From: Kramer, Chuck
Sent: Wednesday, April 20, 2005 1:48 PM
To: webmaster@blohards.com
Subject: out-of-towner

To Whom It May Concern:

What an enjoyable experience it has been perusing your website and reading not only all things Red Sox, but all things anti-Yankee! I live in Charleston, SC, and have not lived north of Washington DC (short of a few brief stints in Newport RI) my entire life. More due to geography than interest, I can only imagine your passion for the Bosox while not necessarily experiencing it.

I did get to Beantown in 1977; as a twelve year old I got to go to my first live baseball game ever, and at Fenway no less! A 5-2 loss to the Orioles did not dampen my spirits. We also went to the Big Apple that same trip; nobody showed interest in taking in a Yanks game.

The worst moment of my sports life was Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. I was in college and watched the game with Mets fans, who are like Yankees fans but obnoxious. I am not kidding. The 1999 ALCS rekindled a strong interest in the Sox after the 1994 strike sullied my interest in the game in general. 2003 ALCS: I watched Game 7 in a hotel bar in San Francisco with a couple my age who lived and breathed Red Sox. So much fun and revelry until the 8th inning. When Posada tied it up we all left; the outcome was obvious. Of course, 2004 cleaned the slates.

I cannot pretend to be the fans y’all are; I love the Sox but not like a Bostonian. Much like how the Civil War is still being fought in this town, although much of the rest of the country got the news that it ended 140 years ago. You can’t explain it: you have to experience it to understand. (For that contest, it was the only time I rooted for the Yankees, but that’s another story.) About my closest affiliation with y’all is that Charleston is home of the Yankees Class A affiliate (which I find somewhat ironic). But I will continue to admire your devotion, humor and wit through your website for the duration.

I know, I know, pretty dull stuff, but I had to tell somebody; it might as well have been a member of the Nation.


Thanks,
Chuck