Picking on someone your own size

September 26, 2009 by Benjamin Kabak 48 Comments

Fans of the Red Sox and the Yankees often debate over which team has more tolerant fans. This story is one for the Yanks. According to reports out of Baldwinsville, a town of 7000 in Onondaga County near Syracuse, a fourth grade student was forced by his teacher to turn his CC Sabathia shirt inside out because the teacher is a Red Sox fan. While Peter Addabbo’s classroom is decorated with Red Sox memorabilia, the nine-year-old at first thought his teacher was kidding but quickly learned that the request was a serious one. Other students mocked Nate Johns for his inside-out shirt, and the school’s principal is now investigating the incident. You stay classy, Red Sox fans.

JSquared

Classic Red Sox Fan, have to hate the Yankees if you don’t love them. Only Because they win.
- http://detentionslip.org Hall Monitor
  
  This story made http://detentionslip.org ! Check it out for all the crazy headlines from our schools.
bonestock94

Can’t say I’m surprised, scumbags…
- whozat
  
  Yes, your comment really hammers home how it is _Sox_ fans who hate the opponent, rather than being fans of their own team.
  - bonestock94
    
    looooool
    
    Don’t you love comments that exist to just be inflammatory?
    - http://www.newyorkjets.com/image_assets/8997/052109_coach_rex_ryan_presser_320.jpg The Honorable Congressman Mondesi
      
      Actually, I thought he had a pretty good point.
      - bonestock94
        
        I meant my original comment.
        
        http://www.newyorkjets.com/image_assets/8997/052109_coach_rex_ryan_presser_320.jpg The Honorable Congressman Mondesi
        
        Ah, cool.
radnom

I looked up this article to add to the point, having totally forgot that it was a Yankee fan at fault this time….

whoops….

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3382644
- JSquared
  
  But she didn’t pick on a kid, leave the children alone!!
- JMK
  
  What happened in Nashua ultimately has little to do with sports. It involves a woman clearly suffering (though possibly embracing) serious anger issues, who made a horrible decision that ultimately killed someone. Yes, Sox fans seemed to be a bit obnoxious in that case, but in no way does it ever excuse the behavior exhibited. People who are this fanatical about sports (or anything, for that matter) are not real fans of any team; they are sad people who use sports as a justification to act like childish pieces of crap.
  
  Look at any team and you’ll find people who are engaged, civil and respectful. You’ll also find assholes with an agenda and poor character. The teacher was clearly wrong to think humiliating a child for the purpose of securing his “fandom”, but really, this may turn out to be a good thing (though not for the kid) – it shows that this man lacks the ability to foster growth in children, and hopefully the school board will realize this and he’ll soon be out of a job.
icedtea

that is pretty funny..

i saw widespread in philly two summers ago, and i happened to be wearing an old school charles oakley knicks jersey.

some philly fans were trying to get me to turn it inside out…i was definitely ready to throw down, note to self after that one…dead scene is much chiller.
- JMK
  
  Cool story, bro.
Andy In Sunny Daytona

“Garrett said he believes the school handled the incident appropriately, but strongly believes his son’s First Amendment rights were violated.”

Qiuck, somebody get ????, from last night’s game thread, on this right away
http://www.newyorkjets.com/image_assets/8997/052109_coach_rex_ryan_presser_320.jpg The Honorable Congressman Mondesi

I’m going to venture a guess, based on this guy’s behavior towards this one student, that the Sox stuff he has all over his classroom has nothing to do with lesson-plans, and is just a way for this guy to decorate his classroom like he decorated his bedroom when he was 12 years old back in Worcester.

He should be able to decorate his classroom however he sees fit, but he should also stop being a freaking loser and he should grow up and act like an adult.
- http://www.newyorkjets.com/image_assets/8997/052109_coach_rex_ryan_presser_320.jpg The Honorable Congressman Mondesi
  
  And by “adult” clearly I mean someone who comments on a baseball blog with a made-up name and likes to make jokes about pussytubing.
  
  :: makes wanking motion with hand::
  - whozat
    
    (farts)
- Andy In Sunny Daytona
  
  We don’t know all the facts yet. Maybe this teacher IS a 12-year old boy genius, ala, Doogie Howser, who wanted to be an elementary school teacher instead of a doctor? There is just not enough facts known yet.
  
  /Gammons’d
Crrapulent

There were no rabid Red Sox fans prior to 2004. It’s not only lame to treat a kid like that, but ask the RS fan where she was in 2003. Watching hockey probably.
- JSquared
  
  I wish we got to face the cardinals and rockies in the world series…
  - Rey22
    
    Carpenter + Wainright? No thanks. I’d rather see the Dodgers and their ace…….Randy Wolf.
    - JSquared
      
      Yeah, I’m Sure Wainwright had everything to do with the Cardinals in 2004. Dodgers have 3 good starters also this year. But Cardinals v. 2004 and Rockies v. 2007, im pretty sure Red Sox didn’t play Cardinals or Rockies in the World Series this year.
      - Rey22
        
        Ah, my bad, misread and thought you meant this year.
        That aside, this year the Dodgers have Randy Wolf, but after that Kershaw has the non-pitching shoulder injured, Garland is…well, Garland, Padilla doesn’t scare anyone and Billingsley finally rebounded last start, but prior to that wasn’t even gona be in the playoff rotation. I guess facing the Rockies wouldn’t be too bad either, since they don’t have much after Jimenez. But the Cards are scary. Carpenter, Wainright, Pujols and Holliday = ouch
- whozat
  
  There were no rabid red sox fans before 2004? That’s not true, at all. There were ONLY rabid red sox fans before 2004, just like there are still only rabid cubs fans.
  - http://www.newyorkjets.com/image_assets/8997/052109_coach_rex_ryan_presser_320.jpg The Honorable Congressman Mondesi
    
    I know what you mean but it’s a poor analogy… Half the people in Wrigley Field are not rabid Cubs fans. Sorry, nitpick.
    - whozat
      
      I didn’t say that everyone in Wrigley was a Cubs fan at all :-)
      - http://www.newyorkjets.com/image_assets/8997/052109_coach_rex_ryan_presser_320.jpg The Honorable Congressman Mondesi
        
        Right, but you said “there are still only rabid cubs fans,” and that’s untrue. Many Cubs fans I encountered when I lived in Chicago were anything but “rabid” Cubs fans, or even rabid baseball fans really.
        
        Again, it’s a nitpick, it doesn’t affect your point about Sox fans.
        
        mtt
        
        I was at a Cubs-Marlins game back in May and a guy in a Cubs hat asked me why everyone was so excited that Carlos Zambrano got a pinch hit single. I had to explain that Big Z was a pitcher.
        I live in Chicago and this guy with his tweed blazer and blackberry constantly-in-hand was definitely representative of the majority of self-identified Cubs fans I encounter here.
  - Russell NY
    
    Yea, I was in college with this Red Sox girl for 4 years. 2 years she was nice, then she turned all dou*he in 2004.
Andy In Sunny Daytona

Ben, I think you mean ????

This has his stink all over it.
Accent Shallow

GTFO of NYS, please.

Syracuse is a dump as it is.
- JMK
  
  Half of upstate NY is like the northern version of Deliverance (minus some of the racism, if that makes sense).
Russell NY

Pure jealousy right there. Wonder what would have happened if he refused to turn the shirt inside-out. I bet there would have been assault charges on a minor.
http://www.puristbleedspinstripes.com Rebecca-Optimist Prime

My fourth grade teacher had the same policy, so the last day of class we all wore Yankee shirts.

It was marvelous.
- JSquared
  
  I have an accounting professor who jokes around that he is going to fail us when we wear yankee gear, so me and my friend bought 30 Yankee Stars and Stripes Hats, and handed them out to everyone in the class at the end of last semester to wear…
  
  Fortunately, i have the same professor this semester, and he can count on the yankee hats coming out even sooner.
  - http://ibleedblueandwhite.com Jamie
    
    damn man thats a lot of money
Tseng

I had a professor who was a big red sox fan. He was cool, though. He’s writing me a rec for law school, actually.
sal

I’m jus happy the teacher wasn’t a Yankee fan, after all us yankee fans must remain perfect. that said Lets hang the guy lmao
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/riddering/Baseball/reachforthestaaaaars.jpg Riddering

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2009/09/baldwinsville_fourth-grader_is.html

The Yankees are sending a gift package to a Baldwinsville fourth-grader who was told by a teacher he had to wear his Yankee’s shirt inside out.

Central New York Yankee fans sent a Post-Standard article about the fourth-grader to the Yankees Friday, said Robert Bernstein, manager of special events, alumni services and fan services for the Yankees. Other fans called the Yankees to see what the team could do, he said.

The team plans to send Nate a gift package. Bernstein declined to say what they would send, adding they would like it to be a surprise.
- ClayBuchholzLovesLaptops
  
  Probably a CC Sabathia shirt that has his name and number on the inside, too.
  - Bob Stone
    
    Very funny.
  - Alan
    
    This would be classic.
Alan

Yeah, read about this yesterday. I want there to be more to this story than meets the eye, but the more that I read the more it seems like just another jackass. This isn’t about Yankees fans or Red Sox fans, this is about a teacher who probably got teased in school and wants to show off his authority.
- Whitey14
  
  +1
Whitey14

I work with a very good natured Yankees fan who made a bet with a Red Sox fan during the ALCS in 2004. He said if the Red Sox came back from 3-0, he’d wear a Red Sox jacket for a day. When he lost the bet, he good naturedly wore the jacket and even posed for pictures. Some fans of both teams are really cool people, some are assholes. People who perpetuate the myth that all Yankee fans are the same or all Red Sox fans are the same, clearly just don’t get it and that’s too bad.
Old Goat

I live in the Syracuse area. ON ESPN radio the talking head is a huge Red Sox fan. He kept going on about how this incident with the shirt was being blown way out of proportion. He cited the picture of the kid wearing the shirt and smiling in a picture in the local paper as showing there was no harm at all with this type of action.

In this area there are enough Red Sox fans around. They seem to think that its fine to do things like this to Yankee fans.

The kid is 9 years old. I assume the teacher who pulled this act is at least a few years older than him, and should be a little more mature than this.
RustyJohn

The kid should show up to class on Monday with a Buckner jersey.
mustang

Bottom-line here is that you don’t mess with kids specially if you’re a teacher. If that were my son Mr. Addabbo would have a lot more to worry about then the school’s principal investigating the incident.