Opening Day, 2008
First off, I wasn’t there, so what I’m about to say is based only on second-hand experience – TV news reports, stories in the newspapers, etc. But unless I miss my guess, today’s 2008 home opener set a record for heart-expanding joyfulness when the first pitch to start the game was thrown out by none other than… But first, let me set the stage.
In the off-season following last year’s Series Victory, I (and other Sox observers) had become a little concerned about the behavior of Sox fans. Apparently we’d become more aggressive in our celebrations than fans from other cities, and we were starting to rub folks the wrong way in other towns throughout the league. We crow about our two recent championships, about our team’s apparel being the #1 seller, about the start of our very own dynasty. In other words, we’re not being very gracious winners.
The emotion behind this self-satisfaction isn’t hard to fathom – we’d been down so long, and down-trodden by others for so many years, that we felt a strong urge to tread down on someone else. It was the whole pecking order thing, with the abused now becoming the abuser. And that behavior bothered me, not only because of my British roots (well, not really roots, but having a British wife has exposed me to good sportsmanship and respect for the game in a way that Americans don’t really get), but also because it went against the core message of “Joy of Sox”.
What our scientists have shown is that a more powerful energy field is generated by harmonious emotions of appreciation and joy than by discordant ones like anger and revenge. So if we Sox fans want to do well by our team and serve them up with a more potent force field, we should be showing more of those higher level emotions – our cheer should be “Sox rock!”, rather than “Yankees suck!”. OK, fair enough, but what does this have to do with opening day today.
Turns out that the inspired choice for throwing out today’s first pitch was Bill Buckner, a Hall of Fame player whose stellar career was marred by one play – he let a groundball get through his legs in the 1986 World Series, allowing the NY Mets beat the Sox when the Sox were one pitch away from winning the whole thing. He was such a convenient lightning rod for fans’ frustrations that he was literally run out of town. He moved to Idaho to escape from the constant media references to that one play, and had not made a public appearance in Boston for 18 years. However, today the fans had a chance to shower him with acceptance, forgiveness, love, gratitude – all those warm fuzzies dissolved old enmities and frustrations, and would have sent my RNG computer into the stratosphere if I had only been able to go to the game.
To see a video clip of his prolonged standing ovation, go to: www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/09/bill-buckners-fenway-park_n_95844.html
One TV network’s post-game poll of 500 fans showed that 82% had forgiven Buckner; his news interview made it clear that his beef was not with the fans but with the Boston media, a notoriously vindictive lot. I haven’t seen the results of the media’s forgiveness poll yet (and I’m not holding my breath!). So here’s my prediction – the last remaining ghost of negativity has been exorcised, and the Sox fans are ready to generate an unprecedented wave of positive emotions that will life the team to yet another successful year.
But the real test of our emotional maturity will come next week, against the Yankees – it’s not as important that the Sox win as whether the fans let the inevitable “Yankees suck” chants die out quickly, or whether they get all their emotional juice from razzing an adversary who’s having a down year. Are we bullies, or winners with class? We’ll soon find out.
In the off-season following last year’s Series Victory, I (and other Sox observers) had become a little concerned about the behavior of Sox fans. Apparently we’d become more aggressive in our celebrations than fans from other cities, and we were starting to rub folks the wrong way in other towns throughout the league. We crow about our two recent championships, about our team’s apparel being the #1 seller, about the start of our very own dynasty. In other words, we’re not being very gracious winners.
The emotion behind this self-satisfaction isn’t hard to fathom – we’d been down so long, and down-trodden by others for so many years, that we felt a strong urge to tread down on someone else. It was the whole pecking order thing, with the abused now becoming the abuser. And that behavior bothered me, not only because of my British roots (well, not really roots, but having a British wife has exposed me to good sportsmanship and respect for the game in a way that Americans don’t really get), but also because it went against the core message of “Joy of Sox”.
What our scientists have shown is that a more powerful energy field is generated by harmonious emotions of appreciation and joy than by discordant ones like anger and revenge. So if we Sox fans want to do well by our team and serve them up with a more potent force field, we should be showing more of those higher level emotions – our cheer should be “Sox rock!”, rather than “Yankees suck!”. OK, fair enough, but what does this have to do with opening day today.
Turns out that the inspired choice for throwing out today’s first pitch was Bill Buckner, a Hall of Fame player whose stellar career was marred by one play – he let a groundball get through his legs in the 1986 World Series, allowing the NY Mets beat the Sox when the Sox were one pitch away from winning the whole thing. He was such a convenient lightning rod for fans’ frustrations that he was literally run out of town. He moved to Idaho to escape from the constant media references to that one play, and had not made a public appearance in Boston for 18 years. However, today the fans had a chance to shower him with acceptance, forgiveness, love, gratitude – all those warm fuzzies dissolved old enmities and frustrations, and would have sent my RNG computer into the stratosphere if I had only been able to go to the game.
To see a video clip of his prolonged standing ovation, go to: www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/09/bill-buckners-fenway-park_n_95844.html
One TV network’s post-game poll of 500 fans showed that 82% had forgiven Buckner; his news interview made it clear that his beef was not with the fans but with the Boston media, a notoriously vindictive lot. I haven’t seen the results of the media’s forgiveness poll yet (and I’m not holding my breath!). So here’s my prediction – the last remaining ghost of negativity has been exorcised, and the Sox fans are ready to generate an unprecedented wave of positive emotions that will life the team to yet another successful year.
But the real test of our emotional maturity will come next week, against the Yankees – it’s not as important that the Sox win as whether the fans let the inevitable “Yankees suck” chants die out quickly, or whether they get all their emotional juice from razzing an adversary who’s having a down year. Are we bullies, or winners with class? We’ll soon find out.
posted by Rick Leskowitz,MD at 4:09 PM
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