Local satisfaction for the rabid sports fan

VINCENT LAFORET/NEWSMAKERS

So you're a hardcore L.A. fan—you ate Dodger dogs before baby food, marveled at Magic's no-looks a decade ago and now love to see Kobe and Shaq embarrass the rest of the league. Or maybe you're from the midwest, and adore everything that screams Chicago sports—MJ, Sammy, Ditka, da Bears. Now what? You're forced to abandon Dodger Stadium or Wrigley Field for the hallowed fields of the New Haven Coliseum?

Who the hell do you root for in New Haven anyway? New York? Does everyone at Yale automatically turn into a Yankees fan? Do people here even play sports? Will you ever be able to see your favorite team play on TV, let alone in person?

Whoa there! Take a deep breath! First off, coming to Yale will not necessarily transmogrify you into a fan of the nearest team you can find, unless you are incredibly weak-willed and lazy and have no loyalty to your home team, or you're looking for a team to root for because you're into sports but have lived your entire life up until now in Idaho, Tasmania, or Liechtenstein.

If you fall into one of these two categories, odds are, you'll turn into a Mets or Yankees fan. This place is a hothouse for NY fans, breeding score upon score of slobbering baseball fanatics. If you stay true to your team, get ready to be pissed off at the all the New Yorkers or New York wanna-be's surrounding you—it's pretty annoying now that their teams are winning, but it will get worse when they jump over to the Boston bandwagon. Of course, baseball is not the only sport in New York or Boston—the Knicks, Celtics, Jets, Giants, Patriots, Islanders, Rangers, Bruins, and even the Liberty games are equally accessible.

As you may have guessed, New Haven, ladies and gentlemen, is located in southern Connecticut. By train, it's an hour and a half away from New York, three hours from Boston.

Traveling to a major city has never been easier or more exciting. It's always a minor thrill to blow off that problem set or paper due Monday to instead take a quick jaunt to New York or Boston. All your academic worries slip away very quickly when you realize you just walked right out of econ and into bleacher seats at Yankee Stadium, chillin' with your new college friends (even if you do already hate them for being Yankee fans).

But what if your friends are all non-Northeasterners and you have to rely on public transportation to get to the game of your choice? Too expensive? Well, the Metro North to NY is only $23 roundtrip. If you want to go to Beantown instead, the price for a round trip rises to $80. If those prices are pushing it, the activities councils of certain residential colleges offer trips to see professional sports teams for incredibly reduced prices. Last year, Silliman college sponsored a trip to Boston to see a Red Sox game for a total of $20 per person—and this with $40 dollar game tickets! Colleges often have extra room on their trips for interested students.

This is all well and good, but isn't there anything to do in New Haven, or at least in Connecticut? Well, the Whalers moved out of Hartford and into Carolina to become the Hurricanes a few years ago, but the New Haven Coliseum is bursting with stars the likes of which I'm willing to bet you've never seen. A quick call to the box office let me in on some hot tips: this year, the Coliseum may host such fare as CBA basketball, AHL hockey, and the United Hockey League's Connecticut Knights.

Baseball's also big in and around New Haven. The closest attraction is the New Haven Ravens, a Seattle Mariners double-A affiliate. Spectators truly get into the games, played at our own Yale Field, especially with the intimate atmosphere of the smaller park. But of course, the favorite amusement is not this up-close action, but the mid-inning sumo-wrestling competitions (also known to make appearances at end-of-the-year college carnivals).

Another nearby distraction is the Bridgeport Bluefish, an independent baseball team in the Atlantic League. They play at Harbor Yard, 20 minutes southwest of New Haven. The Bluefish showcase both potential major leaguers and washed up major leaguers in the twilight of their career, always fun for the seasoned autograph collector.

Realistically, though, your best bet is to make the trek out to New York or Boston, in order to witness sports at a level where perfection is expected. The most enjoyment at Yale comes from being thrust into an environment where rooting for your favorite (formerly home) team causes controversy. For instance, not only do I continue to root for the Orioles, but I revel in the frustration of Yankee fans listening to me babble about how much the Yankees suck, even if they're in first place. They never had to deal with idiots like me back in the Bronx.

Although the best sports entertainment may be a few hours away, it's almost always accessible at a low price, and is a great excuse for a break in the form of a road trip. And with a diverse assortment of local venues between ventures to Boston and New York, your four-year stay at Yale will not mean the end of your sports fandom.

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