'T DO!

This week Steve Weatherford, former punter for the New York Giants, stated very firmly that he would never even consider playing for division rival and city neighbor the Philadelphia Eagles.

When I talk with friends and readers about what teams I would root for if the NY Yankees, NY Giants or Notre Dame Fighting Irish were not playing, I have a hard time answering them or even taking them seriously.  I don't like any other teams, really.  And there are other teams I just simply hate or as Jim Carrey said as the Grinch, "Hate, hate, hate...hate, hate, hate, double hate- LOATHE entirely."  

So when guys come from the Boston Red Sox make the choice to join the Bronx Bombers, I wonder how they do it.  I could not just morph into a Red Sox fan if I moved to Boston.  I mean, I lived in Boston for a couple of years as a graduate student at Boston University and it was very clear that I was a Yankee fan.  How did Roger Clemens, Wade Boggs, Tony Pena (as a coach), Don Zimmer (as a coach) and more recently, Jacoby Ellsbury do it?  Did they sell their soul to the devil or maybe they had a come to Jesus moment and realized that they had been misplaced from the start?

There was a lot of banter about where would Tom Coughlin go after he resigned from the New York Giants earlier this month after holding the title of head coach for 12 years.  Weatherford's point was that Coughlin would never go to the Eagles.  They are like poison; they are like us and the Red Sox.

There are just certain things you don't do in life and in sports.  One of these things is go and play for a rival team.  As a reporter for Fox Sports said, "Many teams are hesitant to make trades with their division rivals, not wanting the player they gave up on to come back and haunt them for 19 games per season, or in the case of trading a young prospect, for years into the future. Shipping a player across the country, or even to the other league, minimizes the chances that your home town fans will be regularly reminded that not every trade works out in your favor."

So, your second favorite team, your alternate team, your second best team is really just a contingency plan that you really don't want to ever want to take on ever.  And that fierce competitor, antagonist, enemy, division rival; you never sell out for in sports and in life. There are just certain things you don't do; I guess unless your agent tells you that you have to and the money is greener on the dark side.

--Suzie Pinstripe, BYB Senior Staff Writer
BYB Hot Stove Columnist
Twitter: @suzieprof





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