Red Sox-Yankees rivalry -- As seen from both sides

Recently, a reporter from ESPN the Magazine talked about the differences between sports fans on the east coast and west coast of the United States.

He even went as far as to call west coast fans, "wimps."

I was born on the east coast, and for the last seven years have lived here in Southern California. And, yeah, I've got to agree.

You've got your so called college football rivalries like UCLA-USC and baseball rivalries like the Los Angeles Dodgers-San Francisco Giants.

You even have rivalries like the "Battle of the Bay," whether it be the Oakland Athletics-San Francisco Giants in baseball or the Oakland Raiders-San Francisco 49ers in football.

However, for sheer nastiness, all out meanness, nothing, and I mean NOTHING beats the Boston Red Sox-New York Yankees rivalry.

We're talking Hatfield-McCoy-type rivalry here.

Families and friends have been divided over this rivalry.

Pity the poor state of Connecticut. If you live close to the Massachusetts border, you're a Red Sox fan.

If you live in Bridgeport, New Haven, or the oh-so-chic-Connecticut towns like Greenwich or Darien, you (gasp!) travel down to the South Bronx to see the Yankees.

The fans don't like each other. The owners of both teams despise each other -- can you imagine the Giants general manager calling the Los Angeles Dodgers an "evil empire?" Or the Dodgers general manager firing back, "shut up and stop whining?"

No, I can't either. But, in a Yankees-Red Sox rivalry, anything goes.

I've lived in both cities and can tell you first hand how tough it is to be a Yankees' fan in the heart of the Red Sox nation.

It's tough, very tough.

I'd get dirty looks from coworkers when I wore anything that had to do with the Yankees on casual day.

I got even dirtier looks from neighbors when I mentioned that my cat's name was Mattingly.

Yes, as in the former Yankee first baseman, Don Mattingly.

While Dodger fans are famous for coming late and leaving early, don't try this at a Yankees-Red Sox game whether it be in Boston or New York.

You may miss all the action -- on the field and in the stands.

Yankees and Red Sox fans love shouting insults at each other and at opposing players.

Speaking of players imagine being the Giambi brothers. Jeremy and Jason both came from Oakland where there was somewhat of a rivalry between the Giants and Oakland. But, now, Jeremy does his designated hitting for the Red Sox and Jason does his hitting for those dreaded Yankees. Talk about going from the frying pan into the fire.

Why is this such a rivalry?

You can keep your theories about the "Curse of the Bambino," that theory is, well, "played out."

Have the Yankees had better teams? Maybe, but I don't think it's that.

Don't call it a good versus evil thing, it's not that either, in spite of what the Red Sox Nation would have you think.

New York is big, bold, and brash to the point of being arrogant.

Boston while not that big, has it's own charms.

You won't find "Sex in the City" in Beantown, and although the television show "Cheers" was set in Boston, the only people who go to see the "Cheers" bar are tourists.

Why then is this such a big rivalry?

Could be the close distance between the two cities, four hours driving or an hour by plane.

Plus, you know what they say about familiarity, it breeds contempt.

Whatever the reason is, any west coast rivalry will never match a Red Sox- Yankees rivalry, that's for sure.