Being that the Philadelphis Phillies are in the World Series, it was inevitable that someone, somewhere, would write a newspaper article about the “behavior” of Philadelphia fans. I have two thoughts on this article, and this theme in general.
First and foremost, I neither understand nor comprehend the midset of the fan that literally takes joy in causing misery and sometimes even pain to other people. What does it say about our culture that the mob mentality is so prevalent and acceptable? Is it really any sort of positive contribution to fan-dom to pour beers on children, and scream obscenities at players’ families? I understand the nature of being a die-hard fan; the love for your team that leads you to yell at the opposing team, watch every game, and spend ass-loads of money on gear/clothing/memorabilia, yet I will never understand the vitriole that is thrown forth towards people who share those same feelings, if towards another team. Sports isn’t about being angry towards other fans. Sports is about rooting for your team and against the other team. That should be it, and I will never for the life of me understand the rationalization of those that take it too far.
But my larger point here is this: why must writers continue to write about this every time some team with unruly fans, in this case Philadelphia, makes it to the playoffs or the championship. This story has been told, it’s been retold, and it’s been retold again. SImply put, it’s lazy writing. I understand that some of the Tampa Rays’ players’ families were upset that they were being fucked with. I get that. They were the actions of some drunk idiots sure, but idiots nonetheless. I’ve read countless articles about this same phenomenon before. Why write it again? There are plenty of great sub-plots in this World Series; but the idiocy of some fans is not the story here. Can we all please move along?