Jimmy Rollins appeared on the Best Damn Sports Show Period last week, and made some comments that have, to say the least, poked the hornet's nest of Philly sports with a big old tree branch."They're frontrunners. When you're doing good, they're on your side. When you're doing bad, they're completely against you." (You can watch the whole clip here as well as his follow-up comments following the Phuror.)
It's much too easy to make this a black-and-white issue, either by saying Jimmy's exactly right, or by allowing yourself to be angry and outraged. There's a whole lot going on here, and it's certainly much more gray than you think.
On the one hand, my initial reaction was more in line with the second option listed above, something to the effect of: "Frontrunners?!? Doesn't that require consistently winning teams? Didn't you read my entry from a couple of weeks ago?
You wanna hear the end of the boos, Jimmy? Why don't you remember how to hit like you did last season? Where did that guy go? Also, while you're at it, could you teach the rest of the guys something we all learned in Little League called protecting the plate with two strikes??? I may not be a ballplayer, Jimmy, but I do know one thing: it's statistically impossible to get a hit if you don't swing the bat. "
John Salley, co-host of Best Damn, was exactly right. "That's called family." Philly fans are the most loyal--spending time, money, energy, and a lot of tears following our beloved teams. When an entire lineup shuts down production, it is so natural to say, "Hey, we show up. We do our jobs as fans--loving, supporting, rooting unconditionally. Time to do your job. Time to show up." Philly fans don't leave early, they stay and let you have it, if you deserve it. Anyone remember that Monday Night Football game a couple of years ago when Seattle was up like 42-0...at halftime? People stayed. And they booed. Cause you know what? That's part of the job of the fan, to let them have it when they deserve it.
On the other hand, Jimmy's frustrated, and who can blame him? He may not have chosen his words so wisely, and he tried to clarify his meaning in his follow-up statement. But he was trying to express something else, something we all forget, all too often.
Jimmy was trying to say, "Hey, we're people too. You think you're frustrated as fans? You can't even imagine how frustrated we are in this dugout, in this locker room. And when you get on our case and boo like crazy and tell us to show up, that doesn't help. All it does is increases the negative energy, something we're trying desperately to shake. Don't kick us when we're down. Try to reach down and help pick us up."
Hey man, we're all in this together.
3 comments:
I was at that MNF vs. Seattle - That was my first time at the Linc. It was Reggie White night, which is why most people stayed until halftime!
Anyway, good post.
I wasn't all that surprised (or offended) with Jimmy's comments. When I read that I thought, "You know, he's right." I think that Philadelphia is the hardest place to play in sports, because the fans turn on you on a dime. Yeah, if someone doesn’t do their job, the fans have a right to boo, but that isn’t going to help the team get out of a slump.
I’m not saying the fans have to get all nicety nice. I just don’t know if the fans get the fact that the players really do care, and sometimes it is okay to give them a little TLC.
To me, it’s basically the equivalent of being at a job and getting reamed out every time you do something wrong. Eventually it’s going to take its toll. Philly has driven out some great athletes. You all complain about your lack of championships, and you may say “If he can’t take the heat, then get out of the kitchen” but bottom line, it takes great players to win.
I just feel that some people perform better when there isn’t a lingering cloud of boobirds every time said player does something wrong.
I wasn't offended one bit by the comment and I'm unclear why Philly fans are upset by it. Jimmy stated the obvious and now everyone's up in arms that he spoke the truth. Remember, the truth goes both ways! From a fan's point of view: the Phils are not the team they were in May and June. It's depressing and this city is sick to death of teams that can't go all the way. We have a right to boo and vent our own frustrations just as the entire Phillies organization vents its frustrations every night on the field. Pull it together already!!
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