Posts Tagged ‘Yankees’

Now, I have a friend, who will remain unnamed, who cheered for certain sports teams while he grew up. In his thirties, he accepted a job in the New York City area, and, thus, he changed his favorite teams to New York teams. Conveniently, at the same time as the Giants won the Super Bowl, but that’s beside the point.

I, myself, have grown up cheering for every Philadelphia team that there is (yes, even the MISL team, the “Kixx”). I love the Phillies. I love the Eagles. I love the Flyers [the Sixers, I can live without, but I love them too like I love an uncle who I never see and gives large financial contracts to mediocre friends]. You get the point. In Philadelphia (much like other blue-collar cities/towns), you live and die with your teams. I could never, ever, ever think about switching teams, but…

If I were to change the location of my ministry, should I change the teams I cheer for in order to be more missionally minded? Better yet, who would Jesus cheer for in that situation?

For some of you, this is no big deal, but, for me, it is. This may seem like a lame topic, but it’s a serious one for someone who loves his or her team so much. I could never see myself moving to New York and cheering for the Giants, or worse, the Yankees [or even worse, move to Queens and be a…a…a…(gulp)…Mets fan]. But would I be missing out on missional opportunities because I’m unable to relate with New York fans because I insist on being a Philly fan?

I don’t think many people think about this. But maybe being missional, maybe being part of the kingdom of God means changing teams? So, maybe my unnamed friend is right to cheer for the Yankees and Giants (as much as I hate to say it).

What do you think?

[PS- Yankees suck!]

I don’t write about sports too much on this blog, but I do pay close attention to it so maybe I will write more about sports in the future.

So, apparently, the Yankees, after signing CC Sabathia for $161 million and signing AJ Burnett for $82.5 million, are now signing Mark Teixeira paying him $180 million for 8 years. All I have to say is, “Enough is enough.”

Maybe, I understand this a little more now than I did before because I recently lost my job. The Yankees’ administration, in their high spending, is what’s wrong with humanity when it gets loads of cash — we think we can always buy what we want. In their case, it’s a world championship. The economy as it is, and unemployment as it is, the Yankees have the audacity (yes, audacity) to throw this amount of money to baseball player (people who get paid to play a game 12 year-old boys play for fun, mind you).

It’s not just the Yankees. Professional sports just go way to far with this. I don’t claim to know anything about economics, but what about who produce so much more than what they get paid for? Like farmers? What about janitors? Or factory workers? What about inner-city teachers? Or social workers? (Or pastors?) Or my mailman? Or police officers? These people pour their hearts out (many of which simply support multi-million dollar companies somewhere) and get little return for what they produce. I suppose, what I am saying is that our economy needs to be turned on its head, and we need to spread some of the wealth (this isn’t an Obama plug, but, if you want it to be, then, I’m OK with that). I mean, seriously, my junior high janitor cleaned the whole school, and what did he get paid? Minimum wage?

I know I have friends who are fans of the Yankees. My main argument is not against the Yankees (necessarily; If the Phillies did it, it would be a problem, too), but against (a) the continual “fiscal flaunting” of the “haves” when the economy is in shambles and (b) our upside-down economy where the “have-nots” produce way more than what they get paid for.

Dear Yankees, Dear CEOs, Dear America, Dear Obama, Dear President Bush, Dear World, enough is enough.