At a little past 6 a.m. on Tuesday morning, March 25, the 2008 Major League Baseball season officially kicked off when the Oakland A's hosted the Boston Red Sox at the Tokyo Dome in Japan. This marks another spring through summer of the streets of Boston being flooded by Red Sox hats, shirts, bumper stickers, and any other possible place a Red Sox logo can be placed. Normally, I would not have a problem with any city having their sports fans wear team paraphernalia, however Boston has recently be turned into a city full of bandwagon fans parading around in their atrocious pink hats and shirts.
I can somewhat stand the pink attire, but what I can't stand in any way is "Red Sox Nation." Red Sox Nation has nearly ruined my love of baseball and the Red Sox. There are several different reason why I hate the "Nation" and I'll explain the main grievances that I have with it.
#1. NESN - For those who live in the New England area and watch sports, you are probably familiar with NESN, or the New England Sports Network. Every Red Sox game not broadcast nationally (either on Fox on Saturdays and/or ESPN on Sundays) is broad casted on NESN. I know NESN isn't really part of Red Sox Nation, but they do feed into it. NESN is by far one of the worst experiences a true baseball fan can have watching a game, whether you are a Sox fan or not. Aside from the horrible camera work and production, which will show replays while a pitch is being thrown, is the fact that they are always looking for the worst examples of fans to show on television. NESN makes watching anything between pitches impossible as they are always searching for fans with stupid facepaint or holding a ridiculous sign that serves no other purpose but to obstruct the view of actual fans sitting behind them.
#2. With NESN comes reason number 2, Jerry Remy. - Jerry Remy is one of the worst color commentators on the planet when it comes to baseball. The only one worse is Tim McCarver, but he is a different issue for a different day. Jerry Remy has the uncanny ability to make a tie game in the bottom of the 9th at Fenway park against the Yankees seem less important than a new couch that his wife bought 2 months ago. No commentator pays less attention and contributes nothing to the telecast more than Jerry Remy. Don't bother asking him what he thinks of Oakland's bullpen because he doesn't follow any team outside of Boston. Instead, he is too busy looking for some of those stupid sign with terrible pictures of him drawn on them or talking about his career home run totals. The "President of Red Sox Nation" is exactly that, nothing more than a glorified fan.
#3. The "Fans" - By far, the worst part of "Red Sox Nation" is anyone over the age of 5 who was not a fan before 2003. Since 2003, it became the cool thing in Boston to become a Red Sox fan, which has somehow developed globally as well. The members of Red Sox Nation, also referred to as the "pink hats" are the people who show up to Fenway Park with signs that read "Came down from Maine to see my first Red Sox Game!" and do nothing more than ruin the fun for people around them with their constant babbling about how they love Jacoby Ellsbury (who, so far, is overrated, but again, another topic for another day). These people are the reason why die hard, lifelong fans like myself can't go to a game without having to shell out more money than I pay for tuition. These people are the reason why every other baseball fan around the world hates us.
If I see another "Jerry Remy for Prez" sign, I may have to move to Dodgerville.
I could rant for much longer, but I will stop here and allow you to leave feedback. Whether you agree, disagree, love, or hate my points I want to hear what baseball fans think.
I can somewhat stand the pink attire, but what I can't stand in any way is "Red Sox Nation." Red Sox Nation has nearly ruined my love of baseball and the Red Sox. There are several different reason why I hate the "Nation" and I'll explain the main grievances that I have with it.
#1. NESN - For those who live in the New England area and watch sports, you are probably familiar with NESN, or the New England Sports Network. Every Red Sox game not broadcast nationally (either on Fox on Saturdays and/or ESPN on Sundays) is broad casted on NESN. I know NESN isn't really part of Red Sox Nation, but they do feed into it. NESN is by far one of the worst experiences a true baseball fan can have watching a game, whether you are a Sox fan or not. Aside from the horrible camera work and production, which will show replays while a pitch is being thrown, is the fact that they are always looking for the worst examples of fans to show on television. NESN makes watching anything between pitches impossible as they are always searching for fans with stupid facepaint or holding a ridiculous sign that serves no other purpose but to obstruct the view of actual fans sitting behind them.
#2. With NESN comes reason number 2, Jerry Remy. - Jerry Remy is one of the worst color commentators on the planet when it comes to baseball. The only one worse is Tim McCarver, but he is a different issue for a different day. Jerry Remy has the uncanny ability to make a tie game in the bottom of the 9th at Fenway park against the Yankees seem less important than a new couch that his wife bought 2 months ago. No commentator pays less attention and contributes nothing to the telecast more than Jerry Remy. Don't bother asking him what he thinks of Oakland's bullpen because he doesn't follow any team outside of Boston. Instead, he is too busy looking for some of those stupid sign with terrible pictures of him drawn on them or talking about his career home run totals. The "President of Red Sox Nation" is exactly that, nothing more than a glorified fan.
#3. The "Fans" - By far, the worst part of "Red Sox Nation" is anyone over the age of 5 who was not a fan before 2003. Since 2003, it became the cool thing in Boston to become a Red Sox fan, which has somehow developed globally as well. The members of Red Sox Nation, also referred to as the "pink hats" are the people who show up to Fenway Park with signs that read "Came down from Maine to see my first Red Sox Game!" and do nothing more than ruin the fun for people around them with their constant babbling about how they love Jacoby Ellsbury (who, so far, is overrated, but again, another topic for another day). These people are the reason why die hard, lifelong fans like myself can't go to a game without having to shell out more money than I pay for tuition. These people are the reason why every other baseball fan around the world hates us.
If I see another "Jerry Remy for Prez" sign, I may have to move to Dodgerville.
I could rant for much longer, but I will stop here and allow you to leave feedback. Whether you agree, disagree, love, or hate my points I want to hear what baseball fans think.
