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Yankee-Haters Holiday

Noam's wonderful post about the evil of the Yankees reminds me of this New York Times news story from last month, about the huge proportion of criminals who wear Yankee gear:

A curious phenomenon has emerged at the intersection of fashion, sports and crime: dozens of men and women who have robbed, beaten, stabbed and shot at their fellow New Yorkers have done so while wearing Yankees caps or clothing....
Since 2000, more than 100 people who have been suspects or persons of interest in connection with serious crimes in New York City wore Yankees apparel at the time of the crimes or at the time of their arrest or arraignment. The tally is based on a review of New York Police Department news releases, surveillance video and images of robberies and other crimes, as well as police sketches and newspaper articles that described suspects’ clothing. No other sports team comes close.
The Mets, forever in the shadow of their Bronx rivals, are perhaps grateful to be losing this one: only about a dozen people in the same review were found to be wearing Mets gear.

The article posits various explanations for this phenomenon, including the possibility that "criminals are identifying with the team’s aura of money, power and success." A simpler explanation is that the fundamental ethos of the Yankees is that, if you want something, you take it, regardless of any considerations of fair play.

An even simpler explanation is that Yankee fans tend to be immoral. (Again, as Noam says, with some allowances made for those born into the creed.)

In other Yankee-hating news, Tom Scocca is really enjoying the Yankees loss.