Eric Winston is my idol.
By now, maybe you’ve seen the video clip. Winston stands in front of his locker after the Kansas Chiefs’ 9-6 loss to the Ravens Sunday and tells us what he thinks about the hometown fans who cheered when Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel was knocked unconscious in the fourth quarter.
Comments
Great article. Dan is always much better when he takes the high road.
I can do this anonymously. Okay here goes. I agree with Shaughnessy. There, I said it. He's correct when he says that society has become emboldened by the internet. How much of what is written would be said out loud in a local bar? Those brave writers would be wearing plastic nose guards all winter. When people cheer someone knocked out and lying on the field unconscious, there's something wrong. Bad wrong.
Great article Mr. Shaughnessy. It's an increasingly angry, entitled, and puerile culture we live in. And anonimity provides the angry coward with a means of expressing hostility that he would never have the guts to say or do in a face to face encounter. Vicious reviews and blogs are only the beginning. Angry, anonymous drivers cut us off, won't let us onto merge into traffic, and give us the finger. Bitter, hostile people post harsh, cutting comments on FaceBook or send nasty texts. What happened to common decency? Or the golden rule? Why do people celebrate the misfortunes of others? What happened to shame? Winston said what no decent person would have needed to be reminded of.
I was at Fenway the night Bryce Florie was hit in the eye with a line drive. I still can hear the thwack of the ball hitting him in the face. The park went totally silent as 33,000 people watched in horror while the medical staff attended to him. Yankee fans, Red Sox fans, vendors, everyone gave Florie a heartfelt standing ovation as he was taken off the field. We watched reports in the following days looking hopefully for any good news. It was people genuinely caring about other people. That was in 2000. What has happened in these last 12 years? What have we become?
Agreed Thump. Last 12 years has found the middle class sportsfan unemployed and the likes of Carl Crawford getting $124 million, forget Manny Ramirez. Kansas City, once a perennial winner, is 1-4, after poor seasons previously. Resentment maybe? Short of blaming the victim, understand Patriots' NFL tickets go from $85 to $225 today, Red sox tickets in 1996 that were $24 are now $125 and renamed Premium Field (aren't you special)seating instead of upper box. The marketing, news and TV media hype, adulation and money literally poured on athletes since free agency is ludicrous and has generated unrealistic expectations among fandom. Look what a spectacle the Olympics have become. ESPN 24hrs sports! We need to get a collective life!, and figure out that we, as fans, have become too invested in our teams and their success.
Spot on, ajp.
Completely agree, Dan--thanks for writing about this.
I could not agree more. Great article, Dan. It is one that has been long overdue in taking to task the actions and attitudes of "fans" across the sports spectrum. Sports are simply a vehicle for enjoyment, not the end-all for audiences to become depressed or angry if their hometown team loses. It is not your life. If you believe it is, then you have to get one.
Great article Dan: What a disgrace those fans are!! Matt Cassell was a good quarterback for the Pats and filled in admirably for us when Tom Brady went down. Nice man and a true professional. I had never heard of Eric Winston but he spoke so eloquently about the fans and the situation. Hopefully Matt will be OK and the fans deserve every rotten thing said about them. I am sure most of them have children and how awful for them to see their parents do such a pathetic thing. Thanks Ruth Lee
Dan, it is impossible to fathom such a reaction; it's a sad (and disgraceful) day to recognize that fans hit such an all-time low. Darkness has fallen on the fans of KC, and they need a reality check. I shudder at the thought of NE fans acting in such a barbaric fashion, and have every faith we will never see that day come; we are crazy, but we have humanity. Most important, I hope Matt Cassel will be okay. He deserves to have his spirits lifted right now, as he recovers. We, as a society, are losing sight of what's important. But not all of us ... right now, I am listening to Kevin Faulk's retirement speech (on 98.5) tears in his eyes, tears in mine ... and it helps to hear this football player speak with such humility, such sweetness, such heart. Keep the faith; what else can we do?
See my comment. We (Boston) beat KC to the punch by 42 years! Fans haven't "hit an all-time low". There has always been and always will be a large number of sports "fans" who are zeros in all aspects of life - they just show it publicly at games.
Sorry to see that's the case. :( I know you're correct, that the behavior is not new, per se, but the visibility of such behavior (and that includes the distasteful comments people make in online forums) has never been greater. To me, in the year 2012, it's hit an all-time low; I don't go back as far as 1970 in my own experience, if you know what I mean. What's sobering is the realization that we are not evolving.
This boorishness is not new and not foreign to "The Athens of America." I remember watching a game at Harvard Stadium in, I believe, 1970. The Pats had just signed the remnants of Joe Kapp. Mike Taliaferro was playing QB for the Pats in this game. He was knocked cold. While he lay motionless on the field a large part of the crowd cheered wildly. Sick then, sick now.
I suppose your column calling a Red Sox player "a piece of junk" for simply missing a bunt attenmpt in an imposrtant ganme against tye Yankees was Ok, eh Dan?
Eh, be sure to include Montreal in this, Habs fans are the worst, booing anthems, cheering opposing team injuries and calling the mounties on Chara for that hit
Eric means you Dan. Bring back Manny