The Worst Fans in Baseball?
"Knowledgeable". "Passionate".
Ladies and gentlemen, meet the New York sports fan.
These are the words the papers and the talking heads use to describe New York sports fans every day. Players are told to use these words when they describe the local fans. The fans believe it, the columnists back it.
And it's all a bunch of bullshit.
Knowledgeable and passionate fans understand why Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy are struggling as rookies on the biggest stage in the baseball world.
Knowledgeable and passionate fans understand that Carlos Beltran could have 25 RBI if things went his way the first couple of weeks.
Knowledgeable and passionate fans know that Joe Girardi shouldn't be judged as a manager after 30 games.
Knowledgeable and passionate fans don't boo when a player takes a 2-0 strike.
* * * * *
I went to Sunday's Mets game and was embarrassed. It was probably the 300th time I had been to Shea in my life; I was with my cousin -- a good buddy of mine -- and the Mets beat the rival Braves. All seems right, right?
But it wasn't. Something had changed.
Mets fans had become irrational dickheads.
I don't mind booing. Booing is perfectly fine to me when it makes sense (i.e., Knicks basketball over the last 5 years).
But being New Yorkers does not give us a free pass to boo irrationally. We can't just yell because we feel like it. Yes, I know the whole argument: "I paid good money for my ticket so I can do what I want."
But under this logic you can throw a glass of water at a waiter, shove an usher, yell at the deli guy. In each case, you're paying for a service / product and taking something out on the person who is providing it.
The whole "I paid, I can boo" thing is retarded. You can boo because no one is on the other end telling you that doing so is wrong. If a player yells back he is a villain. So essentially, the booer has a free pass.
And New Yorkers love this. Or at the very least new Mets fans seem to love this.
* * * * *
It wasn't like this back in the day.
Things changed after 2006. All of a sudden, the Mets had to win. Winning was our entitlement and anything less was unacceptable.
Time was that to be a Mets fan was to be OK, because no matter what else they said about you, you weren't a Yankee fan. You weren't rooting for the Evil Empire, so as a fan, you were the good guy.
Today, Mets fans are worse than Yankee fans.
While both fan bases are filled with 90% morons, Mets fans have taken the bitterness that made us charming for the first 23 years of my life and made us an embarrassment.
Shea Stadium isn't fun anymore. We don't laugh at our shortcomings, we just get angry.
The Mets used to be lovable losers. Now, we are hateable winners.
2007 sucked. No way to get around that. But to a real Mets fan, that was 1 year of 20 or 30 or 40. This isn't a team that wins. It's a team that loses. Maybe thats why '07 bothered me less than the rest.
But to go to the ballpark this year only to hear a chorus of boos, it just isn't right.
I'm not soft. I'm still New York. But this is all above baseball. This is people thinking they are doing what they are supposed to be because they think it's what "New Yorkers" are supposed to do. And it's not.
To be passionate and knowledgeable is to truly follow and understand a team.
Being upset doesn't make you knowledgeable. It just makes you an asshole.
And it's a bummer. Shea sucks these days, and Shea is supposed to be home.
I'm really curious for your thoughts right now, because these are mine.
Vaya,
Sip
Ladies and gentlemen, meet the New York sports fan.
These are the words the papers and the talking heads use to describe New York sports fans every day. Players are told to use these words when they describe the local fans. The fans believe it, the columnists back it.
And it's all a bunch of bullshit.
Knowledgeable and passionate fans understand why Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy are struggling as rookies on the biggest stage in the baseball world.
Knowledgeable and passionate fans understand that Carlos Beltran could have 25 RBI if things went his way the first couple of weeks.
Knowledgeable and passionate fans know that Joe Girardi shouldn't be judged as a manager after 30 games.
Knowledgeable and passionate fans don't boo when a player takes a 2-0 strike.
* * * * *
I went to Sunday's Mets game and was embarrassed. It was probably the 300th time I had been to Shea in my life; I was with my cousin -- a good buddy of mine -- and the Mets beat the rival Braves. All seems right, right?
But it wasn't. Something had changed.
Mets fans had become irrational dickheads.
I don't mind booing. Booing is perfectly fine to me when it makes sense (i.e., Knicks basketball over the last 5 years).
But being New Yorkers does not give us a free pass to boo irrationally. We can't just yell because we feel like it. Yes, I know the whole argument: "I paid good money for my ticket so I can do what I want."
But under this logic you can throw a glass of water at a waiter, shove an usher, yell at the deli guy. In each case, you're paying for a service / product and taking something out on the person who is providing it.
The whole "I paid, I can boo" thing is retarded. You can boo because no one is on the other end telling you that doing so is wrong. If a player yells back he is a villain. So essentially, the booer has a free pass.
And New Yorkers love this. Or at the very least new Mets fans seem to love this.
* * * * *
It wasn't like this back in the day.
Things changed after 2006. All of a sudden, the Mets had to win. Winning was our entitlement and anything less was unacceptable.Time was that to be a Mets fan was to be OK, because no matter what else they said about you, you weren't a Yankee fan. You weren't rooting for the Evil Empire, so as a fan, you were the good guy.
Today, Mets fans are worse than Yankee fans.
While both fan bases are filled with 90% morons, Mets fans have taken the bitterness that made us charming for the first 23 years of my life and made us an embarrassment.
Shea Stadium isn't fun anymore. We don't laugh at our shortcomings, we just get angry.
The Mets used to be lovable losers. Now, we are hateable winners.
2007 sucked. No way to get around that. But to a real Mets fan, that was 1 year of 20 or 30 or 40. This isn't a team that wins. It's a team that loses. Maybe thats why '07 bothered me less than the rest.
But to go to the ballpark this year only to hear a chorus of boos, it just isn't right.
I'm not soft. I'm still New York. But this is all above baseball. This is people thinking they are doing what they are supposed to be because they think it's what "New Yorkers" are supposed to do. And it's not.
To be passionate and knowledgeable is to truly follow and understand a team.
Being upset doesn't make you knowledgeable. It just makes you an asshole.And it's a bummer. Shea sucks these days, and Shea is supposed to be home.
I'm really curious for your thoughts right now, because these are mine.
Vaya,
Sip
posted by Sippy Momo at 9:49 AM
8 Comments:
This is a tough one to comment on... I am trying to interpret booing. In general, I dont think you should ever boo a home team player EVER..before an at bat. I dont even like Booing a guy after he looks shitty in an at bat because I know they dont do it on purpose(who wants to embarrass himself on tv). I dunno how rational my thinking is but I tend to get upset with defensive lapses and things like that ...but how do you boo a guy effectively after he allows a guy to tag up on him... how do u boo a runner that does not go first to third on a weak armed CF or LF???
It's all a matter of the jury(crowd) making on-the-fly decisions of guilt. Lately, I must concur the Met jury should be hung(figuratively of course!) I found myself sticking up for Scott fucking Big Show-enweis last night as he was booed. "Boo you have a 2.2 ERA," I screamed. "Boo, you were bad last year," although the sarcasm was surely lost by most. I find myself drifting further from my supposed Met bretheren with each "Yankees Suck" chant while a Met game is going on in front of them. Maybe it's a good thing as I can feel a part of the small group which comprises the true die hard Metsie fan, but the stadium has been tough to stomach lately.
I agree with much of it. especially things like the 2-0 count thing. Or on Saturday when they booed in the middle of a huge rally. (I also think the media blows it out of proportion, and exaggerates it to the players, who in turn distrust all fans because of something one reporter said which probably represented only a handful of fans)
You'd think with places like WFAN and Metsblog.com comments these idiots would've gotten their screaming and yelling out of the way, but no.
These fans need to sit down and ask themselves, "Would I rather be right, and the Mets suck the way I said they would, or wrong and the Mets win"
I think too many would choose the first option.
Also, that 'knowledgable' adjective leads every fan to believe they can do Willie's job, they know how to pitch every batter and hit every pitcher, which, obviously, isn't true. So often times the things they've convinced themselves they want the Mets to do, would be bad overall and then they'd boo more anyway.
I think this is one of the best posts we've ever run. It might be the best piece I've read on this subject, and god knows there's been a ton of ink devoted to the topic.
Great job, Sip.
For those of you who are booing this team, it's gotten really fucking tiresome. Enough already.
In fairness, if I'd been at the game today I probably would have booed.
Nothing infuriates me like a pitcher who stops throwing strikes. I blame Kenny Rogers.
I'm thinking I might have to start a fight with someone then next time I'm at Shea and someone boos irrationally. So if you see a guy wailing on a guy in a fluorescent or corduroy Met hat, help me out.
The article was right on target. Unfortunately, the frontrunning fans will not disappear until the Mets are no longer a first division team.
The game on Sunday was a joke from a fan standpoint, right down to the 114-year-old usher who kept moving fans out of the empty seats behind us -- including the fans with tickets sitting NEXT to us, who just moved BACK for more room.
Also, while I can understand (but not necessarily condone) booing Delgado after he grounds into the shift once again, I absolutely cannot understand the idiocy of booing him during the starting lineup, or Schoeneweis as he comes into the game. Let them do something bad before you boo them.
Anyway -- and this is the biggest crime -- I find myself far more invested in the Royals right now than I do in the Mets. There's a team that tries hard every day and seems excited when they do well. And oh yeah, they have Banny.
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