Sports fans have been getting a good talking to lately. From the athletes.
Yes, the downtrodden, ever-abused athletes have grown tired of just signing multi-million-dollar contracts, they also want you to love them at all times.Following Sunday's victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers, Chicago Bears defensive end Adewale Ogunleye did find a negative after hearing some home fans booing the team after the first quarter.
"I can't believe the fans that booed us," Ogunleye wrote on his ChicagoNow.com blog "Wale's World". "I know I am talking to a select few but please tell those fans to stay home. How can we have home field advantage if the other team feels the disbelief from the crowd. Teams sense that and feed off it."
Alright, I understand what he's saying.
Fans should cheer for their team, but as they say, "Buy the ticket, take the ride."
Some say, "Hey, you should always cheer for your team," and I do agree. However, if the President of the United States can't even be respected enough to give a speech to your child, what chance does a professional athlete have of not catching some disdain?
Myself, I'm not big on booing. Actually I find if kind of annoying, especially at high school events.
However, when I'm at home - I let loose. I'm what you may call a Negative Nelly.
And it's true, at Notre Dame and Chicago Cubs games, I've groaned often, but have never actually yelled at coaches, players or officials.
But if you want to, go ahead.
I will be rolling my eyes, but it's your prerogative.
Especially at the professional level, because these guys are getting paid for what they're doing on the field. And being paid handsomely.
Sometimes, the well-paid players who don't even play harp in on the fans.
This happened over the weekend when Washington Redskins rookie Robert Henson let his feelings be known after a 9-7 win over the St. Louis Rams via the uber popular Twitter.
"All you fake half hearted Skins fan can .. I won't go there but I dislike you very strongly, don't come to Fed Ex to boo dim wits!!"
Classy, and by the way, I didn't edit that Tweet. I left it as is. I'd hate to tinker with a masterpiece.
"The question is who are you to say you know what's best for the team and you work 9 to 5 at Mcdonalds," he added.
My question actually is, "Who in the world is signed up to receive tweets from Robert Henson?"
Anyway, if a fan is working 9 to 5 at McDonald's, there's a pretty good possibility he or she can't even afford to attend an NFL game, let alone be close enough to have their heckles heard by the players.
A quick glance at StubHub.com gave me a look at what kind of damage I could expect if I wanted to attend an NFL game on Oct. 4.
On that day, the Indianapolis Colts (who I would never actually go see) host the Seattle Seahawks. The lowest price on the site is $52 for terrace seats, which isn't too bad and isn't too good. Especially with high definition television at home.
Now for a game a little but more up my alley - the Chicago Bears hosing the Detroit Lions on Oct. 4. For that game, I can get a ticket at a reasonable price of $122.50.
And by reasonable price, I mean - yeaaahh right!
Get real, that much to watch a team that may be coming to town with 20-straight losses?
With tickets costing so much, the NFL is strong arming the fan by not allowing the games on television unless the games sell out, a.k.a blacking the game out.
In order for fans within a 75-mile radius of the stadium to avoid a blackout the game must be sold out 72 hours before kickoff.
Sunday, the Denver Broncos/Oakland Raiders game and the Washington Redskins/Detroit Lions game will be blacked out to fans.
So fans can't afford tickets to see the game, and then can't watch it on television either? No wonder frustration is being shown.
And frustration is a friend of a Chicago Cubs fan.
After 101 years of not winning a World Series ring, fans are getting a bit on edge and outfielder Milton Bradley felt that wrath this season.
Signed to a 3-year, $30 million deal in the offseason, Bradley was supposed to supply a left-handed bat. Instead, the Cubs got a .257 hitting malcontent.
And the underachiever heard it from the fans.
"What can you do?" Bradley said. "You can't do nothing. You listen to them yell at you."
Oh, how I hate double negatives.
After watching this bum for six months, Cubs general manager Jim Hendry finally pulled the plug on the Bradley experiment after he got a little too critical of the fans.
"Recently, it's become intolerable to hear Milton talk about our great fans the way he has," Hendry said. "We pride ourselves on having the greatest fans in baseball, so at this time we felt it was best to send him home for the rest of the season.'
Thank you.
Now, I can understand that it would be tough to hear negative comments from your home team, but criticizing your team is part of the gig. It's been around just as long as cheering.
The problem may be that these athletes have grown up hearing about how awesome they are. Through youth leagues they were the best. In high school they were the best. In college they were still the best. Once they get to the professional level, they were among the best of the best, and the playing field is a little more level.
When things don't go well in the pros, they're all of a sudden being told they aren't doing good enough.
And they freak.
"You can't listen to those fans," Chicago Cubs outfielder Alfonso Soriano said. "They pay their money, so they can say what they want. But if you listen, they want to do it more. If you ignore it, they'll get tired. If you continue, they'll want to give you more and more and more."
Truer words couldn't be spoken.
And those words came from a player continually booed for his horrible play, but he deals with it. He's a pro.
He's aware that after the game, the player gets to go home to their family and the fan does the same thing. The negativity stays at the ballpark and only centers around the player's performance, not his or her personality.
Booing is as big a part of professional sports as home runs and touchdowns.
Sure, it's not an attractive trait of fans, but fans will be fans.
