Hangouters have stopped being fans

[ScottieBaseball]

Ah, here we go again with the need to "categorize' fandom.

A fan is a fan. Some have differing opinions on how to make their team better. But in the end, the base emotions are the same.

Let's try and remember that.

Yeah, what he said. That's what I was getting at.

[rolliefingers]

I'm just not interested in seeing it become a "No, wait! I'M a real O's fan!" thread ala the "So-and-So Appreciation Thread" that seems to generate when the occassional insider gets questioned and then threatens to take his crayons and go home.

"Hangouters have stopped being fans" is a broad and unfair generalization. That's inciteful and borders on trolling IMO.

Yeah, you're right. And just to be clear, I completely disagree with the point of the thread, anyway.

By the way...did you hear the Rangers are shopping Texiera? I'm gettting ready to start a new thread about it. Stand by...

Hold up, my "Mark Teixeira" RSS feed is going nuts...brb.

[Sports Guy]

I would say that fans who don't root for their team to win on any given day are poor fans.

And i would say fans who have their head in the sand and think everything is good are poor fans.

[MemorialStadKid]

I'm just not interested in seeing it become a "No, wait! I'M a real O's fan!" thread ala the "So-and-So Appreciation Thread" that seems to generate when the occassional insider gets questioned and then threatens to take his crayons and go home.

"Hangouters have stopped being fans" is a broad and unfair generalization. That's inciteful and borders on trolling IMO.

By the way...did you hear the Rangers are shopping Texiera? I'm gettting ready to start a new thread about it. Stand by...

Rangers? Who is this Texiera I keep hearing about? :002_stongue:

I think Winning_Season is referring to the eternally depressing posts where people just decide that the Orioles are the worst team in history because of the last 9 years.

Fandom is a weird thing these days. Some confuse endless complaining with concern. Others who call for optimism are told that they are unrealistic. When we win, people find something to complain about. When we lose, those complaints are confirmed and repeated.

Frustration is normal. HELL I AM FRUSTRATED!

But to be just tearing your own team down on the level I see around here makes me wonder how many Yankee or Red Sox fans have accounts here to stir up trouble?

Just a thought.

MSK

[Hank Scorpio]

Did this really warrant it's own thread? You cite specific threads and posters. If you disagree, get in there and talk about it.

Also...I'm not sure what you're trying to accomplish or what conversation you thought this would invoke.

Yeah, I'm with italianstallion - I think this is a perfectly cromulent thread, and an astute point.

There is certainly an argument to be had when people are hoping for the team to lose, especially when it's not going to make a damn bit of difference in regards to whether or not they blow the team up. We all know that's not happening.

We're forever walking that line of lesser mediocrity, not horrible enough to destroy things completely, but not even close enough to buy our way into regular mediocrity. The problem is that the concept of buying and selling has proven more difficult than most people think.

When is the last time you really saw a team blow itself up? I mean, REALLY blow itself up.

To the extent that people around here want it blown up, I just don't know. I'm trying to remember...

[ScottieBaseball]

I think that hard times call for deperate measures. I don't agree with wanting them to lose, because they could make the same moves without losing and it assumes the front office is made up of morons. However, SG thinks that this club takes any sign of hope and uses it as an excuse to make patchwork moves every offseason. I can't argue with that.

He (SG) means well, if the means aren't justified by some.

I actually hung up the phone on my good buddy MP a few years ago when he said, "The best thing that could happen to this team is to finish dead-last in their division." Once I cooled off and called him back, he explained that any modicum of success even if it's finishing in third place is interpreted by the O's front office as justification to resist changing the game plan. It's almost like winning with things as broken as they appear is encouraging the behavior, like laughing at a toddler for using foul language.

[rolliefingers]

Clarification #2: I think the existence of the thread is warranted, but it was approached in a "troll-like" manner.

There, now you can all sleep tonight.

[bobmc]

Those who don't want change are the poor fans.

I don't see fans who wear blinders and accept what the FO gives them as poor fans - just blinded, perhaps, or loyal. I don't begrudge them their happiness with whatever team is on the field. I may not agree with them, but they're not poor fans, imho. We all want a winning team.

But I do agree with your premise on losing or not.

[blueberryale77]

Guys, I think we're being a little harsh here. Winning Season didn't say anything personally insulting to anyone, just that our negativity may need a little checking. It was pretty clear that this thread wasn't just in response to SG's thread, but to the preponderance of what the poster has seen around here lately. I certainly have been part of the negativity myself, but sometimes I do read my own posts and think I'm starting to sound more critical than a Yankee fan. Let's not be too quick to jump on people for expressing different opinions and offering a little bit of criticism... as long as they're not all mean and nasty about it. I don't think this particular thread was out of line.

[Rex Thunder]

I'm against hoping against hope. I'm for hoping for hope. Real fans want a team with hope.

If you don't see the hope in this team than there is something wrong. I'd take the young guys we have developing and our current rotation (without injury)- over just about any in the league- add to that Markakis, Roberts, and thought of what Tejada and/or Cabrera could net- and there is plenty of hope for me. Add to that the way we've handled the ridiculous amount of adversity this year, and how you can say "blow it up" and there is no hope is really beyond me... other than reasoning it's just the losing, pessimistic mentality that has become set in stone the past 10 years.

[ScottieBaseball]

Yeah, I'm with italianstallion - I think this is a perfectly cromulent thread, and an astute point.

There is certainly an argument to be had when people are hoping for the team to lose, especially when it's not going to make a damn bit of difference in regards to whether or not they blow the team up. We all know that's not happening.

We're forever walking that line of lesser mediocrity, not horrible enough to destroy things completely, but not even close enough to buy our way into regular mediocrity. The problem is that the concept of buying and selling has proven more difficult than most people think.

When is the last time you really saw a team blow itself up? I mean, REALLY blow itself up.

To the extent that people around here want it blown up, I just don't know. I'm trying to remember...

First of all, you deserve some kind of an award. Isn't that the second time in as many days you worked "cromulent" into a sentence. That warrants some recognition.

I was genuinely asking the question...if I thought it was totally unwarranted I would have just locked it.

Hopefully this is the year they shake things up. Macphail's been quiet. Almost too quiet. I'm seem to recall in years' past hearing Flanagan and or Beattie and/or Duquette speaking publicly on the team's expectations with the deadline looming. I haven't seen a thing.

[rolliefingers]

It's almost like winning with things as broken as they appear is encouraging the behavior, like laughing at a toddler for using foul language.

That sums up my feelings perfectly. Winning is great, losing big makes problems obvious, but sustained mediocrity can be interpreted many different ways.

[ScottieBaseball]

Guys, I think we're being a little harsh here. Winning Season didn't say anything personally insulting to anyone, just that our negativity may need a little checking. It was pretty clear that this thread wasn't just in response to SG's thread, but to the preponderance of what the poster has seen around here lately. I certainly have been part of the negativity myself, but sometimes I do read my own posts and think I'm starting to sound more critical than a Yankee fan. Let's not be too quick to jump on people for expressing different opinions and offering a little bit of criticism... as long as they're not all mean and nasty about it. I don't think this particular thread was out of line.

"Hangouters have stopped being fans."

It's a generalization. I'm a Hangouter. I'm still a fan. I took it personally and I think justifiably so.

He's welcome to express his opinion like everyone else here. Make a statement like that, others are going to take it personally and get critical.

What makes a fan a fan is different and/or relative to everyone.

[Winning_Season]

How did you get your handle? You certainly don't sound like an Oriole fan.

What I'm saying is whenever I turn on the T.V. and see an O's game on I am gonna watch it and root for my team. How does that make me a non-oriole fan.

[The Wedge]

"Hangouters have stopped being fans."

It's a generalization. I'm a Hangouter. I'm still a fan. I took it personally and I think justifiably so.

He's welcome to express his opinion like everyone else here. Make a statement like that, others are going to take it personally and get critical.

Especially since most of us pay a fee to continue to access the site further, and to post.