Friday, December 17, 2004
JUST A LITTLE BIT (of a double standard)
A. SOX FAN 12/15/04:"He's a liar; a greedy, self-centered traitor. For XXXX, the sheepbrained Sox fans insist, it's all about XXXX. And, of course, the money. It's always about the money".
B. SOX FAN 12/16/04: "He's the best player on the market at his position. He's worth outbidding the other teams for. I believe him when he says that he really wants to play for XXXX because he wants to win. It's all about the tradition, the fans, the atmosphere".
In both cases, it is about respect. And of course it is also literally about the Benjamins. In the fantasy world of the professional athlete, getting respect is about keeping score and getting more. What's the difference between example A and example B? Besides the obvious fact that one is a pitcher and the other is a shortstop, the answer is simple: Player A is leaving the Red Sox; player B is falling into the the open arms of the Olde Towne Team and its fans. Yes, there is a pattern hypocrisy with today's player. Yet this hypocrisy is also perpetuated by most big market baseball fans.
Think about it. This is the reality of professional sports in the new millenium. We really are just rooting for laundry...albeit, in the case of the Olde Towne Team, laundry with an aura of history and tradition. The days of Carl Yastrzemski are over. The agents and their clients are just really looking for a little..."respect". The owners and general managers are just trying to win, while keeping as much of their "self-respect" as possible. If they lose their "self-respect" to the players, they simply take more of the fans' "self-respect". If you don't believe this, you don't need to look any further than to that beloved annual rite of passage, paying Red Sox ticket price increases (on top of what is already the highest priced ticket in baseball), and this year's wonderful invention, the $10 Red Sox Nation membership card. Argh.
Maybe, rather than using the terms big market and small market teams, fans should be politically correct like the players. Henceforth, the Kansas City Royals will be known as a "Disrespectful" team, while the New York Yankees will be called a "Most Respectful" team. During this holiday season, the Red Sox owners and players can be thankful that their team resides in a "Very Respectful" Nation.
-Nomarfan1997
B. SOX FAN 12/16/04: "He's the best player on the market at his position. He's worth outbidding the other teams for. I believe him when he says that he really wants to play for XXXX because he wants to win. It's all about the tradition, the fans, the atmosphere".
In both cases, it is about respect. And of course it is also literally about the Benjamins. In the fantasy world of the professional athlete, getting respect is about keeping score and getting more. What's the difference between example A and example B? Besides the obvious fact that one is a pitcher and the other is a shortstop, the answer is simple: Player A is leaving the Red Sox; player B is falling into the the open arms of the Olde Towne Team and its fans. Yes, there is a pattern hypocrisy with today's player. Yet this hypocrisy is also perpetuated by most big market baseball fans.
Think about it. This is the reality of professional sports in the new millenium. We really are just rooting for laundry...albeit, in the case of the Olde Towne Team, laundry with an aura of history and tradition. The days of Carl Yastrzemski are over. The agents and their clients are just really looking for a little..."respect". The owners and general managers are just trying to win, while keeping as much of their "self-respect" as possible. If they lose their "self-respect" to the players, they simply take more of the fans' "self-respect". If you don't believe this, you don't need to look any further than to that beloved annual rite of passage, paying Red Sox ticket price increases (on top of what is already the highest priced ticket in baseball), and this year's wonderful invention, the $10 Red Sox Nation membership card. Argh.
Maybe, rather than using the terms big market and small market teams, fans should be politically correct like the players. Henceforth, the Kansas City Royals will be known as a "Disrespectful" team, while the New York Yankees will be called a "Most Respectful" team. During this holiday season, the Red Sox owners and players can be thankful that their team resides in a "Very Respectful" Nation.
-Nomarfan1997
