Capitulation

I’ve come to a decision that I would like to share with you, my faithful AOM readers.

I became interested in sports at a very young age. Growing up in New York, I logically began following the professional sports teams in the greater New York area. Since those seeds were planted so many years ago, I have been following the Yankees, Giants, Rangers, Knicks and even Jets and Mets for nearly twenty-five years.

Fifteen years ago, my family moved from New York to Delaware. Instead of being surrounded by fellow New York fans, everyone rooted for Philadelphia teams.

Not me. I continued to follow my New York teams from afar. Newspaper, radio and TV, especially ESPN, were my friends, allowing me to keep up with the Yanks in the summer, the Giants in the fall, and the Rangers in the winter.

For years, friends of mine who have grown up in and around Philadelphia have been trying in vain to convince me to switch allegiances. They claimed that by virtue of the fact that I have now lived near Philadelphia for a longer period of time than I ever did in New York, I should, by rights, be following the Phillies, Eagles, Flyers and Sixers.

For years I have been thinking that I was staying true to my roots by maintaining my allegiances to the teams of my youth. No more.

Effective immediately, the “Cheesesteak Era” has officially begun.

Taking advantage of the fact that I am moving tomorrow, I will begin a systematic purge of all items from the “Big Apple Era” and begin replacing them over time with more appropriate, “Cheesesteak Era” apparel, signage and related swag. I am looking forward to help from my friends (especially Wooly and Josh) as I attempt this metamorphosis.

As absolute proof of my new allegiance, here is a MP3 of me singing the Eagles fight song, “Fly Eagles Fly”