Fake Brewer Fans

[radman12484]

I work at a sports collectibles stand at mayfair mall. Just a few minutes ago I had a couple come up to the cart and pick up the Stormin Gorman bobble head. They proceeded to ask me "who's this?" That's not all, both were wearing Brewers jersey's and hats. Couple was probably in there mid to late 30s and had no idea who Gorman Thomas was.

 

I think I'm gonna be sick.

[jlau20]

I've been paired up with a guy at work the last two weeks who likes talking about the Brewers, and mentions how he's been playing his MVP '05 game alot lately.

 

Problem is, he tries to tell me that the Brewers will probably lose it eventually and that the REDS are going to make a run at the division, and that I should just wait and see. And he claims everyone thinks the same, that the Reds will make a run.

 

Then he proceeded to tell me that the Brewers should try to get Henry Blanco back because "that new guy" isn't doing that well.

 

The conversation ended when he asked me if Victor Santos and TOMMY PHELPS are still on the team.

[foamboy1]

I give him points for remembering the very forgettable santos.

[AJAY]

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I work at a sports collectibles stand at mayfair mall. Just a few minutes ago I had a couple come up to the cart and pick up the Stormin Gorman bobble head. They proceeded to ask me "who's this?" That's not all, both were wearing Brewers jersey's and hats. Couple was probably in there mid to late 30s and had no idea who Gorman Thomas was.

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You never know. . . It's possible they may not have lived in Milwaukee their whole lives and maybe they aren't as familiar with the old-time Brewers. I'll stick with the positives and give them credit for wearing Brewers clothing and buying Brewers merchandise. That's what I like to see.

 

Even if they are just clueless bandwagoners, I'll still take it. You'll find that in every city where a local sports team is doing well.

 

It's a good sign we are even having this discussion. That means the team is doing better.

[fitz19]

No offense, but did you ask if they were long time Milwaukee residents? On the other hand, maybe, they just started following baseball and the brewers are their team. Maybe they are visiting the area and have adopted the brewers.

 

Comments like that remind me of people who was a "Name your Favorite Band here" until they sold out "aka now everyone likes them, not just me."

 

People p&m about cubs nation or redsox nation (and I'm with you about the cubs, I HATE THEM), but I would never, never turn away a brewer fan. I don't care if they are bandwagon or not.

[jazzytrav]

There's almost a distinction that has to be made with all the new fans that are following the team this year.

 

There are some new fans that are respectful enough to understand that they don't know much about the history of the team. I'm only 25, so I only have vague memories of Yount and Molitor, and I'm not about to speak with passion about the '82 Brewers cause frankly, I don't know much about them other than some of the players and some of their stats.

 

Some fans just started watching the team this year, and I have no problem with this whatsoever because not all of them are gonna jump ship if the team starts losing again. I have one friend that just started watching this year, but he doesn't get all bent out of shape after a few losses because he talks to and listens to people that went through the years of losing and he understands that if you're gonna root for a team, you can't just cheer them on when they're winning.

 

On the other hand, there are an unfortunate amount of fans that dress up in Brewers gear because it's become trendy, and they stick around only as long as the wins are there. I had a friend of a friend watching a game with us who was talking about how he booed Turnbow a couple weeks ago at a game because "Turnbow sucks". While I agree that Turnbow hasn't been all that we remember him to be this year, he was a huge part of the Brewers 1st non-losing season in over a decade a couple years ago. Though that doesn't mean he can't be critized, it at least means he shouldn't be booed. It almost hurt watching Cappy walk off the field last night to a bunch of booing fans...they just don't remember what he's meant to us in the past couple years because they weren't there.

 

I fear for the year in the future when the Brewers aren't winning like they are this year. All I can think of is the MNF game against the Titans during the Packers 4-12 season when fans were walking out of Lambeau in droves. Those are the fans that only started watching when Favre came along and the team started winning every year. They don't know who the "Majik Man" and Brent "Fumble"wood are.

 

Neither do many of these fans remember the Brewers as far back as Lyle Overbay. It's unfortunate, but hey, they're pumping money into the team so by all means I hope they continue...I have no problem with trendy fans helping us keep this infield togeher http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[pogokat]

let me start by saying that i know who gorman thomas is...

 

ok,

 

i lived in milwaukee in 90-91...that'ss when i became a brewerfan...before that, like everyone else from south of the mason dixon line, i was a braves fan...i'm glad i was alive when the crew played in the world series...but i think calling someone a fake brewers fan because they don't cry when they think about don money is short sighted...i've been following this team since i was 10...that's 16 years...and i dont care about gorman thomas...am I a fake brewers fan?

 

the victor santos guy i understand...but i dont think its fair to pick on people who like the current brewers more than the early 80's brewers...i'll take dalee murphy over anyone not nameed paul molitor who ever played for the crew...

 

though ben sheets is getting close to replacing the murph in second...

[jazzytrav]

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but i dont think its fair to pick on people who like the current brewers more than the early 80's brewers

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I don't think anyone is necessarily picking on people because they don't care about the early 80's Brewers. I think it has more to do with people who didn't care about the early 80's Brewers during the early 80's (or they weren't alive or coherent), and now that the current team is doing well, they're talking about the older teams with an heir of knowledge that they don't normally have.

 

For the record, I just turned 1 year old during the '82 World Series, so I can't say I remember anything about it (other than watching the reruns), but I also don't try to pretend like I'm knowledgeable about that era just to fit in.

[JimH5]

People don't need to qualify their fandom for me to believe they are fans. This isn't a contest, it's a baseball team, and there are some who know more about its history than I do, and some that know less.

 

I love that there is a new interest in the team, and welcome any and all to root for the home team.

[IslandsAC]

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This isn't a contest, it's a baseball team

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Agreed. All of us became fans at one point or another, this same couple could know simply everything about the history of the brewers in a year or two. I would think this would have been a great opportunity to spread the glory of stormin gorman with some new fans.

[jlau20]

I'd have to agree that it's awesome seeing so many people wearing Brewers gear around now, nice to have that one conversation piece to bring up with someone you don't know that well when they're wearing a Brewers hat or shirt also.

 

Besides, it can be fun to talk about people making mistakes about the Brewers now, because hopefully in 10 years, they'll be as into it as alot of us are. We were all at that point sometime I'm sure.

[mark Lorretta for presiden]

It almost hurt watching Cappy walk off the field last night to a bunch of booing fans...they just don't remember what he's meant to us in the past couple years because they weren't there.

Couldn't agree more. To see the most fan friendly player in the MLB get booed like that made me sick. I'm just so angry at people who think players aren't allowed to have a bad stretch once a year. The same thing happened to Turnbow last year, and he was just the nicest guy before his meltdown, but know he really stays away from the fans because he was sick of their crap.I hope Cappy realizes that it was just the bandwagon booing and not the true brewer fans!

[aracko]

We need fans of all types to remain competitive. Dont make them uncomfortable.

[logan82]

I could do without the boo birds.

[jlau20]

I could do without the boo birds.

 

Same here, really unneccessary, if Turnbow would have walked Tulo instead of gettting the double play I have a feeling he would have heard it again.

[1992casey]

If you can't appreciate George Scott and Johnny Briggs, you're not a true fan. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

[adamb100]

I play World of warcraft and just joined a guild and the leader says the Brewers are his 2nd fav. team after the Jays. =)

[And That]

If fake Brewer fans are buying real Brewer tickets and real Brewer merchandise, they can be fake all the live-long day as far as I'm concerned. I don't think the Brewers count their receipts from fake fans any differently than real fans, and it could help raise the payroll anyway.

 

It's all good up to the point of the "Whoever, Whoever... you suck!" chants. Those people need to be kicked out.

[logan82]

So you are saying they have to kick out the left field bleachers for every game. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

I agree with you by the way. I seem to remember how some players used to say the fans at Miller Park were knowegable. Things are getting worse. I guess that is the price of success.

[dannyjnoonan]

I totally agree with you guys about fans that boo our players. Those people suck. I defiantely told the meatheads in front of me on Friday to shut it when they were booing Cappy, and I was doing the same thing at every game when Jenks was cold last year. Those are bad fans. W love our Brewers like we love our children, not because they're good, but because they're ours.

 

But the worst fans are people that think they're "level of fandom" is higher than that of others. That's so annoying. I know as much as the next guy about the teams from the 80s (and I was under ten during the 80s, I was 2 during the world series season), but when people that are less into baseball history ask me something about Gorman Thomas I ANSWER THEIR QUESTION, not write some snarky post on a message board about it. There's a damn good chance that that young couple gets just as much joy out of a Brewer win (and just as much disapointmnet out of a Brewer loss) as the guy that knows Gorman Thomas's lifetime OPS off the top of his head. @#%$, the guy that runs the sports collectable kiosk at the mall strikes me as a good person to ask questions about baseball, but I guess not.

[BrewCityUnit]

I defiantely told the meatheads in front of me on Friday to shut it when they were booing Cappy, and I was doing the same thing at every game when Jenks was cold last year. Those are bad fans.

 

I was right there booing Capuano....and I don't think I suck or am a bad Brewer fan. I don't like when our pitchers walk two batters in a row, especially right away we take the lead. It doesn't mean I don't like Cappy as a person or as a Brewer, I was just unhappy with his performance at the moment.

[1992casey]

I don't like assigning different 'levels' of fandom, either. As an example, we frequently see the term 'casual' fan assigned to people who aren't familiar with sabermetric stats.

 

I'd submit that the 90 year old woman who listens to Bob Uecker every day is not a 'casual' fan, even though she's likely not into sabermetrics. Heck, she's probably even very familiar with Gorman Thomas. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

 

dannyjnoonan, if you feel 'colorful' language coming on when you post, it's your responsibility to preview your message to make sure everything flies with the cuss filter. Posts with "@#%$" violate site guidelines. Note that 'damn' was fine. The 'other' word you used wasn't.

[splitterpfj]

I wouldn't worry too much about a couple that doesn't know who Gorman is, I'm just happy they stopped to ask.

 

Who knows, maybe they're the type who've always been talking Packers by June 1...we need those people wearing blue and gold. Go ahead and tell them who Gorman is, maybe a year from now they'll be season ticket holders.

 

As for the booing at MP, I didn't have a problem with the fans getting on Cappy. Someone letting off steam when things aren't going well is ok with me, as long as they don't get into name-calling, etc. I sat behind two guys who wouldn't get off Jenkins one day, they just would not shut up. Late in the game, he hit one out, even then they were yelling "Lucky swing."

 

I have no time for that excessive stuff, and the losers in the bleachers who think they're funny....are not.

[Kpanz20]

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I don't like assigning different 'levels' of fandom, either. As an example, we frequently see the term 'casual' fan assigned to people who aren't familiar with sabermetric stats.

I'd submit that the 90 year old woman who listens to Bob Uecker every day is not a 'casual' fan, even though she's likely not into sabermetrics. Heck, she's probably even very familiar with Gorman Thomas.

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Thats what I'm saying.. the 90 year old woman who has listened to Ueck for decades is more of a fan than any of us. She's got that tenure. Sabermetrics is just another way to analyze a game, it's a tool... some people act like it's a religion and it drives me nuts.

 

In my opinion, the greatest fan in the world doesn't need to be the most knowledgable... they just gotta have the love for the game.

[dannyjnoonan]

I guess I never understood editing language for stuff like that. They're just words, right? And sometimes they're the right words. But whatever, I'll make sure to edit better next time. But I've seen far worse words than "s--t" on here, "Zambrano" for example.