Mind Over Moon

August 25th, 2012

One fan’s “Critical” is another fan’s “Passion”

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I went to the Phillies game last night [left], an act which put me in deep contemplative thought.

The Phillies are seated close to the bottom of the rankings, while simultaneously leading the league in ballpark attendance. Granted, some of this attendance is residual support for a team that enjoyed the laurels of first place finishes for the last five seasons. The fact remains, though, that the fanbase has grown. People are enjoying their game experience, because they keep showing up despite the team’s losing record and playoff chances described as “nothing short of a miracle”.

Any casual sports fan in any other city will be quick to renounce Philly fans by the negative stigmas purported to them: rowdy, obnoxious, indignant, overly critical, mean spirited. I challenge that few, if any, of these detractors have ever actually experienced this sort of behavior from a Philly fan. In addition, it never ceases to astound me how inappropriate behavior by fans in other cities is simply explained away as the actions of a few sub par individuals, yet when it happens in Philly the entire fan base is reduced to a bunch of blood thirsty cravens sucking the life out of it’s athletes.

I digress. Anyway, have you ever watched a Tampa Bay Ray’s home game? The Rays have continuously sported a winning record, are always in the hunt for one of the top two spots in their division, are consistently in playoff contention, and even made it to the World Series in 2008. No one comes to their games. No one. Sorry in advance for singling out that team, because they’re not the only ones with this problem. (I’m looking at you, Miami Marlins and Washington Nationals fans.) So the Phillies are holding steady at the bottom of the heap this year, but thanks to the overwhelming support of the fan base, they have enough money to regroup and sign talented players for years to come.

All of this begs asking: what are the real intentions behind criticizing a loyal and passionate fan base? I heard once that attracting haters is the biggest indicator of success. But is an indicator even necessary when the stats speak for themselves?

The Phillies, as I see itThat’s just how I see it.