Joey's World Series Crisis

My buddy Joe is a Yankees fan. He always has been. He had the posters and pennants on his bedroom wall growing up. His Dad was a Yankees fan. This fan loyalty thing is mostly hereditary so I've never held it against him. Joe went to Penn and has lived in Philly ever since. He's a sports fan so he couldn't help but follow the Phillies. Through all the crappy teams of the last 15 years. Then something happened in recent years. The Phils put together a very good and likable team... even won a World Series.

In recent years I've seen a couple games with Joe. I got my first foul ball with Joe. We won a game used baseball bat by Shane Victorino in a raffle last year. And by we I mean Joe. I was one number off. Joe's kids are growing up Phillies fans. The Phillie Phanatic showed up at his sons 5th birthday. I posted that on my Studio blog. With his Yankee upbringing he's been both positive and encouraging in regard to the Phillies success.

Joe had a conversation with his five year old, Nicholas, about team loyalty on the day of the Phanatic appearance. Nicholas asked his Dad if he was a Phillies fan. Joe said "yes, of course." Nicholas asked, "Well, what about the Yankees?" Joe explained as best he could that Daddy liked both teams, different leagues, etc. Nicholas told his Dad that he just likes the Phillies and asked if it was okay that he just had one favorite team. Joe assured him that that was just fine.

Now I haven't spoken to Joe today about the Phillies/Yankees match-up, but he did mention a couple weeks ago that he was a little concerned. He didn't know what he'd do. It's easy enough to root for two teams through the season when they are in different leagues. I don't watch the American League much. It may as well be hockey through most of the summer. I start watching around playoff time. Joe's got a decision to make and I don't think it's going to be something he consciously decides. It will happen all by itself. When the bases are loaded and the team is down a run with two outs, Joe will be rooting for a team. There's no fence-walking in World Series baseball. Hopefully if he's really stuck, he'll ask his five year old.