[Thruway]

Originally Posted by TheseGoTo11

The latest Quinnipiac actually had the Mets re-claiming #2 from the Sox in Fairfield, but by just 5 % points. Statewide, it was Yankees 42%, Sox 38%, Mets 9%, Other 11%. In '03 it was 47-33 Yankees, so the line has definitely shifted west.

2009:
Fairfield - 52 NYY 16 Bos 32 Other
NH/Middlesex - 48 NYY 31 Bos 21 Other
Litchfield - 41 Bos 32 NYY 27 Other
Hartford - 53 Bos 37 NYY 10 Other
Tolland, Windham, NL - 59 Bos 28 NYY 13 Other

Connecticut (CT) Poll * June 1, 2009 * Yankees Bump Sox Out Of Top Sp - Quinnipiac University – Hamden, Connecticut

The Q Poll is wrong and clearly overstates the Boston influence.

I know a thing or two about polling.
They should take that poll several times during the year, they should ask people under the age of 18, and the questions in general lead to a "bandwagon effect."

The best evidence is this....in 2003 the Yanks lead by 15%...their highest...in 2008 the Sox lead by 1%...their highest...thus the Yanks at their highest crushed the Sox who only lead for one year....aggregate shows CT is much more a Yankee state which make sense because the gravity model would show the city which is 1) closer to CT and 2) a bigger market would 3) have more influence culturally.

Stick it NESN and Theo Epstein...stop trying to claim Southern CT is yours and that New England is your country.
Tri-State NY is our country.
Your country is where they drop their 'r's.

[Lowerdeck]

Originally Posted by Thruway

Actually there are VERY few Red Sox fans in Western CT.
I see about the same amount of Red Sox fans in Western CT as I do Steelers and Cowboys fans.
That tells me that people here who root for the Red Sox do so NOT because they are the "local" team and because "Boston" has a stake in this region (laughable that some town 4 times smaller and 4 times further away would have the audacity to think that just because CT is part of New England it would go for them....CT is just as much Tri-State NY) but because they are bandwagoners.

Is a Steeler fan in Shelton mean Shelton is part of the PIT market?
Nope.
Same thing with the Red Sox.
Bandwagoners.

Perhaps they or their families moved to western Connecticut from somewhere else?

I knew some Red Sox fans in Danbury, but because the family was from the Boston area originally. I knew a Steelers fan in West Haven, but she was born near Pittsburgh.

But Fairfield and New Haven counties definitely are New York home turf and New York market, no question.

[Thruway]

That's exactly my point.
A Red Sox in New Haven or Fairfield County is either a transplant or a bandwagon just like a Steeler fan.

It is NOT because southern CT has an affinity and culturally shared value with Boston.

I just find it irritating to hear propoganda from John Henry, Larry Lucchino, and Theo Epstein that New England is Red Sox county.
I get really annoyed when people say that Milford is 50/50 and New Haven is more Red Sox country because it is more associated with New England.
Bullsp***t!!!

This whole New England's team is crap and if they want to play that game...ok...New Haven is more Yankee country because it is more tied to Stamford which is tri-state New York.

[Lowerdeck]

Milford is definitely not 50/50, neither is New Haven or the towns around it. New Haven I can't even picture being 70/30.

When was the last time you saw an Italian Red Sox fan from Connecticut?

[7 Wishes]

While I agree that New Haven County is mostly Yankees, I do think it is also where you start to see a few Sox fans, perhaps because they moved there from originally being closer to Boston, or perhaps because the ratio of NY/Boston distance, while still closer to NY, is like 1/3 vs. 2/3, so it's not like you're on top of NYC (more on this theory in my last paragraph). And believe me, I'm a Yankees fan from NY so I'm not saying this to boost the Sox at all, just honest observation from time spent up there.

My guess for New Haven County would be somewhere between 80/20 Yanks and 90/10 Yanks. Now Fairfield County on the other hand, I would think what few Sox fans there are (and I would honestly put it at 5% if that, maybe even 1%) are people who moved there from closer to Boston. It really much more than New Haven County is fully NYC metro.

Now one last thought on this, a theory on why there are ANY Sox fans in New Haven County. This summer I met someone from New Haven and someone from Waterbury who were both Sox fans. They have never lived outside of their respective areas and were never fans of the Yankees or another team. I was curious given the geography and asked why and got an interesting response. They said while they lived closer to NY than Boston, it was still faraway enough from NYC that they liked to consider themselves as not being part of the "New York" culture (i.e. they watched the Hartford/New Haven/Waterbury TV stations, not the NY ones, though the guy in New Haven got them as well) and one manifestation of it was to support the Red Sox over the Yankees. This may explain some of why you'd have a small but noteworthy amount of Red Sox fans in NH County.

I do disagree with the Q poll though, the numbers seem way to high for NH and unbelievable for Fairfield (though the "other" part could be the Mets there, but I've heard that Fairfield has very few Mets fans because it's much easier to go to Yankee Stadium than to Shea/Citi Field given distance, toll bridge, etc., same reason why Westchester is mostly Yankees and not Mets).

[TheseGoTo11]

Originally Posted by Thruway

That's exactly my point.
A Red Sox in New Haven is either a transplant or a bandwagon just like a Steeler fan.

The Red Sox are on NESN in New Haven, but the Steelers are not carried on CBS locally. Not to mention the fact that you can get the games on radio throughout most of the state on 1080 AM from Hartford. Steeler games are not on the radio in CT. Your point is absurd.

Cross the Q-Bridge and the Red Sox presence gets very noticeable, as is the shift in landscape to more traditional New England. No question Sox are a minority up to Clinton or Westbrook, but their support between New Haven and Old Saybrook is a lot like the Mets' fanbase in Manhattan - the second most popular regional team.

[Soundbounder]

From my observations, the CT River is the Mason Dixon line. It may have moved a little west due to the Red Sox success this decade, but it still appears to be about a 50-50 split from Saybrook northwest to Hartford.

[western mass and love it]

is it really that debatable a topic to have 7 plus pages.does it really matter who roots for what team and where they live.there are yankees fans in the heart of boston,and red sox fans in all the 5 boroughs.does the percentage of either in any area really matter.it is all just a personal preference for each individual person. i have friends in park slope and astoria and they are sox fans(and they are all native new yorkers),don't know how they became sox fans, but do know of a bar in queens that is a red sox bar,but the name is excaping me right now.but the point is different strokes for different folks no matter where they live.

[JViello]

Originally Posted by Soundbounder

From my observations, the CT River is the Mason Dixon line. It may have moved a little west due to the Red Sox success this decade, but it still appears to be about a 50-50 split from Saybrook northwest to Hartford.

Kind of...West of the River in Hartford (Farmington Valley and north to Granby, Suffield etc) has plenty of Sox fans. I'd call it 50/50 actually.

It's a weird East/West - North/South slanted kind of line thing IMO.

Then again, I've got my in-laws in Wallingford who are die hard Sox fans.

I guess my MIL's family being from Boston originally might have some influence, but WHATever.

[7 Wishes]

Originally Posted by western mass and love it

is it really that debatable a topic to have 7 plus pages.does it really matter who roots for what team and where they live.there are yankees fans in the heart of boston,and red sox fans in all the 5 boroughs.does the percentage of either in any area really matter.it is all just a personal preference for each individual person. i have friends in park slope and astoria and they are sox fans(and they are all native new yorkers),don't know how they became sox fans, but do know of a bar in queens that is a red sox bar,but the name is excaping me right now.but the point is different strokes for different folks no matter where they live.

Last weekend the NY Daily News had a great pullout section all about the Yankees-Sox rivalry (and surprisingly from BOTH angles) which had articles on interesting side notes like an 80 year old native Bostonian who's lived there all his life but has always rooted for the Yankees since his teens because Joe DiMaggio gave him "Italian pride" as a kid, and a "Red Sox" bar in midtown Manhattan. Anyway, just thought I'd give that as an interesting response.

Another side note to that not related to the article is that I've noticed in recent years during games where the Yankees and Red Sox play each other on TV that you actually sometimes see fans in Sox gear at Yankee stadium and vice versa (though less of that since Fenway is smaller stadium and more likely to sell out with locals, especially since the new Stadium opened).

As a kid in the late 70s/early 80s I don't remember ever seeing anything like that; I remember hearing stories like if you're a Yankees fan and go up to Boston to see Fenway Park for the history, etc., don't go when they play the Yankees because you'll get beat up if you wear Yankees cap/pinstripes or root for them at a level where you can be heard (and also stories that if a Boston fan did the reverse in the Yankee stadium bleachers, they may get knifed.....now NYC was pretty bad with crime back then but I think it was more of a legend).