Reposting from the "Calm Down" thread. Might fit better here. I've gotten an interesting perspective from a Ravens fan I work with. He compares Jets fans with Boston (in particular Red Sawx) fans. Neither fan base can enjoy a winning season because they know that something is going to go wrong. There are phantom "curses" that haunt the fan bases. To boot there is the un-natural fixation on all things Patriot(Yankee). The idea that somehow the Pats(Yankees) have some magical power over the Jets(Sawx) goes well beyond a reasonable rivalry. His observation that anyone, at this point in particular, can think the Jets suck or are a bad team is that those people are delusional. I think, but am not sure, that he doesn't completely understand how much of an insult such a comparison is to a NYer but either way he doesn't care. In his view this SOJ mentality is pure pathology. In a way this outside observation is eye opening, if somewhat shocking to the system.
Your friend fails to understand that the Sox fans' hatred of the Yankees goes back about 80 years, while the Jets fans' hatred of the Pats goes back about 10. I never even really considered them a football team until 2002.
I had considered adding a sentence about that but it certainly seems to apply to the younger Jets fans. I think that part is a minor point in the whole thing but it certainly adds to the effect.
The parallels I see are more of the crashing-*dynasty* sort. The way the Yankees sold out to superstars and lost World Series in heart-wrenching fashion and the way the Pats did the same thing in their Super Bowl bids... it's just too close. I think that's what makes it so sweet. They pissed all over the Yankees for the way they bought (and if you want to go the steroids route, cheated) their way into contention after their late-90s, early 2000s dynasty, and the way the Pats bought - AND CHEATED - their way back into contention after (and somewhat during) their ***dynasty***... Pats/Sox fans will deny any comparison, but that is the juice right there. The GPC is karma for the crowing of the GYC. Period.
