Follow-Up: Perception Key In Rollins Saga
Posted by Tim Malcolm, Thu, August 14, 2008 11:46 AM | Comments: 110
Posts
Last night was a bad mixture of things. The Phillies ran out to a big lead over the Dodgers, and as the night progressed and the news of Jimmy Rollins’ comments about Philadelphia fans grew, the lead shrank. By the end of the night, we were all fuming — a leader saying things we don’t want him to say; another bad loss.
Let’s concentrate on Rollins, and I’m pulling out Todd Zolecki’s blog post about the matter because he eloquently illustrated a point that I somewhat sprinkled into my vitriolic post last night. Point is, Rollins is from the West Coast. He doesn’t have the knowledge of Philadelphia fandom that we do. In fact, his most telling quote came at the very end, when asked where he was from.
Rollins is from Oakland, where “they just don’t show up,” he said. Bingo.
When taking a step back, Rollins is correct: We do waffle on our team. We’re happy as can be when they win; we’re angry and spiteful when they lose. Most East Coast cities are like this. Rollins saw both sides of the coin — the bad teams and angry crowds of the early 2000s, the good teams and happy crowds of the past three years. (And the quick-to-turn crowds when things go wrong lately.)
Rollins is also correct when comparing us to Saint Louis fans. Of course, Cardinals fans support their teams no matter what. That’s a different way of life, a slower, family friendly way of life. The Cardinals are the most white-bread franchise in baseball. That’s the extreme, the exception.
Rollins, meanwhile, is from an area where the fans “just don’t show up.” Even when winning. That’s how he sees it.
We’re not wrong because of what we know. He’s not wrong because of what he knows. I do think he could’ve thought before saying exactly what he said on national TV. With his place as “team leader,” he could’ve chose his words better. But as we look at this newest installment of “As Jimmy Turns: The Disappointing Season of 2008,” we should understand everyone’s perception.
Posts: 0 Don M
Tim..
very well said!!
Posted: 12:05 PM on August 14, 2008
Posts: 0 J-Man
Agreed couldn’t of said it any better…I’ve watched some Oakland games and their fans are almost as bad as the Marlins fans.
Posted: 12:27 PM on August 14, 2008
Posts: 0 Chase Mutley
Apparently Jesus loves tacky Gucci sneakers. Why is money always wasted on the tasteless?
Posted: 12:27 PM on August 14, 2008
Posts: 0 Phil
Ugh, fuck Rollins.
Posted: 12:32 PM on August 14, 2008
Posts: 0 Unorignal Unfunny Bastard
I like to post comments that make only myself laugh.. obviously nobody else laughs, but I didn’t have any toys as a child, so I post random comments on message boards and I think its great!!
Posted: 12:35 PM on August 14, 2008
Posts: 0 That Guy
He is trying to start trouble. He said himself “I’m probably gonna catch a lot of flak for this…….” And then he continued anyway. A player from a less insulated and a more media saavy team (brian westbrook) would have had a more appropriate response.
Posted: 12:36 PM on August 14, 2008
Posts: 0 Phil
Don M I hate football, but how can you say something so dumb? McNabb on a one man team? Westbrook is the best running back in football. Stop saying stupid shit.
Posted: 12:44 PM on August 14, 2008
Posts: 0 Phil
Not to mention that the reason fans hate McNabb is because he’s always injured and because he is a choke artist.
Posted: 12:45 PM on August 14, 2008
Posts: 0 janice
Thanks for posting Tim. This perspective is desperately needed here in Philly.
Some Phillies fans live their lives through this team and the ups and downs – there success depends on it – get a grip or get a life!
Some Phillies fans behave like Emotional females!
Posted: 12:57 PM on August 14, 2008
Posts: 1650 Tim Malcolm
Hey, fake Don M, I’ve said this before: Stop spamming us with Eagles posts. Go to Bleeding Green Nation or the Eagles boards if you want to talk about the Birds.
Posted: 12:57 PM on August 14, 2008
Posts: 0 J-Man
McNabbs just as bad as Rollins with his whole “Black QB are under more pressure bs”…I guess those guys just can’t handle the pressure when their not doing good and their gonna get booed.
Posted: 12:58 PM on August 14, 2008
Posts: 0 janice
j-man –
you injected race into this discussion. Jimmy didn’t. McNabb is not the issue the subject pertains to how the Philly fans flip-flop.
Posted: 01:01 PM on August 14, 2008
Posts: 0 Phil
Janice, Phillies fans never flip flop. They may not go buy tickets to go watch them play when they suck, but that doesn’t mean they don’t stick by them.
Posted: 01:02 PM on August 14, 2008
Posts: 0 Phil
This fake Don M is really annoying me.
Posted: 01:03 PM on August 14, 2008
Posts: 0 Phil
Tim…something really needs to be done about this board. Can we please do registrations already?
Posted: 01:05 PM on August 14, 2008
Posts: 0 Suggestion
even a $ membership..and it gets you a T-shirt or something… not too expensive, but something that will let people that want to be on here stay on..and people that want to just post junk, unfunny, unoriginal comments off..
This is a great site where we can all share our views and ideas and opinions on what we would like to see them do and why.. and due to this other nonsense, im really considering banning this site form my computer.. there has to be SOMETHING we can do here.
Posted: 01:08 PM on August 14, 2008
Posts: 1650 Tim Malcolm
We’re seeing what we can do. Some people are just idiots.
Posted: 01:09 PM on August 14, 2008
Posts: 0 janice
to be in love with a team one day, then completed against the team or players the next day all based on whether they pass or fail/win or lose is immature and childish. I’m at the games and have stopped my 3 yr old son from booing with the crowd. these men sit in the stands and behave like children or better yet sissies!
Posted: 01:09 PM on August 14, 2008
Posts: 51 R.C. Cowie
I handled the fake “Don M”…
apparently the guy was posting from inside of some financial insitution in New York. His company is not going to be too pleased when they find out they are paying him to spam our website.
Sorry about about, Nation! We got it under control.
Posted: 01:09 PM on August 14, 2008
Posts: 0 Phil
Thanks Rob. What a tool. Mets fans really have no lives.
Posted: 01:10 PM on August 14, 2008
Posts: 0 Don M
Yo honestly, if that works.. Rob is the man…. I just stopped posting stuff cause it was getting too annoying to see my name on there every 4 seconds..
Posted: 01:12 PM on August 14, 2008
Posts: 0 Don M
that was me under the suggestion by the way… what do you guys think about it?? Or would you lose sponsors for the site if less people were posting?
Posted: 01:13 PM on August 14, 2008
Posts: 0 Phil
Janice, I boo players for not trying not because they’re doing bad. It’s a huge difference.
Posted: 01:16 PM on August 14, 2008
Posts: 0 James K.
Pretty obvious Rollins is trying to get himself traded. God bless the team that gets him, as they’ll be getting an aging, average fielding, below average OBP’ing leadoff hitter with dwindling power.
Apparently $7 million a year isn’t enough for Mr. Rollins.
Posted: 01:16 PM on August 14, 2008
Posts: 51 R.C. Cowie
Real Don M,
We have a spam program coded in the site and it works very well. It’s just the .001 per cent that gets through who wind up annoying everyone.
At this time we don’t feel that registration is needed. We know who comes here with good intentions and we’d like to thank all of you that do. A couple of malcontents are not going to make us drastically change the way we operate this website. It is a blog and open forum for topical discussions.
Throughout the year, we reward our readership and viewers with some fun free stuff and the opportunity to come out in force to take over a stadium of the opposition.
That’s why we are the best Phillies site on the internet. We aren’t sportswriters with websites disgusied as blogs or guys in our underwear ranting non-sensically about anything and everything. We are a collection of fans providing a place for other fans to discuss baseball.
Those that try to disrupt our status quo get dealt with.
Posted: 01:21 PM on August 14, 2008
Posts: 0 Don M
as my boy Geoff would say.. WERD
Posted: 01:30 PM on August 14, 2008
Posts: 0 Don M
I figured somebody, somewhere could see what the email address or whatever was and track these dopes, nitwits, and morons… and now, back to baseball
Posted: 01:31 PM on August 14, 2008
Posts: 0 Greg
Don’t baseball players get media training these days? There are ways to answer these questions about fan support and the supposed reputation of Philly fans. I can point to Reggie Jackson as the most sophisticated practicioner of news media soundbites and building fan support. He understood the equation and how to leverage that support in his own interest. What it really boils down to is Rollins, et. al. are highly-compensated mercenaries who owe their alligience to their agents and their contracts. They don’t care what fans think simply because they have no incentive. Long-suffering Phils fans are once again reminded we are rooting for a uniform and a logo. The players who don that uniform simply don’t care.
Posted: 01:32 PM on August 14, 2008
Posts: 0 janice
phil what a joke.
“i boo players for not trying.”
like you can read their minds to discern if someone is trying or not. what if someone said they came to your job and booed you because you weren’t trying not because ur doing bad. haha! it sounds silly. childish!
nothing beats a try but a failure!
Posted: 01:35 PM on August 14, 2008
Posts: 0 Don M
They really play for MLB.. and just happen to work in the “philadelphia office”… most of them would rather play somewhere with nice weather, night clubs and places to eat than play for a contender.. as long as they make their money, they don’t care where it is… SMART players say that they love everything about their city.. which is why fans still cheered for Burrell after he hit only .209 in 2002
Posted: 01:35 PM on August 14, 2008
Posts: 0 Don M
Phil is dead on… if you have one knock against Jimmy Rollins its because he doesn’t seem to be going 100% this season… if you hustle all the time, people respect you and get over it much easier than if you dawg-it and still fail,, leave it all out on the field, and you become a HERO in this town!
Posted: 01:37 PM on August 14, 2008
Posts: 0 janice
when it comes to the phillies consider this. either it’s meant to be or not meant to be. if their success as a team is not meant to be, why get your knickers in a twist?
it doesn’t mean that you’re a failure.
Posted: 01:38 PM on August 14, 2008
Posts: 0 janice
who want’s to be a hero in a town full of losers. we need to get over our loser mentality!
Posted: 01:40 PM on August 14, 2008
Posts: 0 Phil
Janice, when Jimmy Rollins doesn’t run out routine ground balls that constitutes as not trying. If he doesn’t dive for a catch he should make that’s not trying. When he swings at a 1st pitching breaking ball that’s not trying. You obviously don’t know anything about baseball so stop posting stupid shit on here.
Posted: 01:41 PM on August 14, 2008
Posts: 0 Phil
Speak for yourself, Janice. I’m not a loser. Maybe you are. Obviously you are.
Posted: 01:43 PM on August 14, 2008
Posts: 0 Don M
Google “janice it hurts” …. see what she is like in real life.
Posted: 01:45 PM on August 14, 2008
Posts: 0 Geoff
its all abotu the effort. when you dont give the effort, and then bury the fans and blame everyone else but yourself, you gotta go. just keep your mouth shut and play baseball like you did last year.
Posted: 01:46 PM on August 14, 2008
Posts: 0 Don M
Can we at least agree that saying he isn’t one of the best SS in baseball is foolish?
I agree that he isn’t hustling at all… and saying things about the fans isn’t smart.. but there aren’t a lot of better, realistic options out there to replace him
Posted: 01:49 PM on August 14, 2008
Posts: 0 janice
you guys obviously don’t play sports. or are you just that jaded. phil to interpret my comments as if I called you (personally) a loser. something is wrong with you but then again, you comments reflect that there is something wrong. anger. what’s up with your anger?
so answer my question. seriously – who want’s to be a hero in a town full of losers?
Posted: 01:50 PM on August 14, 2008
Posts: 0 Geoff
vernon wells ius on waivers…will the jays pick up his money if we claim him?
i doubt, ill bet he gets pulled back.
Posted: 01:50 PM on August 14, 2008
Posts: 0 Rick
Don M. – That is absolutely true! Aaron Rowand was a perfect example of that! After the wall incident he could do no wrong! He could strike out 3/4 times in a game and fans still wouldn’t get on him. If J-Roll does that, they’re all over him.
I think the thing the fans used to get all over Burrell about wasn’t the fact that he would get into slumps, it was that he would K looking! He has really cut back on that. It seems like his eye has been more sharp this year.
J-Roll is the best all-around shortstop Philly will probably ever have. He’s not a leadoff hitter and is misused in that role. I went back and reread his statement and it really wasn’t that bad. If he would have just left out the “frontrunners” part, it was simply the truth. Saying “frontrunners” though is just not acceptable.
Sure players get booed for bad play, but in what passionate city don’t they?
Posted: 01:51 PM on August 14, 2008
Posts: 0 Don M
Did anyone ever figure out why teams like the Yankees place Jeter and others (that they would never trade) on waivers.. is it a mandatory thing? They just signed Wells to a big contract, so i doubt they let him go..
If you are a hero in a town full of losers, you stand out even more… where are you from janice??
Posted: 01:53 PM on August 14, 2008
Posts: 0 Rick
WTH is Janice talking about?
Posted: 01:54 PM on August 14, 2008
Posts: 0 Phil
I played baseball all throughout my life until I shattered my wrist senior year. Just like you said, “like you can read their minds to discern if someone is trying or not.” Then I ask you this, how can you read my mind and say I didn’t play sports. Once again you are saying stupid shit. You’re right about me being angry. I get angry when people make really inaccurate comments and say things they have no idea what they are talking about. I’m also angry that my favorite player threw an entire fan base under a bus for his poor play this season.
Posted: 01:56 PM on August 14, 2008
Posts: 0 Bruce
As Tim says..”we should understand everyone’s perception.” Amen to that and let’s move on. My only quibble with Rollins’ comments is that he probably should be more tactful knowing Philly fans and their alledged reputation as being fickle, “angry and spiteful”. Some “fans” even take satisfaction in being stereotyped as such. What Rollins has said is not news and see no need for all the pretentious whining here. We have more important concerns with team being mired with injuries and slumps.
Posted: 01:58 PM on August 14, 2008
Posts: 0 Rick
I just want a solid game out of Myers tonight leading to win #6! Tonight is his true test! If he pitches well against this much improved Dodgers lineup, I’ll be convinced he’s back to #2 status!
Tim – I’d like to make a suggestion for a beer. Lefthand Brewery’s Sawtooth Ale. AWESOME beer from another cool Colorado Microbrewery.
Posted: 02:03 PM on August 14, 2008
Posts: 0 Geoff
rowand is worshipped here, and always will be for running into a wall..
Posted: 02:04 PM on August 14, 2008
Posts: 0 Geoff
i think they put these players on waivers and announce it to mask them putting other guys on waivers. illl bet the jays put burnett on waivers, but didnt announce it so they can have more leverage in a trade when he clears waivers. meanwhile, they send wells and this other guy on waivers knowing the other guy will get claimed and that wells will draw attention but will get pulled back if someomne claims him.
Posted: 02:06 PM on August 14, 2008
Posts: 0 janice
i grew up in philly – born and continue to live.
if you have a team that has only one 1 ws in 125 years as you’re mentioned, how much sense does it make to lose it with them for making mistakes?
I don’t get angry – so phil call me any name that you want it will have no effect.
my comment about being a hero in a town of loser has to do with me wanting to be around winners and successful people. angry people are rarely successful – their anger illustrates there lack of being able to deal with dissapointments successfully.
so good luck with that issue phil. i doubt if you win with your anger issue.
Posted: 02:07 PM on August 14, 2008
Posts: 0 Phil
Agreed. I hope he’s on the Wall of Fame some day.
Posted: 02:07 PM on August 14, 2008