Except for a pocket of western CT that's made up of virulent Yankee
fans, the rest of New England's baseball fans are Red sox fans. The
yankees/sox rivalry is easily the biggest and longest running rivalry in
pro sports, stemming from the no-no-nannette blunder that initiated the
infamous 'curse of the bambino'. The Yankees have usurped the work
yankee and made most of the rest of new england hate it.

Couldn't have said it better myself, Rich.
Ok, maybe with a little more hatred and venom LoL