There was a typically brilliant essay from Joe Queenan about hating literature that celebrates evil American sports teams- the Yankees , the LA Lakers, Duke- in the New York Times recently.
You have to respect the integrity of a writer who will put down a book because the protagnoist is a Yankees fan. Despite what that they tell you in writing school, there are some people that are beyond empathy. "Stalin would have been a Yankees fan," Queenen writes.
We also dearly admire that Queenan, despite his Philadelphianess, extends his loathing across the Atlantic, to Manchester United. So true is his hatred that he couldn't resist thrashing a literary carpetbagging United supporter when in Dublin last year:
"So implacable is my hatred of Man United (glamour-boy David Beckham’s old team) that when I met the gifted mystery writer Val McDermid at the Dublin Writers Festival last year, and found out she was a Manchester United fan — even though she is not from Manchester — I immediately unloaded all my Val McDermid mysteries and started bad-mouthing her work to my friends. I’m dead serious about this stuff."
