Tampa Bay Fans Suck

I was struck by the image last night of Tampa Bay fans exiting the stadium en masse with one out left in the game. Sickening. Truly sickening. Tampa Bay - from all accounts - played beautiful baseball this year. I obviously didn't watch much Tampa Bay baseball, being in SoCal and being an Oakland A's fan. But I'd read about the Rays and caught a glimpse here and there. They have a great core of players and pitching and the best record in the American League. They won a close pennant race with the outspend everyone else Yankees. In short, they reminded me of the Oakland A's under the Big-3 and Giambi from 1999-2001. The Moneyball A's.

And their fans never showed up. It got so frustrating, their star, Evan Longoria called out their fans. He called it embarrassing to be in a pennant race when only 13,000 fans would show up to games. Players on other team would ask the Rays "where are all your fans?"

Why this particular case is so offensive: it is rare in life to find greatness or anything close to it. It happens so infrequently in anything - sport, movies, politics, books, people - whatever. And so when it happens - for it to go unnoticed or uncared for is a great betrayal of the human spirit. I can understand fans giving up on teams. I've given up on the 49ers this year because it is heartbreaking to watch their stupidity. It is tough to muscle through rooting for a mediocre team with no shot at the playoffs like the Oakland A's. I get it. It is frustrating to watch a lame-ass studio mashed together 3D monstrosity for $18. It is painful to march through a life of mediocre work with mediocre people all around. The only temporary cure - I think - for this repetitive boredom is to seek out and strive for greatness - either in your own pursuits or simply as a fan. There is no shame in this. It is why we watch the Oscars and the Playoffs. It is why I watch ski videos on youtube of guys launching off cliffs. It is why we all watch Susan Boyle on Britain's Got Talent. It is why we watch Jewel-karaoke. The rest is boring.

And so you have the world of the Yankees and the Lakers and the Wall Street Brokers and political dynasties and the oligarchs in the 3rd World and the dictators wielding power over small countries and Giant Mega-Corporations and chain stores and Walmart. Sure, these things are "great" by some definition. They are remarkable in their own way. But they are also boring, as they are the monsters on top struggling to maintain their grips on power by more cunning and poorer rivals. This is also, by the way, why so many folks around hate America. Because we became boring to root for the minute the Soviet Union died.

Anyhow, I guess what I'm saying is that is it rare to find a fresh alchemy of greatness the way Tampa Bay did this year. It happens every now and again. And when we don't recognize it, or support it, it makes it all the less likely we'll ever see it again. I dread the day it all disappears. For it might.