Who is worse?

Yankee fans or Red Sox fans?

The Red Sox-Yankees matchups this year have been truly bizarre. The Sox won the first eight, sweeping the Yankees twice at Fenway and once in the Bronx. Then came the August bashing in New York, where the Yankees took four straight.

Think about for a second. A game at Fenway where New York was leading 6-0 and Boston winds up winning, 16-11. Another where the Yankees are leading with two outs in the 9th and Jason Bay ties it with a homer, then Youk hits a walkoff in the 11th. In New York two aces faced each other and gave up no runs. The game got to the 15th inning tied at 0-0. A couple of weeks later the Yankees pound the Red Sox, 20-11 at Fenway, only to get a return pounding the next day by the Red Sox, 14-1.

So which team has the worst fans? Meaning most obnoxious. Almost anyone in Boston will say that Yankee fans are more obnoxious. Any Yankee fan you may know will argue that Boston fans are much worse.

So where does the truth lie? I use three measures to determine the OF (obnoxious factor) of fans of either team. 1) How do you behave when you're a visitor in the other team's ballaprk? 2) How do you treat fans of the other team when they visit your ballpark? 3) How generally obnoxious are you when there's a discussion - wherever it may be...party, bar, whatever - of your team versus the other one?

A couple of weeks ago I went to the new Yankee Stadium with my two daughters. When I got back to work and discussed it, I said it was a really nice ballpark - and it is. Too bad it's full of obnoxious Yankee fans. One co-worker, a Yankee fan, said that Boston fans were much worse, and I wouldn't know because I've never seen what it's like to be a Yankee fan at Fenway. True, sort of. I've witnessed Yankee fans at Fenway many times, but to really get it I figure I have to walk the walk at least once.

Walk a mile in my hat.

Tomorrow, August 23rd, is the final regular season meeting at Fenway of the two teams. So far The Red Sox lead the season series, 9-5. The Sox are 7 and 1 at home, the Yankees are 4 and 2 at home. I'm going to the game with my daughter Kara, and we're going to wear Yankees hats. Let's see how we're treated compared to the way we were treated wearing Red Sox hats at Yankee Stadium. That's apples-to-apples.

I'll report either tomorrow night or Monday, depending on how late the game goes.