Thursday, July 3, 2008

Great Moments in Motivation

At least one Sox fan has decided that, despite the quite convincing Tampa Bay sweep, the Rays have sealed their doom because:

You played "Sweet Caroline" after the final out of last night's game.

That's a play right out of Smug Upstart Wannabes 101--the mark of a team that's so confused by its own success, it feels it has to take these opportunities to step on the 600 pound gorilla's nuts when he's down, because it's not sure it'll ever have another chance to do so. It was sophomoric--instantly recalling the "1918" chant that was popular 'round Tampa Bay before our 2004 heroics--and frighteningly lame. But it doesn't surprise me.

Getting defensive about a shitty Neil Diamond song? You're damn right, amigo. Because it's our shitty Neil Diamond song. To use it to openly mock us when you could have simply pointed to the standings and shuffled off the field knowing we'd been outgunned and outquaffed... let's just say you didn't earn yourselves any karma points.

In fact, I'm betting that with this maneuver, you have sealed your fate, Tampa Bay Rays. Forget the postseason. Forget the Jay Leno interviews and ticker tape parades and a trip to the moon on the President's personal hovercraft. The Gods of Baseball are a fickle bunch, and while your post-June relevance has been the feel-good story for the first half of the 2008 season, I think you've doomed yourselves to bridesmaid status in the AL East.
Given how educated the city of Boston is as a whole, I am constantly amazed at how much superstition, hoodoo, and hokum is involved in rooting for its teams.

17 comments:

Ken Dynamo said...

well i mean, with sox fans you.... ah nevermind.

Craig Calcaterra said...

You can say it, Ken. I'm better now. ;-)

Anonymous said...

Leave it to the Rays to screw this up. "Sweet Caroline" is the 8th inning sing-along at Fenway, not the victory song.

Now, if they had played "Dirty Water" by the Standells, that would be the big F-you that the PA dipshit was looking for.

Loztralia said...

Red Sox fans really are a bunch of spoiled crybabies aren't they? "How dare you play our song wah wah wah". Grow up.

TC said...

Boston fans are upset about what? Being disrespected? Who let the NFL into my baseball season? Hey, you! Get out of here! Get off my lawn!

(Also, the Phillies always play "I Can't Turn You Loose", as done by the Blues Brother. The rendition is fast, loud, and about 30 seconds long. It is awesome.)

Anonymous said...

Sox fans seem to feel like all their stuff is sacred. Give it a rest guys, you got swept by the Rays, and for once, that's not necessarily a complete slap in the face.

After 2004, a good friend of mine started hating the Red Sox more than the Yankees. I resisted for a long time, but I can't resist any longer. I hate the Red Sox, their claim of "Sweet Caroline," their Nation, their space cadet left fielder - I could go on.

I will now officially be rooting for Godzilla to take out the Red Sox dugout first during a Yanks-Sox matchup.

Grant said...

Wow. I hate Red Sox fans.

Fred Trigger said...

you mean the red sox fans who jumped on the bandwagon are spoiled. When i was, like 15, I remember going to the games and being able to sneak down behind homeplate (this happened on multiple starts when Pedro was pitching in his prime, mind you) because no one was showing up. I have this feeling that if the sox keep winning, we are going to have "true red sox". I can guarantee that everyone will forget Keith Foulke and everything he did that year. Just like bandwagon yankee fans dont remember John Wetteland helping to win their first WS in a while. But, bandwagon fans are like death and taxes. They are inevitable.

Anonymous said...

The only thing more insufferable than cry-baby Red Sox fans are the cry babies who whine about them.

TC said...

Rob - I don't know if those who whine about the whiners are worse, but, certainly, it's close. Annoying Red Sox fans are like faeries: if we pretend they don't exist, they might just disappear.

Fred Trigger said...

(sigh) I guess either way I lose. Fair enough.

Dave said...

I remember going to a Twins game in '99 against Pedro -- maybe 10,000 people at the game; the Twins had sucked for nearly a decade, and PEDRO on the mound.

Maybe four Sox fans at the game. Maybe.

Now, you go to a Sox game at the Dome and (not to sterotype or anything) every tenth person is an obnoxiously loud fool in a 'tek jersey. Completely insufferable. I'll cheer for the Yankees any day over the Sox.

tadthebad said...

Ken, I suspect that Craig being "better now" is, in large part, based on the subject of your scorn.

Craig Calcaterra said...

Tad -- you realize that your oversensitivity to any Sox criticism isn't exactly helping the image of Sox fans, right? I mean, when your team is the world champ and has been on an extended run of excellence like the Sox have been, you have to understand that people are going to take shots, be they in seriousness or jest.

tadthebad said...

Craig, I can't devide if your interpretation of my post is fair or stereotypical. My point was that Ken wasn't dissing your team, the Atlanta Braves, as he had previously.

Craig Calcaterra said...

tad -- apologies if I misinterpreted. I took it to mean that you were saying that I was happy to hear slams as long as they were against the Red Sox. I'll admit that part of this was due to your post in the other thread about Lester shutting out the Yankees. Taken together, I interpreted it as you being miffed that I was (a) picking on the Sox in one thread; and (b) being OK with someone else picking on them in another, and interpreting it as some sort of anti-Sox thing.

Apologies if I misread.

tadthebad said...

And to be fair, I had forgotten about my Lester post when I responded in this comments section. As such, I would have to say that given my Lester comment, your interpretation was fair also. I'd write more about the topic of Red Sox bashing as it relates to any fan's desire to defend his/her team, but who among us hasn't had enough of that subject lately? Sorry for the confusion...carry on.