East vs. West Coast: a whole different ballgame

Growing up in Los Angeles, I was surrounded by a laid-back,
easygoing culture. Going to Dodger games all my life, fans would
lounge about in their seats, sitting passively on their hands in
75-degree weather as Hall of Fame announcer Vin Scully would
quasi-creepily obsess over all the little children in the
crowd.

The easygoing atmosphere was unavoidable, and I couldn’t
help but be a part of it. Sure, the organ that played the Mexican
Hat Dance was kind of ridiculous and had no place in sports, but it
was part of the atmosphere.

But since my parents moved to New York when I started school,
I’ve had a chance to be immersed in a whole new sports
culture.

Sitting in the upper reaches of the Meadowlands for a New York
Jets football game against the Patriots in 17-degree weather, it
was a whole different atmosphere. It was the type of cold where
your eyeballs are the only visible part of your body sticking out
from under countless layers; a far cry from the laid-back, sunny
November afternoons at the Rose Bowl.

The harsh nature of the weather was reflected in the
crowd’s demeanor. In the bathroom, a Patriots fan, trying his
best to get on with his life, was being verbally lynched by Jets
fans. I couldn’t have enjoyed it more. I almost forgot we
were losing 13-0.

Fans back East are just flat-out ruthless. They don’t
hesitate to vent their frustrations toward even their own players,
especially recently signed free agents who aren’t performing.
Even Mariano Rivera, a Yankee legend, was jeered off the field
after his blown save on Wednesday against the Red Sox.

The local media reflects the public’s attitude. New
Yorkers get their sports fix from tabloid-esque papers like The New
York Daily News and The New York Post, which have gigantic
headlines that scream such gems out to its readers such as
“Who’s Your Daddy?” after Pedro Martinez admitted
his inability to beat the Yankees. Considering how unforgiving
Yankee fans are, it’s no surprise that such papers are so
popular. On a national level, those on the West Coast are
constantly reminded of an “East Coast bias.” Not only
are there about 48 different TV specials on the Red Sox
“curse” (and the subsequent ending of the
“curse,” all of which seem to include Denis Leary), but
the national media constantly hypes up East Coast rivalries more so
than out here.

It’s no surprise that Charlie Steiner, a former
Yankees’ broadcaster who now works for the Dodgers, said that
the Dodgers-Giants rivalry is laid-back in comparison to the New
York-Boston rivalry.

The fans’ approach to sports makes it a world apart on the
East Coast. Those who live in New England or New York are largely
natives of the area. Conversely, the West Coast struggles to gain
such an atmosphere of cohesiveness, since it is filled with
transplants from all over the country.

But does it really matter that West Coast sports don’t
garner as much priority in the national media? Or that the sports
culture out here isn’t quite as passionately engaged as it is
in the east? After all, aren’t we too relaxed to care?

“I think we should be less laid-back about sports,”
second-year student and Southern Californian John Murray said.
“If we take the lead, the media will follow.”

But getting the masses to mobilize is nearly impossible. There
will always be the die-hard fans out west, but it just does not
occur in a consistent and cohesive manner. Yet fans, no matter how
committed, at least show up: The Dodgers, Angels and Giants were
all in the top five in average attendance last year.

These numbers always seem to be diluted by the fickle,
late-arriving and early-departing fans, who give the rest of the
fans a bad name. In any case, the sports culture isn’t the
hallmark of an area. Ultimately, winning championships is what
really matters most. So for the time being, Southern California
residents have a lot of waiting to do.

E-mail Brown at [email protected].