Giving credit to some great fans where some real credit is due
>> Saturday
The Phoenix Snakes and the Denver Rocky Mountain Highs (YCS needs to get on board with this revised team name too)... You have to admit that neither of these teams have much history (well, the Snakes did win a World Series on a lucky jam-off-the-handle single), but I really have to give credit to these fans.
The Colorado and Arizona fans were wild towel-waving freaks in their respective series. I was kinda shocked about the level of energy in Arizona and Colorado; the level of energy was insane. And because these series were broadcasted on TBS, you know that the crowd noise wasn't some ploy by Fox Sports to make the game seem more intense than anyone could ever imagine.
I do have to say that in a way, the enthusiasm seems a little contrived. The MLB sticks a new team into a high-population area and hopes that fans buy into the buzz. On the other hand, you have to give credit to fans who really went all out for teams that started as bunches of schmucks plopped into a profitable metropolitan area and grew into successful franchises.
Also, you have to admit it's "easier" for Cubs fans, Bo Sox fans, and Spankees fans to buy into the long traditions and/or supposed curses of their clubs, get really riled up for the playoffs, and cheer their asses off for a tradition that really have little part of. But it takes a real fan and a really proud inhabitant of the Southwest to cheer for teams that have no more than a decade and a half of a comparatively un-storied history.
Thus, I congratulate the Snakes and the Highs on their well earned berths into the NCLS. The fans earned it, and so did the teams. Please though, put down the towels -- that goes for fans of all professional and non-professional teams. We're all getting really sick of inhaling towel threads.
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Well, technically this is like....triple-hearsay, but my friend's sister was at the games in Arizona and reportedly the Snakes' season ticket holders were grumbling about people who didn't show up at all during the regular season and now that they were in the playoffs, everyone decided to go. Not Cubs expats, but D-Backs fans.
I'm too lazy to find Arizona's average attendance over 81 games.
Yeah Mike... Santo sounded like you the other night, ripping the D'Backs fans because they need towels and "Noise!" graphics to get excited, as well as the between-inning carnival antics.
And no, I don't take Arizona seriously as a fanbase. They bolted the team after they finished 2003 in last (2004 attendance 2/3 of the 2002 total), and they didn't return 'til late this year (still finished 12th in the NL in attendance). Understandable but still. And the Rockies' slide in attendance from their expansion team honeymoon days to 2005 was even more dramatic (roughly cut in half).
I'm not sure if any of that's relevant, however (one, because it's typical of any team), because I think a fanbase should be judged not on attendance but how much the game means to them.
How about all the true Cubs' fans that grumble about the 80-some percent of "fans" at the games that show up to "see and be seen"?
The Cubs sell out their games because Wrigley is trendier than Bank One Park or wherever the Snakes play.
My main point was that both of these teams are relatively recent expansion teams beyond the honeymoon period that still drew raucous playoff crowds. Sure, the Cubs don't need "NOISE!" graphics, but then again, what kind of fans boo their home team in every inning of an elimination game?
Also, I was more impressed with the Rockies' crowd. In general, Denver fans are more passionate than fans of Arizona's professional teams. I think most people east of the Mississippi don't realize how passionate people in Denver are about the Broncos... and now I'm way off topic.
I guess this was just a stupid post.
No, I wouldn't say so. I think Denver has generally been regarded as a legit baseball city since they came into the league. But yeah, I'm not so sure about Phlee-nix.
I don't know why I dragged out attendance numbers because, like I said, they don't prove much beyond whether a team has a constant draw like a Wrigley or Fenway or just has a monstrous fan base like the Yankees. In rare instances, like with the Marlins, they can show that no one cares.
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