'Ring' up another chapter in epic rivalry
Monday, April 11, 2005

By YUNG KIM
STAFF WRITER

Don't expect tears from Yankees fans when the Red Sox get their World Series rings before today's game at Fenway Park against the Bronx Bombers.

Mike Zelinski of Paramus and Jason Blancato of Saddle Brook will shrug off the historic event with a confidence nurtured by 26 World Series championships.

"I'm not concerned," Zelinski said. "We'll see that again in, what, 2090?"

"It is the greatest rivalry in sports," Blancato said. "They have the rings now, but they won't have it again."

It's another year, but the insults and the T-shirts describing how the Yankees and Red Sox emulate vacuum cleaners are still flying.

Last year saw a historic collapse (not the first) and a brawl (probably not the last). In the end, the long-tormented "Sawx" and their fans were the ones dancing in Yankee Stadium after coming back from a 3-0 deficit in the seven-game League Championship Series.

Then there was the World Series victory.

After the Red Sox pulled off one of the greatest comebacks in sports history - or the Yankees collapsed in one of the greatest chokes, depending on your perspective - the Sox swept the St. Louis Cardinals for their first World Series title in 86 years.

The championship has only fueled the rivalry.

Three generations of Calhouns strutted into Yankee Stadium last week, proudly wearing pristine white Red Sox jerseys and carrying their chins a little higher.

"Before, we would just walk in and get our seats as quick as we could," said Bill Calhoun of New Hampshire, whose 6-year-old son, Jed, wore Red Sox gear of his own.

Levi Hubbard, 11, Jed's buddy, attended the game with the Calhouns, but wore Yankees paraphernalia, which was fine with them.

"I think [the World Series win] fired up the Yankee fans a little," said Dave Calhoun, Bill's father. "Gave them a taste of what the Sox felt."

Of course, empathy wasn't in the lineup for the season-opening Yankees-Red Sox series in the Bronx.

William Rowell of New Hampshire got kicked out of Wednesday's game. He held up a sign directed at Yankees slugger Jason Giambi that depicted an arm and a syringe. Giambi, according to published reports, testified before a grand jury that he took steroids.

"When they go to Boston, the sign will be back, and I won't get kicked out," Rowell said. "If it wasn't for the Yankees, who would we have fun with?"

Richard Lustberg, a licensed psychologist and radio show host, said he detected an inferiority complex among Red Sox Nation and arrogance on the part of Yankee fans.

The World Series has only intensified the rivalry.

"Hate has a way of making people feel alive," Lustberg said. "Hanging onto a grudge for a long time gives people a feeling of being pumped up and energized beyond a humdrum day. ... I see it in my office all the time."

Most fans are not crazy. Fandom simply provides them with a sense of belonging, Lustberg said.

"In life, how often do we run into 53,000 people with a common purpose?" he asked. "It's nice to be around people that see the world the same way. People in the same city can't agree on who should be mayor or what to name a street, but sports is a great uniter."

Psychology aside, two teachers at the Merriam School in Acton, Mass., have become concerned about how the fanaticism was affecting their students.

Ed Kaufman, a Yankees fan, actually had one of his fifth-grade students not talk to him for two weeks because the student found out that Kaufman's favorite team wears pinstripes.

Sixth-grade teacher Mary Ann Brandt, a lifelong Sox fan, noticed the animosity. So she shook hands with Kaufman before a school meeting to teach the students a lesson in sportsmanship.

The gesture and the discussion that followed spawned the "Handshake Project," an effort to persuade the rivals to greet each other civilly on the field.

"The suggestion has been made that we are trying to take the passion out of the fans, but that's far from the truth," Kaufman said. "We believe the teams can play with a tremendous amount of passion without going into the area of violence."

The kids drew posters, sent letters and even put together a Power Point presentation. The package was sent to officials on both sides, as well as to baseball Commissioner Bud Selig.

Red Sox Manager Terry Francona called Brandt's classroom to applaud the effort, and Selig sent a letter on Major League Baseball stationery, saying he would bring up the idea at the next league meeting.

"Kids got the sense that they can make a difference, create a dialogue," Brandt said. "We, as teachers, are always stressing that a sense of respect doesn't mean in any way that they don't want their own team to win."

But don't expect to see the players hugging anytime soon.

As for the fans ...

Sox fan Doug Izzarelli of Norwich, Conn., saw a couple of fights in the stands at Wednesday's game in the Bronx, but brushed aside the fisticuffs like spilled popcorn.

"They can't stand it, because they lost last year," Izzarelli said. "I don't care if the Red Sox won last year, I still want to annihilate the Yankees every time."

He got his wish when longtime Yankees closer Mariano Rivera gave up the winning runs in the ninth inning.

While the Yankees won the first two games of this season's opening series, the dramatic ending left many fans with a sense of déjà vu.

Sox fans spotted each other as they streamed out of the stadium and exchanged high-fives with complete strangers as they chanted into the parking lot, even on the highways.

Danny Falzone of Manhattan never saw the decisive ninth inning. He hit the showers early for "razzing a Sox fan."

"I can't say what I said in a family newspaper," Falzone conceded. "We're not bitter. We're just angry and hostile."

E-mail: kimy@northjersey.com