Larry Brown Sports

Boston sports fans are similar to New York and Philly sports fans in that they’re very passionate and widely disliked because of it. But if there is one quality that Boston sports fans have it’s that they’re extremely loyal. Brand Keys conducted its annual sports loyalty test and Patriots, Spurs, Phillies, and Red Wings fans all were number one in their respective sports. Hardball Talk via Philly Sports Daily noted that the positive ranking for Phillies fans was a nice contrast to GQ which named the Eagles and Phillies fans the meanest last week. But the thread that stood out most to me was that the fans of all four major sports teams in Boston were in the Top 5.

In the NFL, the Patriots fans were ranked as the most loyal ahead of the Steelers, Colts, Packers, and Jets in that order. Celtics fans were named the fourth most loyal, behind the Spurs, Lakers, and Mavs fans but ahead of the Suns. Red Sox fans were named third most loyal behind Phillies and Yankees fans, but ahead of Giants and Dodgers fans who were 4th and 5th. And in the NHL, Bruins fans were 5th most loyal behind the Red Wings, Flyers, Sharks and Canucks. Not all teams’ fans seemed to be included in the surveys, but it still gives us a pretty good idea of something we probably already knew, that Boston fans are enthusiastic and extremely loyal.

Anyway, getting back to Phillies fans, this is great news for their reputation. Most of us know them for horrendous antics like this, this, this, and this. Way to redeem yourselves, Phillies fans!

When you think of some of the most passionate, hardcore, dedicated fans in sports, Raiders fans inevitably come to mind. They were the pioneers of the ___ Nation term, originating the “Raider Nation,” which has since been mimicked by several other fan bases. They have one of the most intimidating fan areas around – the Black Hole – located in one of the end zones. You dare wear a jersey of another team into the Black Hole, you risk not coming out. Being a Raiders fan is not merely a whimsical choice; it’s a culture and way of life.

But as intimidating and strong of a fan base as the Raiders have, their attendance record in Oakland does not correspond. Their Sunday game against the Colts – with the team at 7-7 and still in the playoff hunt no less – is being blacked out because the game did not sell out. That marks the 7th time in eight games that the Raiders failed to sell out a game, resulting in a local blackout.

I ask, how can that be the case?

If Raiders fans are as badass, faithful, and intimidating as they’d like you to believe, you figure the least they’d be able to do is sell out a home game, especially when the team is pretty good, right? That’s not too much to ask, is it Raiders fans?

Man, if the powder blue and gold Chargers are managing to sell out games, how are you not? Poor form Raiders fans, poor form, and I don’t want to hear another thing about how strong the Raider Nation is until they sell out a game.

One fan was not happy with ESPN’s decision to replay San Diego’s touchdown catch by Legedu Naanee. How did he know they were replaying it? No clue, but he expressed his displeasure.

Nice win, KC. Stay classy as well.

By now you’ve probably seen the classic video of a guy getting hit by a ball in the face at a Yankees game because he was talking on his phone. The video went viral and made its way around the internet almost instantly, likely because there’s so much animosity towards people who yak on their cell phones while at the game. It’s distracting, rude, and defeats the purpose of going out to the ballpark to enjoy yourself. Anyway, an SI Hot Clicks reader actually owns those tickets and sold them to the guy who was hit. The aforementioned cell phone man emailed the person from whom he bought the tickets to explain his side of what happened. Bottom line? He has no excuse, but he tries to make one:

The sad part is, and you would appreciate this since they are your seats, that I saw the ball coming, and just about the time it hit the ground was when I knew it was gonna hop the wall. I started to raise my right hand because I knew it was hopping the wall. I should’ve had my hand over a little further, but didn’t gauge the slice on the ball properly. Once it hit the ground, you can’t see it, just know it is coming. I tried to move my hand to grab it once it came back into view. No luck. The worst part is that I didn’t even have anyone on the freakin’ phone. I had dropped my call and was dialing back from between innings. I never make calls during all the hockey and baseball games I go to. Problem was that [Rob] Johnson hit the first freakin’ pitch of the inning. I heard it, picked it up and didn’t have a chance.

When dude tries to use the ball’s slice as an excuse you really know he’s stretching. I’m surprised he didn’t try and throw the “I lost it in the sun” line out there. Lame. Let this be a reminder that you should always be paying attention at the ballgame and not talking on the cell phone. Here’s a video of the incident in case you missed it:

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I thought I had seen bad fan reactions to losses before but this one might rank at the top. The Civil War by itself creates plenty of bad blood, but when there’s a Rose Bowl berth on the line you’re talking about livelihoods at stake. In case you doubted the intensity of the rivalry between Oregon and Oregon State, check out this Beavers fan’s reaction to losing to the Ducks on Thursday night (warning: language, content is strong).

Thanks to Jimmy at SI Extra Mustard for including that video on Hot Clicks. One of the YouTube commenters nailed in saying “he looks like the baby of andy roddick and sean william scott.” Funny, I was thinking the exact same thing. How I love rivalries.

I’ll tell you, after hearing Dominic Raiola’s interview Tuesday on The Monty Show on Sporting News Radio, I don’t want to see the team go 0-16. At first I did just to spite the organization for being so poorly run; it would be the ultimate insult if they were to go winless. But after hearing Raiola talk, I really started to realize that there are some solid players on the team — guys who are trying, who do care, who want to win, and who hate losing. It’s because of guys like Raiola that I now want the Lions to get into the win column and avoid a lifetime of embarrassment. Because Raiola’s been with the team since ’01, he’s taken the brunt of the criticism from Lions fans (at least in his mind). His emotions boiled over on Sunday in the loss to the Vikings when he flipped off the Ford Field fans, a move that cost him $7,500. The organization said they were disappointed with Raiola’s move and said that’s not how they treat their fans. Raiola is saying otherwise:

“You know, if you’re not happy, why are you coming to the game? I understand that they haven’t seen a winner in eight years, so don’t come — don’t come until we turn it around. If they want me to be quiet and just take it … I don’t agree that I should do that.
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You get booed a lot in the NFL — we get booed every week. Fans pay a lot of money and times are really hard right now, and we understand that they want to see a winner. When they get personal [with] myself and my family, I’m just not going to put up with that. I’m a human being, I’m just not going to deal with that.”

About the worst thing a player can do for an organization is criticize the fans the way he did. He had several chances to take his comments back or apologize but instead stuck with his true feelings. And you know what? Eight years of consistent losing will do that to you. The gesture is taking it too far, and telling fans not to come to games is probably the wrong thing to say, but because of Raiola I now want the Lions to actually win a game.

The O’Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off tournament is in effect for the second year in a row, giving us college hoops fans something to watch during the daytime. They have some strong teams participating in the tournament, including Memphis, Xavier, USC, and Virginia Tech. Really, as far as non-conference tourneys go, they have an impressive stable of teams. One problem though: the games are played in Puerto Rico! As you’ll notice, there was one common theme with the four games played in the first day of the tournament — no fans showed up. Just check out the crowd shot pictured above from the Seton Hall/USC game and the other pictures below from every other game. The crowd for each game is the same, listed at 3,217. I guess about 3,200 came dressed as blue chairs. They better figure out some way to get fans down there otherwise it hardly seems like putting on an event where you’re shipping eight teams out of the country, not to mention all the TV crews. And you can’t blame ticket prices either; all day sessions start at $10 and a pass for the entire tournament goes for $99 — not a bad deal at all. I bet those players had better crowds in middle school.