Bob Lobel: The Tortured Relationship Between the Sox and their Fans
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Bob Lobel, GoLocalWorcester Sports Contributor
Especially, when the paying end says they have been true to the cause for generations (I’ve been a Red Sox fan for life). That phrase alone, uttered on any sports talk show from Hartford north, is supposed to buy you instant credibility. That in itself is a laugh when the people you're supposed to be impressing have no clue what it’s supposed to mean.
Being a RED SOX FAN FOR LIFE is not supposed to endear the host or audience with your loyalty or your knowledge. That is your perception. Saying you are a RED SOX FAN FOR LIFE only means in its purest form that you should know better. Why present your self as some ignorant ignoramus with an opening introduction like that?
On the other hand from the camp of the rich and powerful comes perception after perception that they either are too stupid to be rich and powerful, or guilty of giving an empty promise of another exciting hero filled summer. Can’t we all just get along, don’t we all want to win?
Isn’t it in the owners' best interests to keep the fans on their side, instead of becoming the enemy? Now if you really were a RED SOX FAN FOR LIFE, you would know by now that you never get “all in” and you never get “all out”. It's too easy to be Boston Baseball Bi-Pesky poler.
It's too easy to hate, and too easy to love. What is the difference between love and hate? Between hot and cold? Between long and short? Between high and low? Nothing!
They are the same.
Yet, it is the fabric of the relationship between the Boston fan and his/her team that tears when the fan and the team are seen with crossed purposes.
Here is the dynamic in a nutshell. The team is built, it somehow stinks, causing fans to react that those that built it were either inept or greedy. The only reality this season is the team stinks under a manager who is from another planet. How can the rich and powerful become richer and more powerful if this dynamic is allowed to continue?
Plus, the manager soon becomes a folk hero and fans exact their revenge on ownership by making the manager anything but responsible. In a place where the phrase “Yankees suck” became part of the culture, can “Red Sox suck” be far behind?
Come on people.
Just because the Yankees don’t and the Red Sox do, doesn’t allow RED SOX FANS FOR LIFE that kind of behavior. Reality bites. And this is going to show teeth marks. Ben, the rookie GM, has not even been in the job for a year, he is still living in the shadow of the one singular person that caused all this mess. That person is no longer here, he fled to Chicago after he fired Tito and let him take the fall.
Reality bites. Plus, believe this or not, he still talks to Boston media about so called inside baseball and how the players hate the manager etc,. etc. Reality bites.
That person casts a long shadow over this team. He did for 10 years and continues to today. If you really, have been a RED SOX FAN FOR LIFE, you would know nothing is impossible, then or now.
Remember after Jean Y died, the team was run by an accountant and the Yawkey Trust. Monies generated kept wildlife flourishing in South Carolina for years. We have been down this road before, RED SOX FAN FOR LIFE. You just thought those days were over.
You let your guard down. There must be some consolation knowing that the things we love and hate never really do change.
Related Articles
- Bob Lobel: Why Can’t We Get More Holidays Like the Fourth?
- Bob Lobel: Why Can’t We Get Players Like Boston’s Big Three?
- Bob Lobel: Why Can’t We Get Players Like Roger Clemens?
- Bob Lobel: Why Can’t the Red Sox Put a Quality Team on the Field?
- Bob Lobel: Why Can’t We Get Players Like That?
- Bob Lobel: The Greatest Moment of My Career
- Bob Lobel: Why Can’t We Get Announcers Like Carl Beane?
- Bob Lobel: Why Can’t We Get Great Athletes Like Central Mass?
Follow us on Pinterest Google + Facebook Twitter See It Read It