IRISH...	Male 38 years old QUINCY, MA
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THE  ROXBURY ROYAL ROOTERS

IT ALL STARTED IN ROXBURY MASSACHUSETTS, WHERE A BUNCH OF IRISH IMMIGRANTS USED TO CONGREGATE TO DISCUSS THE BOSTON AMERICANS (RED SOX). IN A HOLE IN THE WALL BAR CALLED "3RD BASE SALOON"....WHICH SOME WOUD SAY NOW WAS THE FIRST KNOWN SPORTS BAR! THE OWNER OF THE SALOON, ONE MICHAEL T. McGREEVY NICKNAMED "NUF CED" WAS THE KNOWN LEADER OF A GROUP OF DIEHARD BOSTON FANS KNOWN AS "THE ROYAL ROOTERS". 

THE ROYAL ROOTERS WERE KNOWN AS THE TRUE 100 PERCENT DIEHARD RED SOX FANS. THEY WENT TO EVERY GAME , AND MEMBERS OF THE ROOTERS WOULD BE GIVEN, OR BRING THEIR OWN, CHAIRS TO SIT RIGHT ON THE GRASS OF THE FIELD INSIDE THE BALLPARK. THEY WOULD SING THE SONG "TESSIE" AT THE TOP OF THEIR LUNGS DURING THE GAME FOR A FEW DIFFERENT  REASONS.......ONE TO BOISTER UP THE CROWD AND GET THEM TO SING ALONG, TWO TO ENCOURAGE THEIR RED SOX TO PLAY BETTER, AND THREE, TO ANNOY, DISTRACT AND FRUSTRATE THEIR OPPOSING TEAMS! TESSIE BECAME THE THEME SONG OF THE ROOTERS........IT WAS A SONG FROM A 1902  BROADWAY MUSICAL CALLED "THE SILVER SLIPPER"! THOUGH THE MUSICAL LASTED LESS THAN 6 MONTHS.....THE SONG WAS FOREVER SHRINED IN RED SOX LORE!

THE ROYAL ROOTERS, THOUGH MANY ONLY KNOW THEM AS A BUNCH OF FANS WITH THE BEST SEATS IN THE BALLPARK, WERE A VERY ORGANIZED BUNCH. THEY WERE A DEMOCRATIC GROUP. AND WHERE MICHAEL T. "NUF CED" McGREEVY WAS THE VISUAL SPIRITUAL LEADER IN BOTH LIBATIONS  AND FOUNDATION, THERE WAS A PECKING ORDER WITHIN THAT HAD JOHN F. FITZGERALD (JFK'S GRANDFATHER ON HIS MOTHERS SIDE) AS ITS CHAIRMAN. M.J. REGAN WAS THE SECRETARY. OTHER HIGHER UP MEMBERS INCLUDED, BUT WAS NOT LIMITED TO; CJ DAVIS, L. WATSON, T.S. DOOLEY, J. KENNAN AND W. CAHILL!

THE FIRST WORLD SERIES IN 1903

 THE ROOTERS WERE GIVEN CREDIT FOR THE BOSTON AMERICANS WINNING THE FIRST WORLD SERIES AGAINST THE PITTSBURGH PIRATES IN 1903. YOU SEE, THE ROOTERS WOULD NOT "JUST" GO TO HOME GAMES......THEY WOULD TRAVEL WITH THE TEAM. AFTER THE BOSTON SQUAD WENT DOWN 3 GAMES TO ONE,  THE ROOTERS SANG TESSIE OVER AND OVER AGAIN, AND WERE BEING INTIMIDATING TOWARDS FANS OF THE PIRATES AND JUST PLAIN STRIKING FEAR INTO ANYONE WHO CROSSED THEM OR THE TEAM. ONE OF THE MOST ANNOYED AND SCARED ONES WAS NONE OTHER THAN HONUS WAGNER OF THE PIRATES. SEEING THAT WANER WAS SO INTIMIDATED AND ANNOYED, THE ROOTERS REALLY LET HIM HAVE IT THUS AFFECTING HIS GAME. TO THE ROOTERS, THIS WAS WHAT THEY WERE HERE TO DO......HELP THE TEAM WIN! AND WIN THEY DID! THE RED SOX WENT ON TO WIN FOUR STRAIGHT GAMES, AND BECOME THE VERY FIRST WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS!

THE ROOTERS STUCK WITH THE TEAM YEAR IN AND YEAR OUT, HELPING THE RED SOX WIN 5 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONSHIPS FROM 1903 TO 1918. THEN IN 1918, THE OFFICIAL ROYAL ROOTERS DISBANDED AND WERE THEN JUST CONSIDERED FANS IN THE EYES OF THE FRANCHISE AND THE BASEBALL LEAGUE. THEY CONTINUED GOING TO GAMES AND THEN HEADING TO THE 3RD BASE TO DISCUSS THE GAMES. BUT THE INTIMIDATING SINGING OF TESSIE STOPPED FOR THE MOST PART, AND THE SITTING ON THE FIELD WAS PRETTY MUCH STOPPED WHEN THE NEW BALLPARK OPENED IN 1912. AFTER 1918, THE SONG TESSIE WAS KNOWN AS THE THEME SONG FOR THE ROYAL ROOTERS, BUT I FEEL IT WASNT. IT WAS THE RALLY-CRY FOR OUR TEAM, THE BOSTON RED SOX.

RSN, AND THE FANS REMEMBER AND PAY TRIBUTE

IN 2004, THE BAND DROPKICK MURPHY'S REVIVED THE SONG, MAKING IT JUST THAT, A RED SOX RALLY SONG. CHANGING SOME OF THE WORDS TO MORE OR LESS GIVE TRIBUTE TO THE ORIGINAL RED SOX NATION KNOWN AS THE ROYAL ROOTERS. AND WOULDNT YA KNOW IT......THE YEAR THE RALLY-CRY MAKES ITS BIG COMEBACK, THE BOSTON RED SOX WIN THE WORLD SERIES.....AND CALL IT IRONIC IF YOU LIKE.....BUT THE RED SOX WERE DOWN 3 GAMES TO NONE IN THE ALCS ONLY TO COME BACK AND WIN 4 STRAIGHT, THEN WIN 4 STRAIGHT IN THE WORLD SERIES MAKING IT 8 GAMES.......THE SAME AMOUNT OF GAMES IN THAT FIRST WORLD SERIES!

MODERN DAY ROOTERS

TODAY, WE HAVE THE WIDEST FANBASE IN ALL OF SPORTS IN THIS COUNTRY. WITH THE WINNING OF TWO WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONSHIPS, OF COURSE THERE WILL BE TONS OF NEW FANS WHO LOVE A WINNER. BUT THE BOSTON RED SOX HAVE A FANBASE WITHIN THE RED SOX NATION. A FANBASE OF PURE 100% DIEHARDS! A FANBASE THAT IN A LOT OF WAYS MIRRORS THOSE DIEHARDS WE CALLED THE ROYAL ROOTERS. NOW, MAYBE THESE DIEHARDS DONT SIT ON THE FIELD........I MEAN HELL, THE LEAGUE WONT EVEN LET REVERED FORMER MEMBERS OF OUR TEAM LIKE JOHNNY "THE NEEDLE" PESKY SIT IN THE DUGOUT WITH THE TEAM ANYMORE, EVEN THOUGH A PART OF OUR BALLPARK BEARS HIS NAME. AND MAYBE THESE DIEHARDS DONT TRAVEL WITH THE TEAM AND CARRY OUR ACE PITCHER ON THEIR SHOULDERS INTO THE BALLPARK LIKE THE ROOTERS DID WITH CY YOUNG. BUT IN THOSE DAYS, THERE WERE NO TV'S AND MOVIE THEATERS BROADCASTING THE GAMES. THE DIEHARDS TODAY WATCH EVERY GAME ON TV, GO TO THE GAMES, GO TO THE BARS AROUND THE BALLPARK, TAKE NOTE OF EVERY STAT, STAND OVER BY GATE D AT FENWAY HOURS BEFORE THE GAME TO WELCOME THE PLAYERS AS THEY DRIVE IN FOR THE GAMES, WRITE BLOGS AND POST NEWS STORIES ON WEBSITES DEDICATED TO THE RED SOX, FORM CHATROOMS TO DISCUSS THE GAMES AND WATCH THEM TOGETHER AT THE SAME TIME, POST PICTURES OF FAVORITE PLAYERS NEW AND OLD, TRASHTALK WITH FANS OF OTHER TEAMS, MAKE SIGNS AND YELL THINGS AT OPOSING PLAYERS TO DISTRACT THEM, SING RALLY SONGS SUCH AS: SWEET CAROLINE, TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME, AND YES "TESSIE", WE USE WORDS LIKE "RESPECT" AND "LOYALTY" AND "FAMILY".....WITH MEANINGS IN EACH THAT ARE DEEPER THAN THE "NEW" LOVE-THE-SOX-CUZ-THEIR-WINNING FANS COULD EVER UNDERSTAND!

THOUGH I DONT DISCOURAGE ANYONE FROM BECOMING A FAN OF OUR BELOVED TEAM, WHETHER IT BE JUST BECAUSE WE ARE WINNING OR WHATEVER, THE TRUE DIEHARDS "KNOW" THE DIFFERENCE. AND I AM PROUD TO SAY THAT I AM A ROOTER BY HEART, A DIEHARD FAN OF OUR TEAM, A LIFELONG MEMBER OF RED SOX NATION, AND A RECOGNIZED MEMBER OF THE RED SOX MAFIA! FOR LIFE AND LONGER! GO BOSTON RED SOX! R/L/F!