Yesterday I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to do something I have wanted to do for years. I got to see my favorite football team, The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, play against the Washington Redskins at Fed Ex Field in Landover, Maryland.
I have probably been to 20 Bucs games but this was the first time I got to see an away game. I’ve lived in the Washington D.C. Metro area for almost four years and this is the very first time since I have lived here that Tampa Bay played the Redskins up here. I wore my Buccaneers jersey and everything.
I was slightly concerned that I would get some razzing wearing the enemy uniform but none of the Redskins fans said anything to me.
I was happy. It was a beautiful day. For a while the Bucs were even winning. This was when it started.
The Redskins fans started booing their own team.
The first time I thought. Aw, that is sad and I felt bad for the guy who dropped the pass. Then they booed their quarterback, Jason Campbell. He had just thrown an incomplete pass.
Then I started feeling sick.
This was their team. I watched my team (who are now 0-4 by the way) blow a perfectly good lead. The Bucs stunk up the field but I was there cheering them on every single play. I was amid 50,000 Washington fans applauding the enemy and they were booing their own team in their own stadium.
I’m not saying that the ‘skins were playing well. I am not saying I agree with the play calling. I am not saying that the fans shouldn’t have been disappointed with the level of performance they were seeing.
What I am saying is that booing your own team is mean. It is bad manners.
I know that this isn’t going to win me any friends at the bus stop, but I was appalled. I knew it happened at the last Washington home game, but I wasn’t there for that. I didn’t hear how loud it it was. I didn’t hear how mad they sounded. The crowd sounded bitter.
As upset as I was by the event, some people here in DC see it as a positive thing.
Say for example, you are a Caps fan:
It’s a storied franchise, filled with championships and great names and history that bleeds into just about everyone around here – until now. People are pissed, and for good reason, with anger the likes of which I’ve never seen in my 27 years as a Washingtonian.
They’re annoyed and confused and frustrated. But most of all they’re searching for something, anything, that can give them some enjoyment as the Skins stumble to disappointing losses and equally disappointing wins.
Enter the Caps, the team filled with young superstars and contagious personalities. Enter the team led by the underdog coach, with the Russian phenom who could just as easily be that kid on your block who used to fry ants with a magnifying glass as he could be the Next One. Enter the group of guys who are so quotable they make Clinton Portis look like Sidney Crosby. Enter the team that has more potential than all the teams in DC combined, and that has more fun than all the teams in DC combined.
Okay, I see her point. I also happen to love the Capitals. Maybe she is right. I know for a fact that the fans around here are pissed off. I’m afraid to listen to talk radio on Mondays. I am still just amazed by a fan base that would would pay $80 for a ticket and then boo.
Maybe that is the problem. Maybe these people expect to see a little more effort on the field for their money. Maybe they are just bitter about losing to the Lions.
Or possibly they need to learn some manners.
* * *
Originally written for and posted on BlogHer.com. Cross posted with minor changes.
[photo: Paul Sancya | AP ]
I cannot imagine myself booing the Caps, ever. It’s possible that it could happen but I doubt it. It’s really great that they are doing so well and if I had money to burn I would be at every home game because I admit it, it is such a kick to watch a team that has this kind of energy and fan support. HowEVER, I also was a cheap seats fan in college when they didn’t have that much going on and they played in a cement box of an arena and Rod Langway was the big deal. What was I supposed to do? Root for Philly? Wrong!
Also I think it’s terrible that as much as the people around here claim to be Redskins super fans – with the incessant singing of the song and the “burgundy and gold” this and that – that they are such big babies when this team effectively sucks right now and has some real quarterback issues. You know that I don’t know much about football but I was on the couch watching the game yesterday and for the first half I thought, “Oh, so this is clearly how not to play football.” (I know a little bit more than I did a month ago. Frightening.)
This is a cranky, temperamental area and I think that’s the bottom line. And I can say that because I was born here. I agree with you that the booing is ridiculous, and as much as I can understand why #firezorn or whatever relative to Campbell trends, and I get that people are frustrated, there’s still a certain level of decent behavior that might be nice. At least, given the number of kids that go to those games, they could perhaps model how to be a graceful competitor, forget about winner or loser.
(Again, I have an opinion about my least understood sport and I have no idea why.)
At least I now feel less frightened about attending the Denver/Redskins game. We have tickets and I was a little scared about sitting in the stadium in our Broncosembles and regalia. Now I know the fans will be more polite than the Dolphin’s who spat on us when we went to their house a few years ago.
On another note, I heard someone say the other day that FedEx field has a new name “Fed Up Field.” *sigh*
That sucks. I’m a firm believer in manners and this does not cut it. Be a fan, joyous or dissapionted, but don’t be an ass. Sports are about being a good sport. Or should be, anyway.