# Stop with the praying fans already **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 18, 2004, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-with-the-praying-fans-already/269809 "2004-10-18T12:43:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-with-the-praying-fans-already/269809/1 "2004-10-18T12:43:42Z")
During semi-critical moments in baseball playoff games, it has become standard practice for the networks to zoom in for closeups of fans before every pitch. The directors just love to show anxious fans with hands clasped in prayerful mode. Especially middle-aged praying women. I realize that people attending these games are often not the regular-season fans who support the club and know something about baseball, but still. ENOUGH with the damn praying! Fenway Park is not a church. Dave Roberts is not the official Patron Saint of Lost Causes. Clap, cheer, chant, whistle, wave your arms, jump up and down or whatever, but don’t sit there praying. Fox (and the other networks) - there’s a game out there. Focus on the players. You do not have to show the Anxious Praying Fans between every pitch. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-with-the-praying-fans-already/269809/2 "2004-10-18T12:55:29Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > …\… > Fenway Park is not a church. Dave Roberts is not the official Patron Saint of Lost Causes. Clap, cheer, chant, whistle, wave your arms, jump up and down or whatever, but don’t sit there praying. > > …\… Well Sox fans have to do something…right? I mean they have not been able to rely on the ability of their players alone for so long…I’m not surprised they are resorting to prayer. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-with-the-praying-fans-already/269809/3 "2004-10-18T13:04:30Z")
If I were God, and people were pleading for my My divine interfection over a goddamn _game_, I’d start raining frogs and locusts on their dumb asses. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ea5d25/32.png) [@Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Scrappy_Hero_Pup)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-with-the-praying-fans-already/269809/4 "2004-10-18T13:05:05Z")
Ummm… Jesus plays for the Red Sox. He bats leadoff. Maybe that’s just their way of cheering for him. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-with-the-praying-fans-already/269809/5 "2004-10-18T13:09:44Z")
> [@Happy Scrappy Hero Pup](#): > > Ummm… > > Jesus plays for the Red Sox. He bats leadoff. > > Maybe that’s just their way of cheering for him. Oh yeah. I forgot. Heh, they really are that bad…even with divine intervention. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Exgineer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Exgineer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exgineer)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-with-the-praying-fans-already/269809/6 "2004-10-18T13:31:02Z")
I call it “grasping at any straw we can find.” We need all the help we can get. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-with-the-praying-fans-already/269809/7 "2004-10-18T13:41:53Z")
Praying fans? You mean those hand held fans you get at church, with the funeral homes advertised on them? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-with-the-praying-fans-already/269809/8 "2004-10-18T15:19:08Z")
> [@NurseCarmen](#): > > Praying fans? You mean those hand held fans you get at church, with the funeral homes advertised on them? Haven’t seen any of those, just the clasped-hand silent anxious types in the stands. And this of course is not just a Fenway phenomenon, but occurs in other ballparks as well. There may not be that many of these people, but the TV cameras just _love_ them. ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-with-the-praying-fans-already/269809/9 "2004-10-18T15:29:11Z")
They’re all part of Mary Katherine Gallagher’s family (you know how large some Irish Catholic families can get). When they get nervous, they put their hands under their armpits, then they smell their fingers. ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-with-the-praying-fans-already/269809/10 "2004-10-18T19:21:54Z")
If you’re talking about the game last night, those people weren’t praying - they were using their breath to keep their faces from freezing solid. The Fox producer sure was eating it up, though. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-with-the-praying-fans-already/269809/11 "2004-10-18T20:31:53Z")
You’ve got Jeannie Zelasko in the studio. In front of a camera. Why show us the stupid fans? Show us Jeannie!