Good Versus Evil
The upcoming American League playoffs represent as clear a case of good against evil as we generally get. On the side of good, there are the Cleveland Indians. On the side of evil, there are the New York Yankees (whom the Indians will play in the first playoff series), the Boston Red Sox, and the Los Angeles Angels. In fact, the Indians might be seen as the paleoconservatives of the postseason, with the other teams akin to the neocons or the left.
First of all, like The Rockford Institute, the Indians are thrifty, stretching the dollar far more than the other teams they will or might face. The Indians total payroll is $61,289,667, the seventh lowest in the majors. Since the Indians (along with the Red Sox) lead the American League with 96 wins, that means the Indians have spent $638,434 per win. By contrast, the Yankees' bloated payroll of $195,229,045 means that they have paid $2,079,905 per win, the Red Sox $143,123,714 payroll translates into $1,490,872 per win, and the Angels $109,251,333 payroll translates into $1,162,248 per win. The three highest paid Yankees make $72,737,096 per year, more than all the Indians put together, and the top four Red Sox make roughly what all the Indians do. In fact, the Indians' Fausto Carmona, who is second in the American League with 19 wins and a 3.06 ERA, makes a comparatively modest $387,000 per year. Unsurprisingly, the Indians roster is devoid of prima donnas or jerks.
Second, the Indians are, like The Rockford Institute, firmly entrenched in the heartland. By contrast, the Yankees hail from the home of the UN and Rudy Giuliani, the Red Sox from the land of Harvard and the Kennedys, and the Angels from the depraved precincts of Hollywood and the entertainment industry.
Third, the Indians, like all paleoconservatives, annoy the media. You can bet the TV commentators and executives will be rooting for the big market teams to win the American League, not the Tribe. Indeed, if you go to many sports websites, or even political ones like NRO, you get the impression that baseball begins and ends in New York and Boston. Certainly, baseball chatter at NRO is devoted almost exclusively to the Yankees and Red Sox, with an occasional mention of the Mets.
Finally, there's the matter of tradition. Paleoconservatives believe in tradition, and so do the Indians. The Indians rely far more on their farm system and less on pricey, arrogant free agents, as good baseball teams used to do. And they have clung to their politically incorrect nickname and mascot, despite the pressure of leftist agitators who ludicrously described Chief Wahoo, in the Michigan Daily during my law-school days, as a "snarling Native American head." So put on your Chief Wahoo cap and root for Middle America's team in October!
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Bring on the Red Sox!
An added benefit to the Indians winning tonight was that the darling of the neocons, thepro-abortion, pro-gay rights adulterer and former mayor of a sanctuary city, Rudy Giuliani, was in attendance. He did leave his dress and makeup behind for this public appearance. Maybe he was sharing those with another Yankees fan, Hillary Clinton, whose enthusiasm for the Yankees is as sincere as every other aspect of her public persona.
Tom,
You are correct, but you forgot: pro-"Sanctuary City", pro-illegal immigration, pro-leviathan, anti-2nd amendment, etc...
@CanadianObserver (#41)
Yes, I think I've already got the meaning of your "foreign elements"-reference (as little as I'm informed on baseball, I know it's pretty big in several countries of Central and South America). I've just took it as an illustration of your, somehow inadequate, use of that (Anglo-Celt/Saxon) part. My point was that the national term "American" is hardly synonymous with such an - purely ethnic - identity as Anglo-Saxon/Celtic. Thus my mentioning of DiMaggio and Gretzky (who is Canadian, all right, but you get the point). And I could have gone on and on with famous American/Canadian athletes of different (Italian, African, Serbian... just name it) heritages. That's all I was trying to say.
Of course, if you honestly believe that all your countrymen of non-Anglo-Saxon (/Celtic, right) descents should be paying daily acts of obligatory genuflection to their "Anglo hosts", that's between you and them. Though, I doubt that you'll be in agreement with many of your fellow Canadians, no matter what color, creed or ethnicity they belong to. Your group arrived there a bit earlier than some other groups did (the same goes for the French portion of Canada), but with just enough time to shape the countries in its own fashion (language, legal system, culture...), which the following waves of the newcomers, as far as I know, willingly embraced as a key part of their new identity. Which is all fine, and is a fact which I don't think anyone could seriously question. On the other hand, you're not some landlord in medieval England, who can afford treating his (non-Anglo) countrymen like some serfs who must express their lifelong gratitude to his hospitality and kindness. They've chosen to live in America/Canada, they pledge their national and political loyalty to these countries, not to their former homelands (or the ones of their forefathers). They pay their taxes, die in the wars their countries wage... Like it or not, they're not some delinquent trespassers in your backyard. They are compatriots of yours, who share the common identity, but have the rights of preserving their own cultural traditions (for themselves, of course) as long as they like. But, since I'm not an American/Canadian (nor I plan to become one, fear not
), I would prefer not to discuss this subject any further. Neither I would have brought it up in the first place.
As for the sports, I wholeheartedly share the notion that they represent a part of modern identity of any nation and any culture. Which makes the state of overwhelming dislike of football (soccer) in North America perfectly understandable (believe me,some sudden impact of American football's popularity in any European country would cause the same kind of reactions as the most
) . On the other hand, the thing with sports is not in preservation but in competition. The more "global" it gets, the more successful it feels. We could like it or not (for the record, I'm not too keen on globalization either), but it does not change that fact. For example, we all profited from global spreading of, say, martial arts, don't you agree? Of course, the rest of the world can always say "take your aikido home, you Japs, we wanna preserve our traditional art of good ol' fist-fighting in a crowded bar" 
, but the whole culture of the Far Eastern martial arts had had a considerable impact to the very concept of self-defense. We cannot just pretend it didn't happen.
comments on this forum, only vice versa
Again, Mr. Piatak, my apologies on the off-topic. I've just seen the CanadianObserver's comments on my previous post, and wanted to explain some of my views. That's all, as far as I'm concerned.
"Bring on the Red Sox!" You got 'em!
All true paleos should love the Red Sox for it is they who have buried an Empire and relegated the Yankees to just another bad memory of the 20th Century.
Red Sox Nation salutes the valiant Indians and wishes them well as they build for the future. This experience will prove helpful the next time around. You have the consolation of knowing Navajo, Jacoby Ellsbury will continue to make Native Americans proud in the World Series.
Fenway. October. Glorious.
I watched sadly, Tom, as the silliest closer I have ever seen shut down the midwest. Ferocious pitchers have been in Cardinal, Yankee, Oakland and other uniforms, but Mr. Papelbon, trying to look mean, seemed more like one of the late Jim Henson's Muppets. I will still cheer for the Bostons; Mr. Becket is the best pitcher around this year, Fenway is Fenway, and Big Poppy is a gracious man.
> on 02 Oct 2007 at 3:54 pm2robert reavis
Give’em hell Tom !! Money can’t buy’em love. Another thing I admire about them Indians is that Stan Waite and his folks fought right along side General Sterling Price and Rooster Cogburn over here in the hills of Pea Ridge Arkansas a long long time ago when them damn Yankees was snoopen around way back then. Go Indians whip them Yankees agin. rr
The correct spelling of Stan Waite's name is Stand Watie.