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Why do Yankee's fans boo the best player in baseball? I was reminded of a passage in Robert Persig's Lila about the conflicting influence of European and Native American cultures on the American character : "It's a peculiarly American phenomenon, to catapult people suddenly into celebrity, lavish praise and wealth upon them, and then, at the moment they at last become convinced of their worth, try to destroy them. (Phaedrus) thought that the reason was that in America you're supposed to be socially superior like a European and socially equal like an Indian at the same time. It doesn't matter that these goals are contradictory"(99).
Now, the hooey about trading A-Rod all stems from sports analysts having nothing better to do during the course of a long season but make cazy statements. Remember how Big Unit was "all washed up" a few months ago? Before last year's All Star break these same bozos were proclaiming the end of Tom Glavine. If D. Ortiz goes 0 for tonight these guys will have in depth discussions about how the magic is gone, and how he is a failure as a clutch hitter.
