Real Fans

So, to make a long story short & keep this anonymous, a close friend of mine suffered for being a Red Sox fan. In a very real way.

A little while back I was accused of labeling someone else as 'not a true fan'.

Last season, as the Sox went to the World Series, we had people join our group who, you could tell by their chants, knowing nicknames for players, etc. that they were true fans, maybe even die hard fans who just hadn't discovered our group. There were also people who, you could tell, were bandwagon fans, just wanting to cheer on a winner. Lovely.

So, then this year, as I would watch the occasional Rays game at Tropicana field or I would catch highlights of a game, more the latter than the former, I noticed something. They had no fans. Or very few fans. You see Fenway Park, it is packed from the 1st game to the last, most of the time SRO, if you're lucky. Real fans; fans who are there often or watch the games on MLBtv, at a bar, on their computers, listening on the radio or,as I sometimes do, keeping track of it from my cell phone. Fans who know that when you hear what sounds like booing around Sox fans, there is a darn good chance Kevin Youkilis is at bat or has just done something great and we're yelling "Yooouuukkkk". Fellow fans, the team, Rem Dawg, they're family. Loyal, humble, dedicated, go do your best and it's OK regardless of the outcome. Fans who know the history, know the ups and downs, know that wins rock and the loses cut deep. Fans who wear the fandom on their sleeves, hearts, clothes, cars, office desks and so forth. Red Sox fans are unyielding in their love of and faith in their team. We don't forsake our team at a loss or decide not to go because we disagree with a management decision, we're one of the fan bases that knows the who, what, where, when, how and why of our team and our front office.

When the old owners were debating a new ballpark on the parking lot currently catty corner from the players' entrance, 450,000 signatures said 'no, we like Fenway, we want Fenway, don't TOUCH Fenway.' We won and, after Fenway was purchased by new owners as passionate fans as we are, and they agreed to improve her, and did so, we trusted them. We also liked the 2 World Series titles they helped us earn too! We rallied hard to get our Powers that Be to re-sign Lowell and they did.

Then you have bandwagon fans, wannabe's who don't get it but the team by them is good so they'll be a 'fan'. One of my beloved friends say something to me about judging people and their fandom. Well, here's my point. Red Sox fans fill Fenway Park day in, day out. Red Sox fans are there year round, whether it's hot stove time, GM/winter meetings, ST, Opening Day, the All Star Break or end of the season. A lot of other clubs' fans do this in varying degrees but then there are clubs where this is SO not the case.

Case in point: the Rays! Yes, the Rays! A friend of mine went on their website to 'get tickets' for a few random games and the closest seat she could get...hello, right behind home team dugout?! You gotta know someone or marry into seats like that at many a ballpark. With the except of game 7 of the ALCS, there were seats 'tarped off' because they weren't being used. Game 7, I'd bet ya dinner more than 1/2 those seats were Red Sox fans. In fact, they were giving away tickets to the game, GAME 7 of the ALCS mind you, last night outside the Trop!!! Real fans believe in the heart and soul of their team, the players, the goal. Rays fans are the definition of bandwagon fans. I mean, seriously, did most St. Pete/TB residents even know there was an MLB team there in, say, September?! I mean, you'd see highlights of games on ESPN, the club playing good baseball, but empty seats abound! And now they made the playoffs their so-called fans are coming out in droves?! Child, please! If you have to give away free tickets or pay people to come see the team, that's not a fan...that's pathetic!

Granted, there are some Rays fans who have been fans since the start, since back when they sucked and were the Devil Rays, D Rays for those of us who think saying 'Devil' takes way too much effort. But the blue mohawks, the idiotic cowbells...people, please! When the Fenway Faithful yell and cheer so loudly that we drown out the cowbells....message to the Rays...your team ain't 1/2 bad...too bad your fans suck!!!

Someone asked me who I'd root for...uh, really no one but if I gotta pick, I say GO PHILLIES!! At least their fans have been fans for more than 3 weeks!