Has Success Spoiled the Red Sox Fans???

There is no question that Yankee fans have a history of obnoxious arrogance. Some would say that the team's historical sucesses have spawned this reality. Also historically, the Red Sox and the Cubs, as well as their fans, have been deemed "lovable" by many. Having been verbally abused for being a Yankee fan by many a Red Sox fanatic, I have always felt that Boston fans are among the worst on the planet - Bill Russell is among the many who agree. However, sports pundits have acclaimed the Boston sports fan as among the best. Similar to WMD in Iraq or that Iraq was involved in the World Trade Center attacks or that W has been over-mis-underestimated by the left-wing media (short of The Nation and Mother Jones...Oh, they mean Rupert Murdoch, I guess), repeat these calumnies, canards and lies often enough and the muddled masses say it must be so! Sorry, brethren, but it ain't so! An example follows as written in the Boston Globe about a Cape Cod "Fanatic."


By Maddie Hanna
Globe Correspondent / July 8, 2008

A Falmouth man accused of using a bat to beat a man he allegedly thought was a New York Yankees fan pleaded not guilty at his arraignment yesterday in Falmouth District Court.

Robert D. Correia, who faces charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and malicious destruction of a motor vehicle, was ordered held without bail, pending a dangerousness hearing scheduled for tomorrow.

On Friday, police said, the 20-year-old attacked a New York man, who police said was driving away from a Fourth of July fireworks display in Falmouth. When police arrived about 10 p.m., the fight had died down, Falmouth Police Chief Anthony Riello said yesterday. The initial investigation found that a group of young people from Falmouth had accused the man and his family of being Yankees fans because their car had New York plates, Riello said.

A Nashua man died in May after he was run over by a vehicle driven by a Nashua woman in what was called another fan dispute turned violent. Ivonne Hernandez, 43, was charged with reckless conduct, aggravated drunken driving, and second-degree murder. Police said she slammed into Matthew Beaudoin, 29, near a bar.

When the situation escalated Friday, police said, Correia hit the man with a bat. The man suffered injuries to his head and body. He was released from Falmouth Hospital, Riello said.

Riello said he did not know how many people were involved in the fight. He also did not know whether family members or bystanders had reported the Yankees taunts.

Robert Nolan, a Falmouth lawyer who represents Correia, said his client had been in his apartment nearby when the argument began. He grabbed a bat and went outside in an attempt to break it up, Nolan said. He dismissed the idea that Correia had swung at the man out of team rivalry.

"There's an awful lot of talk about this guy was attacked because he was a Yankees fan," Nolan said. Correia "never heard a word about Red Sox, Yankees, New York, anything like that."

Local authorities have withheld the name of the alleged victim. The New York Post has identified him as William Nestor, 29, of Northport, N.Y. The newspaper also reported that Nestor was in his car with his wife and parents when a group of rowdy young people approached.

"They were yelling, 'Yankees! Yankees!' " Nestor told the Post.

Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe said what started the argument was "largely irrelevant." Still, he said it was appalling that violence would enter an argument about baseball.

"I think that the idea of introducing a baseball bat into a verbal argument that people are having over whether or not somebody likes one sports team versus another sports team is absurd," O'Keefe said.

Nestor could not be reached.

Riello said police would issue a warrant today for another Falmouth man suspected of being involved in the altercation. The man, who allegedly threw himself into and damaged the New York family's car, will probably be charged with malicious destruction to a motor vehicle, Riello said.

Maddie Hanna can be reached at mhanna@globe.com.
© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company.