08-29-2009, 07:28 PM
<!--quoteo(post=60693:date=Aug 29 2009, 12:58 PM:name=Gracie)-->QUOTE (Gracie @ Aug 29 2009, 12:58 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Yeah, I think what's really bothering Milton now is that he is hitting like he was brought in to do and yet fans are still booing him. I wish he would just keep his damn mouth shut instead of making things worse, but he isn't entirely wrong about the fans.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I've been hanging on the sidelines about this as I avoid most of the media reports on the cubs that have little to do with transactions and game decisions. It's fairly easy to do, being in Columbus and all.
Of course, I've always been quick to correct the myth that Sox fans cling to as if it were heroin-laced flypaper: that Cubs fans aren't very knowledgeable and that they are not aware of what's going on in the games they attend. It has long stood as a palliative for deep-seated inferiority complexes that may or may not cut along north and south lines (as a Cub fan originally from the south suburbs, I had my share of accusations of treason, but that's neither here nor there). I recall Sox fans touting the Cubs fans' novel appreciation for Augie Ojeda as proof positive of their lack of baseball acumen, as if they couldn't possibly conceive of rooting for the underdog when--at the time--there wasn't a ton of other things to root for.
However, this recent trend of just heaping the boos on individual players has troubled me. It's really only been a phenomenon since 2003, I believe, as some fans have translated the frustration of a century of mostly futility--and it's emblematic moment in game six of the 2003 NL Championship Series--as entitlement to be instantaneously petulant toward those who underperform, those who error, those who in some way dissatisfy during gameplay. I'm not saying that in most cases the feelings that prompt the booing are errant; however, I do find the expression of the feelings tough shit jerky to chew. The booing wasn't going to prevent Hawkins from blowing another save; in fact, it was more likely that it would unnerve him or cause him to to not care as much the next time out at home.
There's nothing wrong with thinking that a guy's a bum. It is, in fact, a long-standing baseball tradition to vent on the guys not picking up the slack. With talk radio, blogs, message boards like these, harping on our bums is easier than ever. But that's not what I hear happening when fans heap on the boos on the players mentioned in this thread. What I hear is longtime frustration finding this year's (or, in some cases, month's) scapegoat. Fuck Howry's successful campaigns in 2006 and 2007. It was <b>his</b> fault whenever we lost one of 64 games in 2008. <b>BOOO!</b> [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/angry.gif[/img] [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/furious.gif[/img] [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/finger.gif[/img] Of course as pointed out earlier, sometimes the booing flies in the face of logic, as Bradley has been a valuable player since the All-Star break. At 31 years of age, he goddamned assented to take hitting instruction from Pinella, someone who exceeded Bradley's lifetime OPS in only one of his eighteen seasons. But fuck it-- another season's lost; we gotta boo someone.
As an aside, do fans who boo think that it will affect player performance? Unlikely, but if at all, more likely in a bad way. Managerial decisions? I'm sure Lou needs our help recognizing who is performing or not. GM decisions? Nice try. You've already lost your voice by buying a ticket to the game. Boos and cheers alike sound like the ringing of the cash register, although maybe even more people will order a second hot dog, eating out of depression and anger . . .
Seriously, and back to the Bradley situation, I haven't read the article in which he claims that he has been the target of racist remarks. Still, judging from this thread, I'm inclined to agree with most of you that if he is being truthful about the remarks, they are probably isolated<b>,</b> and <b>he </b>is probably using this as a shield for his down year. So I see both Bradley and the group of booing Cubs fans as looking for some excuse to help them assuage a bad season. (And, of course, there is a nudging assist from the sports journalists, who love, LOVE, <b>LOVE</b> narratives of players fighting with a fan base, as it makes for salacious articles/broadcasts/circle jerks.) Racism's Bradley's excuse. Bradley's ours. Whatever makes all of us feel better about ourselves so we won't feel so hypocritical when we swing at a slider in the dirt or sign up for a new package of season tickets.
<!--sizeo:1--><!--/sizeo-->I do retain hope, however, judging from the cheering at routine fly ball/bowing incident that we all can work through our (this is not in reference to anyone here) own inferiority complexes.<!--sizec--><!--/sizec-->
I've been hanging on the sidelines about this as I avoid most of the media reports on the cubs that have little to do with transactions and game decisions. It's fairly easy to do, being in Columbus and all.
Of course, I've always been quick to correct the myth that Sox fans cling to as if it were heroin-laced flypaper: that Cubs fans aren't very knowledgeable and that they are not aware of what's going on in the games they attend. It has long stood as a palliative for deep-seated inferiority complexes that may or may not cut along north and south lines (as a Cub fan originally from the south suburbs, I had my share of accusations of treason, but that's neither here nor there). I recall Sox fans touting the Cubs fans' novel appreciation for Augie Ojeda as proof positive of their lack of baseball acumen, as if they couldn't possibly conceive of rooting for the underdog when--at the time--there wasn't a ton of other things to root for.
However, this recent trend of just heaping the boos on individual players has troubled me. It's really only been a phenomenon since 2003, I believe, as some fans have translated the frustration of a century of mostly futility--and it's emblematic moment in game six of the 2003 NL Championship Series--as entitlement to be instantaneously petulant toward those who underperform, those who error, those who in some way dissatisfy during gameplay. I'm not saying that in most cases the feelings that prompt the booing are errant; however, I do find the expression of the feelings tough shit jerky to chew. The booing wasn't going to prevent Hawkins from blowing another save; in fact, it was more likely that it would unnerve him or cause him to to not care as much the next time out at home.
There's nothing wrong with thinking that a guy's a bum. It is, in fact, a long-standing baseball tradition to vent on the guys not picking up the slack. With talk radio, blogs, message boards like these, harping on our bums is easier than ever. But that's not what I hear happening when fans heap on the boos on the players mentioned in this thread. What I hear is longtime frustration finding this year's (or, in some cases, month's) scapegoat. Fuck Howry's successful campaigns in 2006 and 2007. It was <b>his</b> fault whenever we lost one of 64 games in 2008. <b>BOOO!</b> [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/angry.gif[/img] [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/furious.gif[/img] [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/finger.gif[/img] Of course as pointed out earlier, sometimes the booing flies in the face of logic, as Bradley has been a valuable player since the All-Star break. At 31 years of age, he goddamned assented to take hitting instruction from Pinella, someone who exceeded Bradley's lifetime OPS in only one of his eighteen seasons. But fuck it-- another season's lost; we gotta boo someone.
As an aside, do fans who boo think that it will affect player performance? Unlikely, but if at all, more likely in a bad way. Managerial decisions? I'm sure Lou needs our help recognizing who is performing or not. GM decisions? Nice try. You've already lost your voice by buying a ticket to the game. Boos and cheers alike sound like the ringing of the cash register, although maybe even more people will order a second hot dog, eating out of depression and anger . . .
Seriously, and back to the Bradley situation, I haven't read the article in which he claims that he has been the target of racist remarks. Still, judging from this thread, I'm inclined to agree with most of you that if he is being truthful about the remarks, they are probably isolated<b>,</b> and <b>he </b>is probably using this as a shield for his down year. So I see both Bradley and the group of booing Cubs fans as looking for some excuse to help them assuage a bad season. (And, of course, there is a nudging assist from the sports journalists, who love, LOVE, <b>LOVE</b> narratives of players fighting with a fan base, as it makes for salacious articles/broadcasts/circle jerks.) Racism's Bradley's excuse. Bradley's ours. Whatever makes all of us feel better about ourselves so we won't feel so hypocritical when we swing at a slider in the dirt or sign up for a new package of season tickets.
<!--sizeo:1--><!--/sizeo-->I do retain hope, however, judging from the cheering at routine fly ball/bowing incident that we all can work through our (this is not in reference to anyone here) own inferiority complexes.<!--sizec--><!--/sizec-->
One dick can poke an eye out. A hundred dicks can move mountains.
--Veryzer
--Veryzer