Joe Schulman is the author of a new column in the Kansas City Star about becoming a fan of a new baseball team. He has written for ChopTalk, the Atlanta Braves' magazine. Joe is a freelance writer in Atlanta, and he and his wife, Cady, are avid Braves fans.
Friday, January 05, 2007
New Year, New TalkI'm still new as a Royals fan, so I'm not sure this applies to the KC management. But if I was a betting man, I'd say just about every fan for for every team has dealt with one of my biggest pet peeves in sports. It's what I call spit talk.
As fans, we live and die(mostly die) by how our team performs. So when that team does poorly or a bad trade is made, hurts. But what hurts more is the response from managers and coaches. Instead of owning up to a major screw-up or disaster, we get the sugar-coated, not as bad as it looks speech.
But that's not what we want. Don't spit in my hand and tell me it's just the rain. We want to hear the truth. Or at least how the owners, general managers and managers really feel.
I bring this up because as a longtime Braves fan, I've dealt with this often. Whether it be at the end of a short playoff run or after a free agent signing that was far from spectacular, we get a "we'll try harder next year" or "this guy will really be an addition."
Look, I know you can't badmouth a new player and you can't rip a team apart when the wheels come off in the seventh inning. I'm not asking for that. What I want is feeling. Emotions.
It's why I don't always mind when a pitcher hauls off and punches a water cooler. Good for him. At least I know he's mad about losing. That's why fans love Tommy Lasorda. His rants on guys like Dave Kingman are epic.
I'm not saying that every executive and coach in sports should always speak their mind. Not by a long shot. I just want them to ocassionally let us know how they really feel. Good or bad. When a big free agent arrives, smile and show some excitement.
Sports are about emotions. It'd be nice if we'd see it from someone other than the people who buy tickets.
So my question now is actually two parts: Are you getting the feeling Royals execs are excited about the upcoming season? What's the best show of emotion you've seen by an executive, coach or player?