Saturday, May 15, 2010

Dumbass sore losers...

On this, the 98th anniversary of the day hall of fame centerfielder ty cobb ran into the stands to beat the crap out of a handicapped man, i thought i'd write about a coupla' things that annoy me in the world of sports...

1) dumbass sore losers.

Last night, for those of you who don't know, an epic hockey game was played in Boston. My Philadelphia Flyers, once down three games to none to the Bruins, found themselves three goals down in the first period of the decisive game seven. But, somehow, some miraculous way, they came battling back to win the thing-- the game and the whole freggin' series. I mean, this was just impossible, but... it happened!!!

In my understandable euphoria, i put this down as my status on facebook...

"UNBELIEVABLE WIN!!!! WAY TO GO, FLYERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

And good times were had by all!

:)

...except the dude who wrote this...

"So you only root for teams when they win huh? I am a die hard fan of all my teams( Patriots, Red Sox, Celtics, Bruins). I've seen them finish dead last but, I never stop rooting for them. Stay loyal to the teams you root for no matter if they win or not. Go Red Sox! Go Celtics!"

Whoah.

I mean, i dunno about you, but, where i come from, them's fightin' words.

(or, y'know, if not "fightin'" words then, at the very least, "Yelling really loud while hoping that your homies'll pull you away from the situation before you do, somehow, actually find yourself in a parking lot fightin'" words.)

I got kind of offended. Well, no, not even kind of. I was genuinely offended, which i can see now probably seems pretty stupid. But, basically, the dude called me a fair weather fan, and-- having never been accused of such a heinous foul-- i've never really thought about this before, but... yeah, that's really the worse insult you can bestow upon a sports guy.

It's all about integrity. Y'know? You pick a team, you stick with them, and that's it. And if you can't stand by your team during the rough patches... what good are you?

Now, I know i'm making too much of this, but... somewhere in the back of my crazy, bald head, this makes sense to me: In the Bible (Luke 16:10) it says, "If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones." So, does that mean, if you say you're a faithful fan of the Detroit Lions, but suddenly switch over to the Saints because they won the Super Bowl, you're going to cheat on your wife???

Yes. Yes it does.

HA! No, no, no, i'm kidding.

But, to the avid fan such as myself... in a weird, sick sort of way that i'm not at all proud of, your favorite sports franchise IS actually a tiny bit like your family. You grow up rooting for them, you remember where you were when they finally won the Series, and you remember where you were when they broke your heart.

So, all this being said, i responded to this wicked accusation immediately, and, i think, accordingly. In capital letters...

"DUDE!!! Do a little research before you call somebody out!!! ...i'm a SIXERS FAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

That'll show him.

the five things i fell in love with today...

1) Too many men on the ice in a critical situation.
2) I saw "Robin Hood" this afternoon. Didn't exactly inspire me to... well, y'know, stay awake, but it did provide some context to the awkward line i always saw in the commercials-- "i declare him to be... an OUTLAAAAAAW!!!" I thought, "well... uhm... that was an interesting choice." Turns out he was [SPOILER ALERT ...sort of?] shouting to keep his voice above a disapproving crowd.
3) The Camden Riversharks.
4) I also had considered the thought that this was just the way the actor talked in everyday life. Like, "Hi, welcome to kfc, can i take your order?" "Yes, thank you, i'll have the two-piece chicken meal with a side order... of COLESLAAAAAW!!!"
5) Bryant Gumbel once talked about this much more eloquently than i ever could, but... there's something downright magical about the improbable coming true in sports. I mean, you KNOW that you know how completely unlikely it is for a team to come all the way back from a three goal deficit, or a 10 run lead, or whatever, but... when it does happen-- and when it happens to your "family" ...? There's just nothin' like it.

song of the night...
"(Everything i do) I do it for you" by Bryan Adams

movie of the night...
"Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves"

1 comment:

  1. I like Robin Hood. First time I actually thought Russel Crowe was worth a second glance. I also thought it was an interesting way to tell the story. I did, however, feel immediately compelled to watch Prince of Thieves.....and make fun of Kevin Costner's attempt to be British.

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