Connecticut--The One Of A Kind Red Sox-Yankee Battle State

Having lived in north central Connecticut for my entire life, I am well aware of the divided baseball loyalties of the state's residents. Walk the streets of downtown Hartford and you'll see people wearing Yankee apparel striding side by side with fans proudly wearing the Red Sox colors. And there's no mistaking the difference. But recently, the tide had begun to turn. This is from the Monday Boston Herald business section, for your enjoyment...

"The number of Connecticut fans pledging allegiance to the Sox has risen to 37 percent from just 33 percent back in 2003. Conversely, the percentage of fans favoring the Yankees has dropped from 47 percent to 43 percent, polls conducted by Quinnipiac University show.
And those numbers include heavily populated Fairfield County near New York City, where a quarter of Connecticut’s population lives. That county is true Yankee country, with the Sox barred by Major League Baseball from marketing there.
Take out Fairfield, and the ratio of Red Sox fans to Yankees fans might even be roughly equal in the rest of the state."

Peter here, and that's right. Except for Fairfield county, which comprises the southwest part of the state and is sometimes considered by many a distant suburb of New York City, it's about dead even. The cable companies in that part of the state aren't even allowed to carry NESN, the Sox television network! Put it this way, I'll NEVER move there! Jere, author of the great blog A RED SOX FAN IN PINSTRIPE TERRITORY, and Reb, who used to write another great blog called REB'S SOX, have written extensively about that NESN blackout. Their blogs, one active and one more on the sporadic side, are listed on my link list. In no other state will you find such a deep chasm of divided loyalties. I'm a proud member of Red Sox Nation, yet the next door neighbors on both sides of my place are tried and true pinstripe fans. It takes some getting used to, but I've had years and years to do just that. And I wouldn't have it any other way. Here in Hartford, we're waiting for the inevitable appearance of yet another World championship trophy, with Larry Lucchino firmly in tow. That will be a treat....the trophy, I mean, not the Larry appearance. But he means well as he travels with the trophy and a few players to many parts of Red Sox Nation and Red Sox International, and I'm sure come next March the trophy will be held proudly high when the Sox invade Tokyo and their very loving Sox fans.

Click on the title of this post for the entire Boston Herald Connecticut/NY article, and enjoy your Monday. I'll be patiently waiting for the 10AM EST Ticketmaster site's release of the Springsteen tickets for Hartford, a concert sure to sell out it's 17,000 seats in about 9 minutes! Again. There is no better band in the world. I couldn't be happier. Be well.