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By Jeff Clark | Boston Sports
February 19th, 2008 |
The three major Boston area sports teams have enjoyed quite a run of success recently. Since the turn of the century, the Red Sox have two World Series wins and the Pats have 3 Super Bowl wins (out of 4 appearances). Lately, even the Celtics have gotten into the act, leading the NBA in wins (41) at the All Star break. As fans we have every right to be proud of the teams we follow with as much passion and devotion as any fanbase in the country.
However, the price of all that success is a growing sentiment of animosity from fans of other teams. The rest of the country is flat-out sick of hearing about Boston and they are already lumping us in with the fans of Duke, the Cowboys, and yes even the Yankees. Call it jealousy if you like. Blame the East coast media bias. Blame Bill Belichick. Blame Bill Simmons if it makes you feel better. But the fact is much of the country hates us.
Some of you are totally cool with that animosity. Some of you, in fact, thrive on it. That’s fine, I get it. I can understand the thrill of the “us-against-the-world” rallying cry. I’m not above a little good hearted trash talk (ignoring the fact that I had next to nothing to do with my team’s success or failure). But for most of us it gets old over time. Especially for those of us who have moved out of the New England area and have to live with the Boston fan stereotype all the time. So is there any hope of escaping this fate without compromising our allegiance or our passion? I think so, yes.
I proudly wear my team colors and root as hard as anyone for the Sox, Pats, and Celtics. Yet, a friend of mine told me recently that I was the only New England fan she knew that she actually liked. Another friend of mine complimented me (I think) by saying I did a pretty good job of being the only Boston fan he knew “who is not obnoxious, cocky, and condescending to the rest of the country.” I’m not trying to pat my own back here, I’m just trying to display some proof that what I’m about to lay out actually does work.
Here are some simple steps that anyone can take which will at least give you a shot at not being lumped in with the stereotype of “that Boston fan.”
1. Take an interest in their team. For example, if you are talking to a Trailblazers fan, don’t lead the conversation with “Yeah, the Celts almost had Oden, but look how well it worked out for us!” They don’t care and unless they’ve been living under a rock, they’ve already heard enough about “the big three.”
You know basketball. Talk to them about how great Brandon Roy has turned out. Talk about how great they are going to look next year when the big fella is healthy and contributing to the team. After a while, you might even mention that Roy reminds you of Paul Pierce sometimes. Meaning, the way he can score without blazing speed or athleticism, which bodes well for a long, excellent career. See, you don’t have to avoid your team altogether, but if you show interest in their passion, they will appreciate it.
2. Point out your team’s flaws. It isn’t like you are betraying your team or anything. It is just pointing out the things you are hoping to see fixed or improved. You do it with other Boston fans all the time, why can’t you do it with non-New Englanders? The effect is disarming for those expecting you to prattle on about domination and superiority. In fact, you might even find the other person defending your team - saying something like “Yeah, but the Sox look to be the favorites again this year, no matter what happens with Schilling.”
In fact, you could even take things one step further. You could check your righteous indignation at the steroids scandal and admit that Belichick and the Pats did, in fact, cheat. They were caught red handed, paid the punishment, and used it as a rallying call. Yes, the season they had right up until the Super Bowl was very impressive, but that isn’t going to change the way people feel about Belichick. You don’t have to defend someone who deserves no defense just because he wears your team’s colors. You don’t have to throw him under the bus either. He is what he is, a brilliant football mind that may have wanted to win a little too much and really doesn’t care what most people think of him. Perhaps, in regard to that last point, you should follow suit.
3. Don’t quote Bill Simmons. In fact, don’t even talk about him unless the other person brings him up first. I’ve always been a fan, and unless he starts openly rooting for the Yankees or Lakers, I probably always will be. But despite an often self deprecating style of writing, he’s become the face of Boston over-exuberance and arrogance. Half the nation wants him to light himself on fire so they can pour on the gas. Just avoid it altogether and if you are going to name drop, try your favorite blog (self promotional plug).
Follow those three easy steps, and you should be able to avoid being pre-judged based on the team you are rooting for. It’s pretty simple, really. Don’t be “that guy.” If you find yourself thinking “I could say something that would just set this person right off,” then ask yourself if it is worth it. If the answer is “yes,” then you really are “that guy” and this column wasn’t for you.
It all seems to boil down to respecting other fans and their teams. Show respect, get respect. And maybe if the Celtics manage to get to the Finals in the next couple of years, we won’t have the world rooting against us again.
Jeff Clark is the founder and lead writer for CelticsBlog.com
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31 Responses to “How To Avoid Being “That Boston Fan””
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February 19th, 2008 at 10:19 am
4. Don’t claim that GMs across the NBA are making moves because the mighty team from Boston decided to do it, and that it appears to be working.
Claims like these are why the rest of the country hates Boston fans like you. It shows your ignorance and arrogance. The way Ainge, Theo, and Billicheat do things are the only way to do it in your minds. Also, stupid statements like, “I’d rather have Buckholtz than Sanatana,” or “Pierce is a Hall-a-Famer,” or “Rodney Harrison is a warrior” make the country hate you. You lack context.
February 19th, 2008 at 11:32 am
I grew up a Red Sox fan, even out here in the West, because Yaz was my idol. But I have stopped being a fan simply because I no longer wished to be called a Sox fan.
Rule 5. There ARE fans of other teams who know just as much if not more than you do about sports. Cheering for a winning team does not automatically make you a fountain of sports knowledge or a better fan than anyone else. This attitude has turned Sox fans into the thing they hate most — Yankee fans.
February 19th, 2008 at 11:34 am
How about adding: “when you go to root for your team in another team’s stadium, don’t be a loud obnoxious, drunk ahole”. It’s ok to root for your team but don’t be a jerk. The Boston fan has taken the place of the NY fan as the most annoying.
February 19th, 2008 at 11:41 am
4. Don’t waste your time responding to guys like Ray. …oops, just did. Oh well, nobody’s perfect.
February 19th, 2008 at 11:59 am
I think most basketball fans find it annoying how a dysfunctional franchise with a brainless GM suddenly became successful by stealing an NBA icon during a fire sale. It’s not as if the Celtics were any good, it’s that Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen came in and bailed them out. It’s a very similar reason to why people hate the Yankees, their players are not “theirs.” This Celtics team probably won’t win the title, so even worse for them they have a good chance of going down in history as the place where KG wrapped up his problematic career before going into the HOF as a Timberwolf.
February 19th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
This is more for fans still in New England:
If you’re at a bar and someone is rooting against or just isn’t cheering for the sox, celts, or the pats, let it go. No need to get in his face and call him a fa&&ot simply because he’s not on your side. He may not have a side, maybe he doesn’t like baseball and is just getting a drink with friends that do. If he’s not in your face, don’t get in his. And, you’re from Framingham, not “Southie”, so lose the accent.
February 19th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
So . . . can we still do the light-hearted trash-talking thing? ‘Cause my blog sorta revolves around that most days . . .
February 19th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
Correct me if I’m wrong. But why would anyone from Boston care what other people think of us? So what, you hate us. F-You. We hate you too, you stupid idiots. Don’t you get it. No one here cares what you think. That goes for the author of this banal article as well. Are you even from Boston? Surely a Bostonian would never pen this drivel.
February 19th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
sounds good to me
February 19th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
(last comment was meant for Jodie, not THAT guy)
February 19th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
The Cs acquired Ray Allen and KG partly because of luck, and partly because of of Ainge. I know “Ray” and the rest of you won’t admit it, but Ainge actually deserves credit for accumulating valuable young players that rebuilding NBA teams craved. Brilliantly snaging Jefferson, Gomes, and Green later in the draft all but made KG a Celtic, and I think Ainge has proven over and over again that his drafting hasn’t been “lucky”. Combine Ainge’s drafting with a couple of expiring contracts and a Paul Pierce injury (this is where the luck comes in), and the New Big Three is born.
And as for all of you who have commented on Jeff’s article so far, all you’re doing is acting like the “jerk Boston fans” you hate so much. Maybe you should take Jeff’s advice yourselves, and gain some credibility by actually giving New England teams some credit.
February 19th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Well, anyone who thinks Ainge “just got lucky” clearly isn’t a knowledgeable enough fan of any sport to bother arguing with that’s for sure. Not that anyone was paying attention when Ainge took over, but he announced this was his plan all along - to acquire talent and make a trade for top tier talent. Wow, amazing, he pulled it off and it cost him one of the top 5 young big men in the league to make it happen. Somebody, before you make this foolish “lucky trade” argument please just go look at Jefferson’s stats and make a more informed rebuttal. I’ll be the first to admit that Jefferson needs to work on his defense and is nowhere near the player KG is, but it was over in Minny and they were ready to rebuild. They weren’t going to get Dwight Howard or Greg Oden and they didn’t want Zach Randolph, so they got Al Jefferson. You don’t like “That Boston Fan”? Who cares, but try to limit your hatred to where it was meant to be directed, at overconfident Red Sox and Patriots fans. I’d like to keep the die-hard Celtics fan base separate personally.
February 19th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
Isn’t Jeff Clark, the author of this piece, from Virginia?
Doesn’t anyone see the irony in this?
February 19th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
No, it was meant for me. Admit it. You all love us in Boston. You want to be us. You wish you were us. You go and hang out in walk-in refrigerators just so can feel what we feel. You drive like a lunatic in the hopes that you can experience the thrill of driving on our roads. You put marbles in your mouth and speak so that you can hear the sounds of Tom Menino.
Admit it America. You need us.
February 19th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
Boston = Best Place Ever
Everywhere Else = Sucks
February 19th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
Jeff Clark is the baked ham of sports journalism
February 19th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
LOL
proud to call Plymouth, MA my hometown, as if it mattered
February 19th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
I guess Bob has never been anywhere else because the weather in New England/Boston has really really sucked lately.
February 19th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
Here’s one: Don’t go to Angels Stadium. It was your choice to move out of Boston, don’t ruin our lives by coming to our stadium and telling us how crappy our waterfall is. We lived through the Disneyfication of our team.
This goes to your first point. Most of the Boston fans seem to scream, “Angels suck! Fenway Pawk is wicked nicer than this dump.” Again, we don’t expect you to talk about the OPS of Juan Rivera vs. Reggie Willits, but come on.
Thank you for putting this together. Hopefully some will learn from this. (And you have a free beer at an Angels game in the future.)
February 19th, 2008 at 10:24 pm
You know what they say… It’s lonley at the top. I hate NY and all of the classless, gutless, loser fans. “Hey, I’m dyin’ ova heeya”. What scum!
February 20th, 2008 at 7:25 am
Jeff, for the most part. I’m with you, especially when my non-Bostonian friends start comparing me to the Sports Guy. I keep having to point out to them that while he has his moments, and he can be funny at times, he does not represent all of us, mostly because while he claims to be a Boston sports fan, he does not cover everyone. He gave upon the Bruins seven years ago, and he definitely had valid reasons for that (massive mismanagement in a sports business context by Jeremy Jacobs et al.), but the “last straw” for him was trading Jason Allison for Glen Murray (essentially), and now, where’s Alley, and where’s Muzz? He gave up on the NHL in general partly for that, and partly because he’s a xenophobe, as he decried the European influence on the league, and he has done the same thing with the NBA, as he has put down the NBA’s “international” stars on a regular basis. Then again, quite a few Bostonians are xenophobes, because Boston is the Hub of the Universe.
Also, he refuses to acknowledge intercollegiate athletics. He would not get on with Ted Sarandis particularly well, because he disses BC (or refuses to acknowledge them) at almost every opportunity. Granted, this is natural, because he went to Holy Cross, but it does reduce intercollegiate athletics here to almost nothing.
However, I have to disagree with you about saying that “Belichick cheated.” He didn’t. He broke the rules. Not to open a can of worms here, but there is a common misconception that videotaping the opponents’ signals is illegal. It isn’t. The problem is that it has to be done from the stands, and in this case, it was not. It was from the sidelines. He felt that he could get away with it because he was not using the footage during the game, and let’s face it, he is an arrogant jack-off, so that permeates his thought process, but the Commish felt otherwise, so he was wrong. Effectively, Goodell said, “You defied me, so you’re going to pay,” but they didn’t use the footage during the game, so it wasn’t cheating. Did he break the rules? Yes. Is he an arrogant SOB? You better believe it! But he didn’t cheat.
Okay, that’s my view. Other than that, I’m totally with you.
February 20th, 2008 at 8:54 am
How about not wearing Boston Team Wear while attending sporting events in which no Boston team is participating. Nothing is more irritating that to attend a Braves Reds game and someone has on Red Sox Jersey. Right colors wrong time.
February 20th, 2008 at 11:53 am
I am that Boston fan in my locale. Yeah I get to hear “Belicheat” and all that but nobody questions me about the Red Sox and I hear from others that Boston Celtics are going to win the championship this year. I hope they are right about the Celtics.
February 20th, 2008 at 10:47 pm
As a PATS fan this makes me feel much better. What a bunch of losers. FROM SI.COM:
Last week, Willie Gary, who played seven games for the Rams that season, filed suit in New Orleans accusing the Patriots of fraud, unfair trade practices and engaging in a “pattern of racketeering.” Three fans joined in the suit.
On Tuesday, Hugh Campbell, the Cincinnati lawyer who filed Gary’s suit, said he wanted to add at least two new classes to the action: all employees and players of all NFL teams who were illegally videotaped by the Pats, plus all fans who bought tickets to any game that the Pats illegally taped. He also said he wanted to join with Sen. Arlen Specter, R.-Pa., who also is looking into the allegations.
Goodell and Specter met last week in Washington.
Specter told The Associated Press on Wednesday that if Walsh is under subpoena in a suit, it might solve the problem of protection.
“I think now that the lawsuits have been started, that I got the ball rolling, and the plaintiffs’ lawyers are picking it up,” Specter said.
February 28th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
You are a loser. I do not care about their team and I could care less if they like me. You are probably one of thopse guys that don’t want kids sports to keep score so everyone wins. Like I said;loser.
February 28th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
BOSTON THE CITY OF CHAMPIONS
i never get tired of saying that.
GOD BLESS TERRY, BB and THE RED SOX NATION
February 29th, 2008 at 11:04 am
what exactly is it that we owe other fans because our teams are winning and the focus of publicity right now? it doesn’t strike anyone as, ya know, *normal* for boston fans to know more about their own teams than others’? to prefer their ballpark to others’? “point out your team’s flaws”–are you nuts? apparently it’s not enough to avoid talking about the teams i’m a fan of, i should put them down as well, just to make someone else feel better? are we in competitive sports here, or kindergarten?
sorry, but i don’t feel the need to downplay rooting for my teams because they’re winning right now and other people suddenly find boston fans obnoxious, when just a few years ago we were all pathetic loser masochists who sucked at life.
March 3rd, 2008 at 4:08 pm
I’m with the article for the most part. I live on the West coast and cheer only for the Celtics, Pats and Red Sox, but I personally can’t stand when certain Sox and Pats fans relish in playing the role of Yankees fans. I’ll agree with any out of town fan who says that, but I won’t stop liking my team because I think some fellow fans are a-holes. I’m not gonna let them prevent me from cheering for the teams I love. That’s not how sports work. I cheer for the Celtics, Sox and Pats, not for their fans.
One thing I find funny though. I do most of what’s in the article. I respect other people’s teams and recognize our squad’s flaws. In general, when opposing fans talk trash to me, I just smile and say “yeah, well, we’ll see.” Thing is, many people take that as condescending but I’m not talking trash, I’m not making fun of their teams, I’m not touting Boston’s perfection and superiority. I’m not actually saying anything. If you’re so insecure that you can’t take it when Boston fans DON’T talk trash to you, don’t start talking trash to them. And if you do talk trash, don’t get pissed when the Celts/Sox/Pats come away with the win and Boston fans just smile about it when they see you.
I gotta get on one specific comment. NFL Adam, I was one of those Sox fans at Angels Stadium in Game 3 this year. You have no basis for your statement. All the tickets to that game went to Angels season ticket holders. That was your own team’s home playoff game, yet there were at least 50% Sox fans there, if not more. It’s not our fault that YOUR FANS don’t care enough about your team. Sucks for the real Angels fans I admit. I had good conversations with a lot of them, and they mostly wished that more Angels fans showed up to support the team. But they didn’t. Sox fans didn’t keep Angels fans out of the stadium. It was those Angels fans who sold their tickets to Sox fans. Just because most of your fan base doesn’t really care about the team, don’t complain about the fact that we come out to road games.
But yes, many Boston fans can be obnoxious. Sucks to be caught in the backlash, but I won’t lose any sleep over it.
March 5th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
I’m a huge c’s fan - I’ve lived in new england for 13 years…but I’m originally from buffalo (yes I know please spare me the taunts). I love the passion of boston sports but I must say I’m not into the fans…of which my husband is one.
I swear ya’ll have so many conspiracy theories…everyone is against boston…if they lose there’s a conspiracy…if they’re winning it’s despite the fact that ALL the calls are going against boston.
it needs to stop. sports are competitive. every team worth their salt is looking for an edge…not just against boston teams.
I don’t care too much about obnoxious…you find that everywhere. I don’t care much about obsessed…in fact I respect obsessed fans. but stop trying to make excuses for every single call against the pats or loss to the yankees. it’s ridiculous.
March 12th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
Eddie’s right, NFL ADAM is a retard!
Born and raised in Pawtucket.
EVERYONE STOP HATING!
And lets go 17 straight tonight Celts!!
March 14th, 2008 at 6:54 pm
I honestly think that in every sports town in america you can find trash talkers and ignorants fans, and that includes NY,Philly, chicago and L.A., so dont tell me that just boston fans are obnoxious.