OT: Baseball fans

[sportdan30]

First off, thank you to PK for the kind words concerning the St. Louis fans that you posted in the other thread. I haven't been to too many ballparks but Busch Stadium definitely personifies the family atmosphere.

I'm just amazed from those in the public media who agree St. Louis has the best baseball fans. I'm not saying it's untrue, but perhaps I'm just used to the friendliness and knowledgeable fans we do have along with the continuous support. You start to believe it's the same way in every city.

So my question is how are other baseball fans personified in their city? I've always thought of Wrigley Field as a party atmosphere, LA as a place to be seen and those who don't necessarily care about the outcome of the game (I feel different now after witnessing them in the playoffs), Atlanta as bandwagoners, etc. etc.

[dbdynsty25]

Atlanta fans aren't bandwagon fans..they simply don't show up until they make the World Series. It's old hat...Braves make the playoffs, Braves get bounced out of the playoffs. ATL fans are just bored with that.

As for LA fans...they are terrible. Sure you'll find a few die hards (usually of Mexican heritage, why I don't know), but overall they pretty much suck. Show up in the 3rd inning and the leave in the 7th. Gotta beat the traffic I guess.

I'm fairly impressed with Phoenix fans...they support their teams pretty well for being a semi-small market team with a lot of competition from competing sports. It's one of the few markets that has one from every sport in town, ASU Sun Devils, Coyotes, Suns, Cardinals, Dbacks. I love Phoenix for that reason. Denver is the same way.

[Spooky]

Cubs fans run the gambit. Sure, you have your drunken, fratboy, bleacher bum idiots that use Wrigley as the worlds largest singles bar (and the same for the rest of the younger 'wrigleyville' crowd that hang out at all of the bars around the ballpark). But, the majority of the fans at the rest of ballpark and around the city/suburbs are true baseball fans and LOVE thier Cubbies, through good times and bad. Lots of older die hards. Also, the ballpark is very family friendly so there is also that 'fun family' outing atmosphere. For the most part though, I would think that the Cubs fans could hold their own with Cardinals fans as far as sincerity goes.

[dbdynsty25]

But, the majority of the fans at the rest of ballpark and around the city/suburbs are true baseball fans and LOVE thier Cubbies, through good times and bad.

I didn't know the Cubs experienced good times.

[tjung0831]

First off, thank you to PK for the kind words concerning the St. Louis fans that you posted in the other thread.

What Paul fails to mention in that story on his trip to St. Louis a few years ago is all the Budweiser that he drank during his visit. Not to mention all the Budweiser merchandice that he purchased, nor his take on his tour of the worlds most famous brewery!!!

Tim

[krustylew]

Expo fans love poutine, and speak French sometimes. They also will not be going to watch home games anytime soon.

[lexbur]

I know I sound like a homer but I think when your talking about great baseball towns Cleveland at least deserves a mention.

455 consecutive sellouts back in the 90's. That's over 5 consecutive years. It's gonna be a while before any other city touches that record.

The fact that the attendance has dropped off the past few years may qualify most of those fans as front-runners, but there are still plenty of us diehards holding down the fort until this sleeping giant re-awakens.

If anything, that streak proves how hungry this town is for a winner.

But I actually don't mind it this way. It's nice to once again be able to go at the last minute, whenever you want, as opposed to having to buy your tickets 6 months ahead of time. Me and my buddy had two full-season tickets for a few years.

[pk500]

First off, thank you to PK for the kind words concerning the St. Louis fans that you posted in the other thread.

What Paul fails to mention in that story on his trip to St. Louis a few years ago is all the Budweiser that he drank during his visit. Not to mention all the Budweiser merchandice that he purchased, nor his take on his tour of the worlds most famous brewery!!!

Tim

Well, I did drink Bud in Busch Stadium. What other choice is there but A-B swill? And every beer tastes better at a ballpark, even Bud.

Didn't take a brewery tour, although that would have been cool. But catch me wearing Bud merchandise? Nope, not my style. I'd rather spend my jack on drinking the beer instead of wearing its merchandise, regardless of brand.

Still have very fond memories of the two games I attended in Busch and of my time in St. Louis. What a great baseball town. Very nice town, in general, with a hell of a lot more going on that I thought.

St. Louis simply blows away Kansas City in terms of sports and social life, at least from the time I have spent in both towns. Kansas City rolls up its sidewalks at about 9 p.m. each night. A very dull town other than a very cool jazz club I visited a few blocks down from the Negro Baseball Hall of Fame, another cool spot in KC.

KC does have one edge -- its major racing facility. Kansas Speedway is a palace; Gateway International Raceway is a festering dump.

Take care,
PK

[Dave]

There is a small group of die hard Twins fans, but generally, it is not a very attentive or intelligent crowd. Most of my experience comes from sitting in the lower GA in left field; this is where most of the people taking part in promotions (ticket and hot dog, soda, that sort of deal) and I'd imagine they are more casual than most fans.

Still, people say things that just make my head spin while sitting there. I've been able to stay away from turning around and calling people idiots.

But overall, there is usually at least one break out of the wave and a beach ball bouncing around.

Add the teflon sky into the picture and you see why people don't really go to very many games.

[Brando70]

But, the majority of the fans at the rest of ballpark and around the city/suburbs are true baseball fans and LOVE thier Cubbies, through good times and bad.

I didn't know the Cubs experienced good times.

I'll take a Super Bowl in my lifetime and 6 NBA titles over one World Series victory in 272 tries and the fading memories of 17-0. Atlanta has the worst fan base on earth, in any sport.

Seriously, Spooky's right. You get a good deal of in-da-club idiocy in the bleachers at Wrigley, but there are a lot of passionate Cubs fans who know the game and their team. Chicago in general is a very serious sports town, even if 4 of the 5 major pro teams are anything but serious lately. However, despite the Cubs mythology, it is a football town first, whereas I would label St. Louis a baseball town.

[dbdynsty25]

I'll take a Super Bowl in my lifetime and 6 NBA titles over one World Series victory in 272 tries and the fading memories of 17-0. Atlanta has the worst fan base on earth, in any sport.

Coulda sworn the title of this thread was BASEBALL FANS.

[Spooky]

But, the majority of the fans at the rest of ballpark and around the city/suburbs are true baseball fans and LOVE thier Cubbies, through good times and bad.

I didn't know the Cubs experienced good times.

How'd I know someone was gonna mention that!?!?! Even more fitting that it's you DB.

[dbdynsty25]

How'd I know someone was gonna mention that!?!?! Even more fitting that it's you DB.

All I know is that it's a damn good thing the Braves got that ONE World Series win.

[FatPitcher]

SBC Park is appropriately named, because a lot of people are talking on their phones at the park.

[AJColossal]

As a lifelong Chicagoan, I for the most part agree with what has been said about the fans here. Cubs fans have been stereotyped as brain dead, party-on morons, but that is just false, for the most part. I put our fans with anybody when you consider baseball's most observant and knowledgeable fans.

I disagree about Chicago still being a "football first" town. The Bears have been so pitiful for so long that I think the Cubs have surpassed them in city-wide interest as of late. As usual, the Bears suck this year, but I don't get the impression that people really care that much anymore.

-AJ

Oh and how could I forget, Sportsdan. I hope like hell your Cardinals get their motherf$%#ing asses beat senselessly to f&*$ing holy hell, but I mean that in the nicest possible way.

GO BOSTON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[tsunami]

Who wants to hear about Yankee fans? Anyone?!?! Yeah, I didn't think so.

Personally, I think Yankees fans (and NY fans in general) get a bad rap IMO. But, being a lifelong NYer, maybe I'm biased.

The Yankees are one of the saving graces of the NY sports teams in that you can actually afford to go to one of their games. It costs an arm and a leg just to sit in the nosebleeds in the Garden these days. Never mind the fact that the Knicks and Rangers still suck.

[skidmark]

LA has pretty bad fans because so much of the town is mind rotted with style over substance. Get big attendance when a big name club comes to town, but not to see what the local team can do against them... to actually see and root for the other team. Obviously this doesn't apply to every single person in the stands, but its just a lousy crowd as a whole. Dodger crowds are more of the exception to this rule, which can be refreshing, but it seems that even those games are getting tainted as of late. The people that follow them and bleed the Dodger blue are much fewer and farther between. The Lima game vs the Cards was a great game to be at though. The Angel fans were pretty sparse, but obviously has some bandwagon joiners now that they have had some strong years. Easy to spot the new comers because none of them have a clue who Gene Autry is.

[sportdan30]

As a lifelong Chicagoan, I for the most part agree with what has been said about the fans here. Cubs fans have been stereotyped as brain dead, party-on morons, but that is just false, for the most part. I put our fans with anybody when you consider baseball's most observant and knowledgeable fans.

I disagree about Chicago still being a "football first" town. The Bears have been so pitiful for so long that I think the Cubs have surpassed them in city-wide interest as of late. As usual, the Bears suck this year, but I don't get the impression that people really care that much anymore.

-AJ

Oh and how could I forget, Sportsdan. I hope like hell your Cardinals get their motherf$%#ing asses beat senselessly to f&*$ing holy hell, but I mean that in the nicest possible way.

GO BOSTON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'd have to agree and disagree with your statement made concerning it still being a football town. Living there for three and half years, I can attest that the Bears and Cubs equally share the airwaves when it comes to talk radio at least. Cubs fans are definitely very passionate about their team. I wouldn't say they pack the stands anymore just to "party" or check out the females. They surely want to see a winner. However, I don't think you'll ever be able to say it's not a football town first. People used to call up the station in March and April to specifically talk about the Bears. By that time, I was so burned out on football talk. I'm just amazed that the White Sox and Blackhawks are more or less afterthoughts. Hockey is huge in St. Louis compared to Chicago. When I moved to Chicago, I thought for sure the Blackhawks would garner much of the winter talk, but it wasn't.

[pk500]

Dan:

I've never lived in Chicago or St. Louis, so this is just a guess. But I think hockey takes a back seat in Chitown because the Blackhawks have sucked for most of the last decade with an owner, Wirtz, who doesn't seem to give a sh*t about improving the team.

Combine that with the lingering vapors of greatness from the Bulls' dynasty years, and it's easy to see why Windy City residents shun the Blackhawks.

Meanwhile, don't the Blues still have the longest active streak of making the Stanley Cup Playoffs every year? That sure helps build fan base -- plus there's no NBA team in town.

Again, just a guess. A longtime Chitown resident should set me straight if needed.

Take care,
PK

[Inuyasha]

Dan:

I've never lived in Chicago or St. Louis, so this is just a guess. But I think hockey takes a back seat in Chitown because the Blackhawks have sucked for most of the last decade with an owner, Wirtz, who doesn't seem to give a sh*t about improving the team.

Combine that with the lingering vapors of greatness from the Bulls' dynasty years, and it's easy to see why Windy City residents shun the Blackhawks.

Meanwhile, don't the Blues still have the longest active streak of making the Stanley Cup Playoffs every year? That sure helps build fan base -- plus there's no NBA team in town.

Again, just a guess. A longtime Chitown resident should set me straight if needed.

Take care,
PK

I am in the sports television industry and worked in Chicago for a brief time and the reason that the Blackhawk’s don't have a following is because the team does not have a tv contract with any local stations (non-cable). One of the Chicago folk we worked with mentioned to me that it's been that way for over 20 years and the team does not care about generating any interest.