cad@cbosgd.UUCP (Chuck A DeGaul) (09/23/85)
The NY Fan situation is hardly worth comment. While such behavior cannot be condoned, a fan is a fan is a fan, and you are not going to change that by telling them they are jerks. I am reminded of an ancedote I recall hearing (or reading?) somewhere about the fans in Toronto. If anyone know the details, please correct me. It seems that shortly after Toronto gained its baseball team, Earl Weaver's Birds were in town and Weaver remarked that the fans were remarkably quiet and polite. However, they booed umpire's calls (bush league!) and cheered at strange times. Finally, during one spate of cheering for (in Weaver's mind) the wrong reason, Earl bounded out of the dugout, glared at the crowd behind him and yelled "Shut up". The statium grew quiet immediately, and Weaver returned to the dugout saying, "See, I told you these fans don't know anything about baseball!" Certainly, Toronto has come a long way, and I'll bet their fans are now as loyal and knowledgeable as any in the league. Still, they probably haven't "evolved" into the rabidness of the New Yorkers. It will probably take a few more pennant races (and wait until the Jays blow a good lead sometime!) before they can begin to understand the anguish of the obsessed fan. Before we write off the NY fans as loathsome animals, we should look at fans everywhere (Montreal, Boston, Detroit, and football stadiums all across the continent) and note that in the heat of pennant races, strong, even animal-like, support by fans is part of the glory of this game. ---> Chuck A DeGaul <--- "Go Cleveland!"