Ever since the playoffs started there’s been a certain tone on this board that has questioned the loyalty of certain fan bases.  The most obvious, of course, are the Cubs fans who booed their team in the playoffs but let’s not also forget the Phillies fans who were booing their team as early as two months ago.  Fans booing their own team is almost always pointed to as a sign of a weak fanbase by opposing fans. It’s right up there with leaving early or not filling the stands.

I guess I want to start with a question and that question is this: at what point is booing acceptable?  Certainly the Cubs fans were exasperated with their team when they were losing to the Dodgers who most prognosticators thought they could beat.  But games 1 and 2 happened at home, in Chicago.  Booing your team as they lose the first two games at home and as they are heading out of the ballpark to spend some time on the road is not the best motivational tool.

I remember the 1993 NBA playoffs, the year the Suns signed Charles Barkley.  That year, the Suns lost the first two games at home to the 8th seeded Lakers and were heading on the road to Los Angeles.  If they were to lose, it would be the first time a 1 seed had ever lost to an 8 seed (the Nuggets/Sonics series came two years later).  I remember Paul Westphal guaranteeing victory, something to the effect of, “we’re going to win game three, and then we’re going to win game 4.  Then we’re going to fly home and win game 5 and everyone will talk about how great a series it was.”  

I remember that series especially well because my brother drove by my school, pulled me out of class, and drove me to the airport with a sign so that we could see the team get on their plane.  This was back before 9/11 when anyone could walk through security right up to the gate even if they didn’t have a ticket.  Well there we were with a big group of fans seeing the team off as they headed out on the road.  Everyone was clapping and cheering and wishing them well.  It was a great scene, one that I doubt I will ever forget.  I got every Suns autograph that day with the exception of Kevin Johnson who for some reason was acting like a prick.  I still have that sign.

So that year, no one booed the Suns who won that series against the Lakers and went all the way to Game 6 of the Finals until John Fucking Paxson hit that wide open three with four seconds remaining.  And two days after the Finals no one showed up for work in Phoenix because they all attended a parade for the team that lost.

I’m not really sure where I’m going with this.  For once, I’m not trying to badmouth Cubs fans because they have to be exasperated.  It’s exasperating when your team loses (swept even) in the first round of the playoffs when many have you picked to go all the way.  It’s exasperating when your team looks overmatched to a team that lost 12 fewer games in the regular season.  It’s exasperating when you haven’t seen a World Series in your city in the past 100 years, except the ones that belong to your hated rival.  It’s exasperating when you finally think you can silence the naysayers only to provide them with even more ammunition.  I get all of that.  So at what point do they deserve a break (if at all)?

While we’re at it, let me ask another question: Is there a luxury in being the fan of a losing franchise?  I can’t tell you how many fans of losing franchises I’ve heard call out fans of playoff teams for their poor fan ettiquette.  ”Down in Pittsburgh, we don’t boo our fans.”  Well they couldn’t hear you if you did.  I hear Orioles and Nationals fans arguing over attendence figures and I think that it’s become a competition off the field too.  

I personally went to 15 Diamondback games this year.  Tickets, parking, beer, time all invested in watching a team with potential.  And I’ll be honest, in September you’d be hard pressed to find a more exasperated fan than me.  I was irritated that two premier pitchers like Webb and Haren weren’t performing up to their high standards.  I was irritated that Mark Reynolds broke the MLB single-season strikeout record.  I was irritated with Brandon Lyons, I was irritated with Doug Slaten.  I even left early one game.  I heard similar things from Roman and Spence and NickP.  Does that mean we’re not real fans because we criticized our team?  Is booing where we draw the line?

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