Good sentiment delivered the wrong way. (Photo lifted from eBay where someone was actually selling this)
I can’t believe today is only Tuesday. Even in the world of sports, I’m not one of those people who wishes time away…but the past two days have craaaawled by and the idea that we have to wait about 35 hours before another Red Sox game is scrambling my brains. So I’m pretty much useless today.
Which gives me time to think…which isn’t always so great for other folks. Today I’m thinking about all of the fun police. Not just Brian McCann or the St. Louis Cardinals, but everyone who tries to tell you how to enjoy your sports experiences. You know who they are. They’re almost always people who cover the sport you love. They tell you that you’re wrong for cheering for a blown perfect game (“No true baseball fan wanted to see Carl Everett (ugh) get a hit.†Holy hell, Bob Ryan, I did. Sweet Jesus did I!) or they tell you that there is something wrong with an entire park of fans singing a song just because it has nothing to do with baseball. Some people make fun of folks giving and getting marriage proposals at a baseball game…as if the fans have a NERVE to want to enjoy the entire baseball experience.
Now before I get called out, I have to come clean and admit that I often find myself being a member of the fun police. I hate the wave (why would you purposely do anything DURING the game that would 1. Block the view of other fans and 2. Potentially distract the team you’re there to support?), I despise people bringing beach balls to the game (one of my proudest moments at Fenway was, without any kind of planning, stabbing one with a pen I happened to have in my hand as it landed on my lap) and if I saw a thunderstick or a towel being waved while I was at Fenway you might be reading about me getting arrested after I shoved one of them where the sun doesn’t shine on the waver. So I know that my annoyance with those who want to tell me (or you) how to enjoy the game comes with a bit of hypocrisy. My only defense is that the things that bother me are things that go on while the game is being played. I don’t care what you’re doing in the stands before or after the game or during breaks in play, but if your enjoyment of the game interferes with the enjoyment of others, or their ability to see the action on the field, I think you should look for something else to occupy your time.
But generally speaking, I don’t think there should be any set rules for how to be a fan (except, again, don’t mess with everyone else’s fun and, most importantly, their view of the game) and I will never understand why so many people (read: sports writers) feel the need to tell people how they should act as fans. If I want to wear a fake beard to Fenway Park, I will. If I want to bring a glove because I would rather not get decapitated by a David Ortiz foul ball, I’m gonna. If I want to use my iPad to record 35,000+ people singing Sweet Caroline in a game that the Red Sox are losing, shut the hell up and get out of my way (or just start singing).
I will be watching Game 1 of the World Series from the comfort and safety of my couch. This is probably for the best.