The Yankees and Red Sox Rivalry In Connecticut

Despite being born in New jersey I have lived in Connecticut since I was five and I hope to live here once I finish my graduate degree. Living in Connecticut I have learned several things, people from outside the northeast think everyone from New England speaks with a Boston accent and people seem to think that everybody from New England supports only Boston sports teams, despite Connecticut also being part of Metropolitian New York (ok so only really fairfield county is). Connecticut is a lot more in the middle than people seem to think, which is odd seeing how we are the state that everybody drives through to get from Boston to New York or vica versa. Connecticut even perplexes our fellow New Englander's, almost my entire family now lives in New England and they support all the Boston sports teams and have often asked my brother and I why we like the Yankees. The answer is not a simple one as I have no idea what made me be a Yankees fan, but my brother insists that its because he supported the Yankees and that's why I did. The answer is actually a lot simpler than even I thought, when you grow up in Connecticut the rivalry gets really intense so much so that you essentially have to take a side which is especially true when your a kid and when I was in middle school the 2003 and 2004 ALCS's occurred. For the most part it was a friendly rivalry with a lot of smack talk but I believe there may have been a fight or two. I really followed Hockey and Football a lot more than baseball at that point but I did have a Hideki Matsui jersey but you really start to become a lot more attached to a team when people are smack talking that much. And lets be clear I'm talking about Nutmeger  Connecticut not fairfield county which is more New York than Connecticut. Every bar in Connecticut has to cater to all fans because even the bar owner may have divided loyalty, there's one bar here that has Red Sox and Jets stuff on the walls with a Patriots light on the window and Yankees tall glasses. Its impossible to find a bar that doesn't try and cater to everybody and the only pure Yankees place I know of near where I live is my barber. Its something that really bugs me when people like Joe Buck think that Boston represents all of New England, its the BOSTON Red Sox. It probably wouldn't annoy me if I didn't live in New England but there is a reason that a direct line runs from New Haven to Yankee stadium. The oddity of Connecticut will continue to be something that only we who cannot buy alcohol after 8pm or Sundays will understand, as I am just as much of a divided loyalty Nutmeger who is both a Die Hard Yankees Fan and Die Hard New England Patriots Fan. The Hartford Courant wrote a piece about a poll about the rivalry which you can check out here. They are right the rivalry is probably more intense here than anywhere else, there was a stabbing last year.