Since this is my first post, I want to give a little introduction to what my contributors and I will be talking about on a fairly regular basis. I have a list of irrational people, groups, ideas, etc. (basically just a bunch of bull s*** that bothers me). But in light of all of the enthralling sports action, I want to dedicate my first blog to some of the most irrational fans in America. So this one's for you Chicago and Boston.
I don't think that anyone outside of these two mega-markets would consider it an overly bold statement to say that fans from Chicago and Boston are anything less than lunatics. I'm not saying this as a personal opinion. 99% of people outside of your towns hate you--and with good reason. The recent collapse of MLB teams (Cubs and Red Sox, that is) has spurred the resurfacing of two of the friendliest faces known to man, Bill Buckner and Steve Bartman. These two media-darlings (if you consider people who are too scared to leave their homes media-darlings) have been talked about incessantly over the past few weeks, as if they have something to do with the 9 players on the field not being able to do their jobs.
I know Boston was able to get over Buckner and the Curse of the Bambino with recent championships, but it's fairly safe to say that choking on a 9 game lead like its a bony piece of scrod may curtail into another curse (and I know how you Bostonians love your scrod and chips).
But let us focus on Chicago for the time being because the Bartman story is one of the most disturbing stories of human irrationality in US history. ESPN recently ran a fantastic docu-film on Bartman, which should serve as a reminder to the lunatics around Wrigley field that threatened a man's life over a baseball game. Every fan in that situation is going to reach at that ball, I don't care how good your hindsight is. He wasn't even the only one to go for it. But anyhow, I guess it was reasonable to throw beer in his face, chant asshole at him, threaten to kill him, and mount enough fear in the man to basically place in him solitary confinement for the rest of his life.
It's about time to realize it wasn't his fault at all. I have to credit ESPN on refreshing my memory on some of these points, but as I can recall, good ole' Dusty and his conterminous tooth pick didn't have the huevos to pull a dying pitcher. Not to mention, the Cubbies had about 13 other chances to get out of that inning and end the game. Good teams finish games and beat adversity...NOT FANS!
Did I say beat fans? Yep...These are the same fans that travel from ballpark to ballpark searching for brawls with random fans. Sounds like a gang, doesn't it?
And whoever coined the phrase "The Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field" obviously hasn't been there. The place, as historic as it may be, is almost as unwelcoming as the dump it resembles. But I guess fans who threaten to kill one of their own (because their team couldn't manage to hold a lead) don't deserve any better.
PS: Lose the whole goat thing. You could just call your team the Chicago Goats and start blaming your losses on a baby bear and everyone else would care equally as much--not at all.
