If you’ve been to a baseball game or any sporting event really, it is likely you’ve seen/heard something like this…
This angers me to no end. These half drunk idiots who say these things, they don’t seem to understand, in almost all cases it doesn’t help, and in some it probably hurts. I’m not talking about the occasional boo, I’m talking about ad hominem attacks on players when they screw up. These so-called fans would never dream of treating “normal” people like that, but it’s apparently perfectly acceptable to treat athletes like shit when they make a mistake. I’m sure they’d love to have 50,000 people screaming at them when they make a mistake at their job. It’s also real nice for all the kids around them to learn how to really string together profanities.
Note that I am not saying athletes should be above criticism. I am just saying there is a time and a place for it, and that time is not while the game is going on.
To those who partake in this behavior…a hearty “fuck you.” You’re not helping anyone, you may be hurting the team, and you’re being rude to those around you just trying to enjoy the game.
Dude, don’t forget the assholes who start berating the managers calls and strategies. Sheesh! You’re on your 7th beer and talking on your cellphone, and you think you know better when to lay down a bunt or call a hit and run? Shaddup!
What also gets me is that if they were to try this in person, they know they would get the shit kicked out of them. And rightfully so.
What also bugs me is the sometimes unfettered celebration for when a player goes down. I remember all to well the disgraceful incident in Philadelphia (not that we can expect much from them in the first place) when they wildly cheered Deion Sanders taking a SERIOUS hit and lying there on the field motionless. Or was that Michael Irvin??
Shoot… you get the idea. And I’m a REDSKINS fan no less.
Had another point to make but maybe I should stop here.
What bugs me is, while I know some of the funniest people in existence, when we attend a game and want to yell out some good-natured ragging of the opposition, we refrain from swearing out of respect for the families who are attending…I’m not condemning anyone who uses profanity; shit, far from it (note gratuitous obscenity)…but it isn’t necessary to scream “Hey, ya fuckin’ shithead, why don’t ya fuckin’ check somebody and earn yer fuckin’ paycheck, ya goddamn pussy!” when there’s children present.
I’ve no problem with reasonably good natured hecking (though I NEVER heckle myself). And I have no problem second guessing strategy, either, though I usually discuss this with my friends, as opposed to screaming my agreement or disagreement in profane fashion at the top of my lungs.
I really don’t boo, either. I guess I’m too polite. Seriously, I think the only reason I could ever see myself booing is if a player doesn’t hustle. (No, there’s no harm in booing a visiting player–presuming he’s not hurt and it’s not done in a profane fashion–I just don’t do it.)
Yeah, ad hominen attacks on a ballplayer because he didn’t come through, or just didn’t have his best stuff tonight. Real classy.
Two things I find pathetic (though my reaction is more contempt than anger):
Booing a visiting manager when he intentionally walks your best player, and it’s clearly the right move tactically. (“Sure, I’d really rather not pitch to Sheffield, but it wouldn’t be sporting to walk him and pitch to Hundley. I don’t owe it to my players or the people paying my check to give my team the best shot to win, I’m here to give the home fans, who’ve been heckling the shit out of me and my players, what they want.”)
Those wonderful individuals who spend half the game trying to start a wave. Actually, it’s not so much them (even though they’re engaging in a tragic waste of the human spirit), it’s the morons who boo the true baseball fans for not participating in the wave because they actually would rather watch the ballgame. :rolleyes:
I heard one during the '98 football season that kinda rocked me. A Raiders linebacker missed a key tackle and allowed a first down. He’s called out and as he’s jogging toward the coach somebody yells, “You stupid nigger”! From his own bench. Way to build teamwork.
At a hockey game, on the other hand, I understand that you’re supposed to show support for your team with the traditional, “KIIILLL 'EMMMMM”. Customs must be respected.
You are lumping together the entire population of Philadelphia (or at least every single Eagles’ fan)? Seems an unfounded and rather sweeping statement that assigns “disgraceful” behavior to every single person in a group that is probably at least in the seven figures. Isn’t that somewhat small-minded and bigoted…
Oh wait! You’re a Redskins fan. This is typical of you idiots.
No, I did not mean to make a blanket statment covering every single Philadoofus nor every single Eagles fan for that matter.
IIRC, in addition to the entire sporting public finding this act to be over the top, I remember your mayor even chiming in on the matter saying that the incident was indeed shameless.
Then in the news clip that was shown down here in WaWa land, there’s some moronic dude in an Eagles jersey saying that he was hoping to see Irvin carried out in a body bag rather than on a stretcher.
I’ll be the first to disagree, to a point. FTR, I do NOT condone profanity filled shouting with kids present.
However,
Take all the profanity out of there, and I don’t see the problem with it. It’s all part of the game.
Maybe it doesn’t help, I wont sit here and try to say it does. However, I think that knowing you are going to get your ass heckled if you screw up consistently goes with the territory. Hell, I am a Steelers fan, and I’ve saw how Kordell Stewart was treated in Three Rivers Stadium all last year. He sucked major eggs the whole year long, and his reception at home reflected that. Do I feel bad for him? Sort of. But you have diehard fans spending between $50 and $200 bucks a game, and they want to see results. You don’t produce, you’re gonna hear about it.
There’s a difference between an occasional mistake, and someone who is not getting the job done. I think that you’ll see people upset with a good player who messes up once, and they’ll quickly get over it. If someone consistently sucks, then they won’t. And don’t boo-hoo for these thick-neck jocks. They make 6 and 7 (and sometimes 8) figure incomes to play a game.
And I’m sure that if they entered into their employment contract knowing that there would be 50,000 people watching and emotionally involved in their work, they’d expect it. Don’t compare apples to oranges.
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It’s also real nice for all the kids around them to learn how to really string together profanities.
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As stated above, I don’t condone this.
What the hell are you saying? Joe Quarterback gets a letter on Monday morning:
Dear Sir:
We, the people of town X, felt that your performance in yesterdays game was sub-par. However, we thought it would be more appropriate in this forum, instead of us showing emotion in the middle of the exciting game. We didn’t want to boo you during the game, because that might hurt your feelings.
::insert 50,000 signatures here::
Gimme a break. :rolleyes:
Sounds like you might better enjoy the game in your living room where it is clean, quiet, and you can be as nice as you want.
Most of those “quotes” that I said in my OP were things I had heard in the past two days at Cardinals’ baseball games. They all fall under the category of the “occasional screw up,” but they got lambasted for it nonetheless.
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Conceded. The fact that they expect it doesn’t change the fact that they are human and will have human reactions to it, though. I dare one of these “fans” to say that face to face to the player if they meet up in a bar or the supermarket. They can confidently hurl insults at players during games because they know that they are annonymous and that there will be no retribution, in all likelihood.
**
I’m saying fans should show some self-control during games, because hurling obscenities at players doesn’t help anyone and is rude. Like I said, the occasional boo does not bother me. Nor, in reality, does the occasional heckling comment, though I don’t make them myself. What gets my goat are the attacks on the players themselves, laced with profanity, shouted by drunken imbeciles that wouldn’t dream of saying these things to a player’s face when sober.
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Funny that you should mention this, because when I am at home watching the game I actually yell at the TV. I understand the need to vent like that, but when I do that it’s in the privacy of my own home, when I’m not being rude to those around me and not affecting the players trying to win the ballgame.
I was a Boston Bruins season ticket holder for nearly 10 years. I was always entertained by the idiots seated behind and around me that could see the perfect open shot the defenseman couldn’t see. The defenseman was on the ice in front of the net and the idiot was 40 rows up at the other end of the ice.
Yea, man, you got the vantage point from your seat. Hell, the franchise would be pressed explaining why they aren’t paying you to be on the ice.
What I wasn’t entertained by was the pig that urinated in a beer cup in the row behind me. This of course took place after he spent 2 hours before the game in a bar and then proceeded to drink at least 6 more beers during the game. After I turned around and caught a glimpse of the scene, my sister and I decided that no last period of a Bruins vs. Pittsburg game was worth it when there was a good chance of getting urine spilled or poured on us.
I whole-heartedly agree with you, SDP. Whatever happened to good sportsmanship? How about common manners? I don’t know when it became OK to boo and hiss and sling insults at people over a simple game. You are right, SDP, these athletes are people with feelings and I fail to see why fans feel entitled to abuse them.
They do make obscene amounts of money, but I don’t see how that has anything to do with one’s “right” to display attrocious manners. Is it Ok to scream obscenities at a movie star you see on the street because you thought their last film sucked?
Can’t we just all show a little respect and treat our fellow human beings decently?
Lucky, I think I might vomit from all the sweetness.
I am not trying to defend the fans who piss in the stands, or throw batteries, or who curse up a storm in front of children. Obviously, you can take it too far.
Having said that, you better believe I’m gonna boo and yell whenever someone is stinking up the game.
If you paid $200 for your ticket to the movie, and it was a one time live take (no editing), and in doing so he let 10 other of his actor-team members and his hometown down by his poor performance,(yes, this sounds silly–point is, it’s not a good analogy) then it’s absolutely OK.
It’s not like you’re going to a neighborhood softball game and hurling insults at the outfielder for making an error. Anyone who does this is an asshole.
OTOH, pro athletes are EMPLOYED to perform well, and in a certain light, they represent the city they play for. Did you ever notice that in non-team sports, (tennis, golf, track & field, etc) fans don’t boo the people who screw up? That’s because when they (the athletes) screw up, they are letting themselves down. In pro team sports, you are letting your teammates and your city down. And you’re being paid to do exactly the opposite of that. And since the argument can be made that the people in the stands are the ones paying the athletes salaries, you have every f’n right on earth to let them know how you feel about their performance.
minlokwat, um, I was kidding (chiding you for making a blanket, small-minded statement by closing with a blanket, small-minded statement…all right, so it’s not exactly Twain-like)…
I mean come on, we NFC East guys are not supposed to be thin-skinned; we’re big, tough smash-mouth types. Try and set an example for the lesser fans, OK?
mouthbreather You seem to think that money buys you the right to act like a boor. Yes, I understand that YOU wouldn’t be profane in front of a family sitting behind you. But the OP was ragging on some of your cousins who just don’t get it.
But then, if you’re a Steelers fan, I feel your pain.
There’s a difference between being a vocal, enthusiastic fan and being an asshole.
Vocal fans will boo when their man drops the ball, but they’ll be the first to cheer when the ball is caught. They’ll play along with the wave and the crowd rousers, but they won’t ram their knee into your back and spill beer on you while they’re doing it. They enjoy the game and don’t turn nasty mean if things don’t go their way that afternoon. They are at least slightly aware and considerate of the people packed in around them.
Assholes will scream in your ear, curse in front of old ladies and small children, spill more beer than they drink, heckle everything that moves, and get into fights with fans of the other team. They are the ones who get wasted drunk at a game and then climb in their car and go racing around the neighborhood with a banner hanging out the back window. They are the worthless pukes who will riot and set cars on fire when their team wins, and sometimes when their team loses just for drill. I don’t want to be anywhere near such imbeciles, but if you do more power to you.
If you can’t see the difference between the two then it’s pretty clear which group you belong to.
I am making no asperation about the citizens of the city of brotherly love, but I would like to note in passing that The Vet is the only stadium in the NFL that has a courtroom on premises, staffed by a judge, during every game, to deal out swift justice when fans act like assholes. SOMEONE must have seen a need for this service. Last week at the game, a group of Igles fans were being assholes down here in B-more, and I just had to wonder how I would have been treated in Philly had I been making similar pro-Raven, anti-Eagle remarks laced with profanity at the top of my lungs. Not as tolerently as we treated them, I’ll bet. I probobly would have gotten to meet that judge.
mouthbreather,
You’re a Stiller fan? Do you have a terrible towel? I think you’re gonna need it to wipe away the tears after the mighty Ravens get through with the yellow and black this year. Hehe!
Seriously, I was making what I thought was a dumb, little joke (which did not at all trvialize anyone’s serious injury). I don’t represent all Eagles fans, nor do I feel the need to apologize for them. I myself would have concerns about having, say, my wife and son attend a game, seated in the 700 level, without me. Lots of beer-soaked knuckleheads toward the fourth quarter up in the nose-bleeds.
I don’t think this is the majority of Philadelphia fans, but it doesn’t matter what I think. All I can do is behave myself and respect others (and I do, even with Dallas and Redskins fans!)…if you’re ever at the Vet for an Eagles/Ravens game, I’ll meet you for a beer on the 400 level. We can discuss football and I’ll club any of the Eagles’ faithful who don’t make nice…
