That's what I'd be saying today if I were San Diego Padres closer Trevor Hoffman. I'm not, and Hoffman would never say that because he's classy, but I wouldn't blame him if he did.
I'm driving to school today, and I turn on the Jim Rome show (I like Rome, but I don't like all his listeners who call in and try to sound just like him. Maybe it's me). Anyway, people from San Diego were calling in to say how much they hated Hoffman. They were treating him like, to paraphrase Dusty Bottoms, he "raped their horses, pruned their hedges, and rode off on their women." Yup, Hoffman blew a 2 run lead in the 13th last night, and The Fathers lost to the Rockies in a one-game wild card playoff. He also blew a save opp the night before, again costing them a playoff berth. He also wasn't his sharpest when the Pads lost to the Yankees in The Series a few years back. Do they have a right to be mad? Certainly. But to treat Hoffman, the league's all-time saves leader and the only consistent all-star the team has had since Tony Gwynn retired, as a pariah is ridiculous.
What the hell's going on in San Diego? It's 75 and sunny everyday, and you have a beach. Life isn't so bad. Sure, your team lost a heartbreaker. So what? It's going to be a LONG winter down there, and by "winter" I mean 75 and sunny everyday at the beach. If you live in a place like San Diego, Southern California in general, Phoenix, or Florida, you lose all rights to complain about your sports teams and get all haughty about your star players sucking in big moments. Nobody's going to feel sorry for you when your 2 seasons are "sunny and gorgeous," and "still sunny and really quite comfortable."
Cleveland, Philly, Minnesota, Chicago, Buffalo, Seattle- even New York and Boston: It sucks there in the winter. When your baseball team rips your heart and soul out, or your franchise player craps the bed in a big spot, do you know what you have to get you through a long cold winter? A long, cold winter, jackass, that's what. You have cold, snow, and wind (or if you live in the Pacific Northwest you have 6 straight months of rain), not sun, beaches, and little froofy drinks. If you're a Padres fan, you should be depressed and upset until you go outside and say "hey it's October, I'm going to go golfing".
It just speaks to a level of fan apathy and entitlement that is beyond me. San Diego fans are not entitled to be spiteful and bitter. It's just not allowed, especially at a guy as good as Trevor Hoffman has been for them. And what makes it even worse is that nobody's blaming Cy Young candidate Jake Peavy for giving up 6 runs of his own. Where was he when they needed him? Exactly. Was Hoffman to blame for the loss? He was certainly part of it, but he wasn't the only reason The Fathers aren't going to the playoffs. If those hardluck Pads fans don't want him, trust me, there's 29 other teams out there that would take him.
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3 comments:
Jeff, you're a beautiful man.
Going back to your previous college football post, I was going to ask you a question...
Speaking to the Huskies uniforms: Do you think that if UW hadn't been doing their damnedest to look like Notre Dame last Saturday they may have actually beaten USC?
Dan, your compliment makes me weep with joy!
Jer, yeah don't even get me started on those. Apparently they were "throw back" jerseys from one of their Rose Bowl teams in the 60's. They looked sharp, but yes, looked exactly like Notre Dame, and therefore deserved to lose that game.
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