SteveSilver.net

Finally, Someone Said It

Frank Fitzpatrick, in the Inquirer, in a column that got him ripped to shreds on talk radio Friday:

We want so badly for [a championship] to happen that we pour all our passions into our teams, often without reason.

When they fail, we get frustrated. We get disappointed.

But where Philly fans differ from others, however, is that we can go from disappointment to bloodthirsty rage in 4.3 seconds. It's like one of those Incredible Hulk transformations: One minute, we are rational people; an instant later, we're a race of mean-spirited idiots...

Somehow we've decided that hitting .300 with 30 homers and 30 stolen bases is not enough. We'd rather focus on the flaws. Had Willie Mays been a Phillie, rest assured that someone here would have vilified him as a showboating hot dog because he made basket catches.

All-star credentials mean nothing. We'd rather have a guy who hits .265 but runs into walls... Maybe the fact that we think we know what makes a champion explains why the Phillies have been called that only once in 124 seasons.

You can almost smell the pungent vitriol in the air every time Bobby Abreu misplays a fly ball, or David Bell strikes out, or Arthur Rhodes walks another batter. Then we wonder why these 2006 Phillies are 18-23 at home.

Justifiable criticism becomes mean-spirited character assassination. We don't logically discuss strengths and shortcomings on talk radio. We'd rather vilify. We boo and curse at the ballpark..

Yes, exactly. Exactly. Can it be a coincidence that the town with the longest championship drought also has the most mean-spirited fans?

Posted by Stephen Silver at June 25, 2006 09:23 PM