Wizzzzz Fans, Are You Crapping Me?
By Erie's Scribe on Apr 24, 2008 with Comments 2
The Rally Monkey Wasn’t In DC For Game 3, Probable For Game 4 Unfortunately, I was on hand at the “Phone Booth” tonight to see the Cavs get their asses handed to them by the Wizards. Maybe it was watching the Cavs run around like the entire team rented a limo and did two shots at every one of the 2 1/2 State Area Clyde’s locations before the game, but listening to the Wiz “fans” during the debacle really raised my ire tonight.
I’ve been patient with local teams since I’ve lived in the area, and I’ll admit that Skins fans are the real deal. Listen to a couple of hours of DC talk radio, whether it be Riggo, Bram Weinsteinnnnnnn, Doc Walker, or the incomparable Steve Czaban, you’ll get tons of bonkers Redskins talk. This is a good thing. The loyalty of a fan base is directly proportional to the insanity of its local sports talk radio callers.
Beyond the Skins, though, the town is a joke pro sports-wise (there are a lot of college sports fans here, but the only legit ones are the Terps fans). When I go to a Nats game, I’m proud if I see fans squabbling about who should be the 5th starter, because it’s a rare display of baseball acumen. Granted the city just got baseball back a few years ago, and the team has sucked since they’ve been back, but the Nats crowd can’t even provide a home field advantage. The Mets are in town and multiple friends who went to last night’s game reported that the Mets fans were much louder than the Nats fans. Shea away from Shea (heaven for Cecilio’s Scribe). I’d have to imagine that it’s no better when the Phillies are in town.
The Caps have one of the two potential saviors for the NHL in Alexander Ovechkin, and they even made it to the playoffs this year. But, Washington DC and hockey? It just doesn’t mix. Caps fans are surprisingly strong, but I wouldn’t be shocked if the Flyers faithful overtook the Caps fans in the Phone Booth during the recent 1st round series (excruciating double OT loss for the Caps in game 7). Just last year I went to a Sabres/Caps game in said arena, and the Sabres fans overwhelmed the hometown crowd. And to my knowledge, unless they’re headed to Toronto, Rochester, Cheektowaga, or Pittsburgh, Sabres fans don’t travel all that well.
Then, there are the Wizards. First of all, I hate the lame, politically correct nickname Wizards (although I would have been okay with it if Walt Williams had been the face of the franchise). Never really bought into the Bullets contributing to DC’s murder rate. But, I’ve attended many Wiz games since I’ve lived in the area. Every regular season game I’ve ever been to was sparsely attended. Everyone in the crowd shot the sh** until about 5 minutes left in the 4th quarter. The apathy was actually a little depressing. I even hit up a playoff game two years ago (the first time the Cavs took the Wiz out of the playoffs) and it was more of the same.
So, you could imagine my shock when I walked into a sold out Phone Booth tonight. Not only was it actually sold out, but everyone was wearing white, copying off of Penn State and creating a white out (brought to you by Geico). Here’s what killed me, though. These numbnut, don’t give a crap about anything that isn’t the Redskins “fans,” were booing LeBron every time he touched the ball. Of course, the biggest boos came when the scoreboard directed the crowd to do so. Here’s a lesson for you Wiz fans, boo the hell out of guys like Bill Laimbeer, guys that are dirty cheap shot artists. I could see booing a flopper like Varejao or the Spurs Ginobili, but a stud like LeBron? Bush league. You should probably sit back and enjoy the ride, you can tell your kids about this. But, the scoreboard wasn’t telling you not to boo a great player, so I can see how you might not have been able to figure it out. When the scoreboard said to boo, you did so. Congrats. I hope the Rally Monkey shows up to the next game.
I’ve been patient with local teams since I’ve lived in the area, and I’ll admit that Skins fans are the real deal. Listen to a couple of hours of DC talk radio, whether it be Riggo, Bram Weinsteinnnnnnn, Doc Walker, or the incomparable Steve Czaban, you’ll get tons of bonkers Redskins talk. This is a good thing. The loyalty of a fan base is directly proportional to the insanity of its local sports talk radio callers.
Beyond the Skins, though, the town is a joke pro sports-wise (there are a lot of college sports fans here, but the only legit ones are the Terps fans). When I go to a Nats game, I’m proud if I see fans squabbling about who should be the 5th starter, because it’s a rare display of baseball acumen. Granted the city just got baseball back a few years ago, and the team has sucked since they’ve been back, but the Nats crowd can’t even provide a home field advantage. The Mets are in town and multiple friends who went to last night’s game reported that the Mets fans were much louder than the Nats fans. Shea away from Shea (heaven for Cecilio’s Scribe). I’d have to imagine that it’s no better when the Phillies are in town.
The Caps have one of the two potential saviors for the NHL in Alexander Ovechkin, and they even made it to the playoffs this year. But, Washington DC and hockey? It just doesn’t mix. Caps fans are surprisingly strong, but I wouldn’t be shocked if the Flyers faithful overtook the Caps fans in the Phone Booth during the recent 1st round series (excruciating double OT loss for the Caps in game 7). Just last year I went to a Sabres/Caps game in said arena, and the Sabres fans overwhelmed the hometown crowd. And to my knowledge, unless they’re headed to Toronto, Rochester, Cheektowaga, or Pittsburgh, Sabres fans don’t travel all that well.
Then, there are the Wizards. First of all, I hate the lame, politically correct nickname Wizards (although I would have been okay with it if Walt Williams had been the face of the franchise). Never really bought into the Bullets contributing to DC’s murder rate. But, I’ve attended many Wiz games since I’ve lived in the area. Every regular season game I’ve ever been to was sparsely attended. Everyone in the crowd shot the sh** until about 5 minutes left in the 4th quarter. The apathy was actually a little depressing. I even hit up a playoff game two years ago (the first time the Cavs took the Wiz out of the playoffs) and it was more of the same.
So, you could imagine my shock when I walked into a sold out Phone Booth tonight. Not only was it actually sold out, but everyone was wearing white, copying off of Penn State and creating a white out (brought to you by Geico). Here’s what killed me, though. These numbnut, don’t give a crap about anything that isn’t the Redskins “fans,” were booing LeBron every time he touched the ball. Of course, the biggest boos came when the scoreboard directed the crowd to do so. Here’s a lesson for you Wiz fans, boo the hell out of guys like Bill Laimbeer, guys that are dirty cheap shot artists. I could see booing a flopper like Varejao or the Spurs Ginobili, but a stud like LeBron? Bush league. You should probably sit back and enjoy the ride, you can tell your kids about this. But, the scoreboard wasn’t telling you not to boo a great player, so I can see how you might not have been able to figure it out. When the scoreboard said to boo, you did so. Congrats. I hope the Rally Monkey shows up to the next game.
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Love the Cheektowaga reference.
I always try to cater to Western New York Zack.