No - it's a mind set. Do you like winners or do you like underdogs? My B is a Mets fan - he feels sorry for them and thinks they need encouragement.

I prefer a club that make an effort to be competitive every year and values success (losing is the pits) - but have been a Yankee fan since I was 5 (and have programs signed by all of the biggies to prove it - Mantle, Maris, everyone you an think of from 1961 on).

As for getting a better price - unless the Yankees fold (something they haven't done in at least 20 years) the prices go up as the season goes along - and people come out to see them win and win again. The best way to get lower prices is to pick a really bad opponent.

You won;t miss out completely - unless it is vs the Sox - and you can even get those if you are willing to pay.

As for tickpick - I know noting about it. But as long as you paid with a credit card you can get a refund if the tickets are fakes. But I went to their web site and they didn't show any availability for good seasts (field boxes) at all - at any price - when stubhub has a bunch.

It's either a choice or hereditary as to which team you like. My dad was a ___ fan and so am I. Usually the offspring who don't follow the parents' lead are rebellious. Some are just smarter (oldest scion of our neighbors when I was young was the only Yankees fan in the house, the rest loved the Mets).

Lots of Mets fans are converts from Dodgers fans, from after the Dodgers left NYC for LA, and the progeny of the converts. So that's generations of losers.

And it's not necessarily a dichotomy - in the 90s Giants fans were Jets fans because Parcells was the Jets' coach and the teams rarely play each other (12 times in the regular season since 1970, Giants have won 8). Without the Jets, the Giants wouldn't have made the playoffs in 1981 (first trip in nearly two decades). Good Giants fans don't forget that (nor do we forget the Jets knocking the Giants out on the last week of '88). The mutual goodwill faded when Rex Ryan took over. Many baseball fans profess to like both the Yanks and the Mess, but when push meets shove, the Yanks win out unless the "fan" has some Florence Nightingale syndrome and needs to love the broken down stiff team.

Giants fans hate the Redskins, Cowpatties, Niners and Eagles - especially the Eagles. We don't hate the Patriots that much - that's a Jets-fan thing because the Jets like to think there's a huge rivalry between the teams even though the Pats have dominated, especially recently. And of course, the Giants beat the Patriots in Super Bowl XLII and XLVI so more of the hate flows the other way, right Bill?

Some people just pick wrong - friend of mine picked the Jets in the early 80s because they were "better" (10 wins in '81, lost in AFC title game in '82) and stuck with them for no real reason . . . and the Giants have won four Super Bowls since.

For basketball, it's a Knicks town, period. The Nets were less popular even when they were ABA champs and moving to NJ sealed that. The Islanders/Rangers feud once was the hottest on ice, but it's been far less relevant in the past 20+ years as the Isles have stunk; Devils/Rangers is a better rivalry now and the bereaved Isles fans (yep) now cheer on the Devils because rooting for the Rangers is anathema.

Tickets for individual games go on sale soon.

From the yankees website:
Tickets for individual Yankees games at Yankee Stadium will first be made available to the public through a MasterCard pre-on-sale online from March 22 at 10:00 a.m. until March 25 at 10:00 p.m.

Tickets for individual Yankees games at Yankee Stadium will go on sale to the general public on Tuesday, March 27 at 10:00 a.m.

http://mlb.mlb.com/nyy/ticketing/onsale_priceless.jsp

<<<For basketball, it's a Knicks town, period. >>>

D'Antoni just "resigned".