Wednesday, October 06, 2004
A Nation of Shame
Hate--it's not a word I like to throw around unless I really mean it. When it comes to Boston Red Sox fans, the only question is the degree to which I hate them. Right now, it's a pretty advanced degree.
Bill Simmons, aka The Sports Guy, is one of my favorite writers. I've mentioned him before and you'll find his placed prominently at the top of my list of links. However, Simmons is unfortunately, a devout and typical Red Sox fan. He made the following statement in his column today after attending Game 1 of the ALDS in Anaheim Tuesday.
"Where else can you walk into an opposing stadium during a playoff game, start chants for the other teams and basically have the run of the place? We did everything but make out with their girlfriends yesterday. Actually, that's on the docket for Game 2."
That quote sums up everything I hate about Red Sox fans. I hail The Sports Guy as a writer for so aptly representing an entire base of obnoxious people in two short sentences. I thank him for that. After today, I won't need to explain my boiling disdain for Red Sox Nation; I'll just have to point to that quote.
Red Sox fans walk into Angel Stadium thinking they own the place. With the exception of the occasional middle-aged father, Sox fans are a horde of loquacious, cocky, and often drunken Neanderthals. They cheer loudly and proudly for the Red Sox, but before you can correctly pronounce "Mientkiewicz," these fans seem as if their prime objective is to obtrusively annoy the home fans. They take their focus off of the game being played on the field and initiate one of a more childish variety in the stands. Before long, "Let's Go Red Sox" becomes "C'mon Angel fans, stand up. Don't you believe?" After the game in which their team has won, they can't just head to their cars happily and respectfully. No, they chant all the way and make asinine comments about the 1986 ALCS. What is the point, I ask you? The team can't hear them, they've already proven they as fans are unified so what's the point other than to antagonize fans of the losing team? That's exactly their mission which is why I can say without a shred of remorse that these Boston fans are a shining example of what it means to have no dignity and poor sportsmanship.
In the summer of 2002, I went to a Red Sox-Angels game in Anaheim and sat on the field level in left field. In the lodge level above were a group of young Red Sox thugs arguing back and forth all night with an Angels contingent seated directly behind me. All night these two went back and forth. The Red Sox won that day and at the end of the game, the Sox fans poured beer and actually spit on their rivals below. Sounds like a real classy Nation, doesn't it?
They show absolutely no respect for any other team in baseball nor for any other fans in baseball. Look at their relationship with the Yankees. This is a rivalry in which one team never wins and gets soundly defeated time and time again, yet the calling card for Red Sox Nation is to chant "Yankees Suck." The sad part is they're not intentionally being ironic. If these people can't even respect their "daddies," they are light years from being humble and courteous to any other teams.
This is why, from this day forth, my two favorite teams will be the Angels and whoever is playing the Red Sox. Not because I hold any ill will towards the organization or its players, but because their fans don't deserve to win. I hope every living member of Red Sox Nation relinquishes their last breath without ever seeing the Red Sox win a World Series.
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Bill Simmons, aka The Sports Guy, is one of my favorite writers. I've mentioned him before and you'll find his placed prominently at the top of my list of links. However, Simmons is unfortunately, a devout and typical Red Sox fan. He made the following statement in his column today after attending Game 1 of the ALDS in Anaheim Tuesday.
"Where else can you walk into an opposing stadium during a playoff game, start chants for the other teams and basically have the run of the place? We did everything but make out with their girlfriends yesterday. Actually, that's on the docket for Game 2."
That quote sums up everything I hate about Red Sox fans. I hail The Sports Guy as a writer for so aptly representing an entire base of obnoxious people in two short sentences. I thank him for that. After today, I won't need to explain my boiling disdain for Red Sox Nation; I'll just have to point to that quote.
Red Sox fans walk into Angel Stadium thinking they own the place. With the exception of the occasional middle-aged father, Sox fans are a horde of loquacious, cocky, and often drunken Neanderthals. They cheer loudly and proudly for the Red Sox, but before you can correctly pronounce "Mientkiewicz," these fans seem as if their prime objective is to obtrusively annoy the home fans. They take their focus off of the game being played on the field and initiate one of a more childish variety in the stands. Before long, "Let's Go Red Sox" becomes "C'mon Angel fans, stand up. Don't you believe?" After the game in which their team has won, they can't just head to their cars happily and respectfully. No, they chant all the way and make asinine comments about the 1986 ALCS. What is the point, I ask you? The team can't hear them, they've already proven they as fans are unified so what's the point other than to antagonize fans of the losing team? That's exactly their mission which is why I can say without a shred of remorse that these Boston fans are a shining example of what it means to have no dignity and poor sportsmanship.
In the summer of 2002, I went to a Red Sox-Angels game in Anaheim and sat on the field level in left field. In the lodge level above were a group of young Red Sox thugs arguing back and forth all night with an Angels contingent seated directly behind me. All night these two went back and forth. The Red Sox won that day and at the end of the game, the Sox fans poured beer and actually spit on their rivals below. Sounds like a real classy Nation, doesn't it?
They show absolutely no respect for any other team in baseball nor for any other fans in baseball. Look at their relationship with the Yankees. This is a rivalry in which one team never wins and gets soundly defeated time and time again, yet the calling card for Red Sox Nation is to chant "Yankees Suck." The sad part is they're not intentionally being ironic. If these people can't even respect their "daddies," they are light years from being humble and courteous to any other teams.
This is why, from this day forth, my two favorite teams will be the Angels and whoever is playing the Red Sox. Not because I hold any ill will towards the organization or its players, but because their fans don't deserve to win. I hope every living member of Red Sox Nation relinquishes their last breath without ever seeing the Red Sox win a World Series.
# posted by j.h.k. @ 5:48 PM 
