Other teams' fans' perspective on the Brewers

[gregmag]

Now you want to deny that you claimed Braun's lying and cheating caused fans to give him a standing ovation. On one level, I don't blame you, because it's a ridiculous statement. Unfortunately, you made it, and it's right up there in black and white. Not blue.

 

Fair enough. Is it wrong for me to find it odd and be disappointed that the player who played a total of 61 games last year for the Brewers and accepted a half year suspension from MLB for cheating gets a warmer reception from the fans than the player that won a gold glove and was clearly the Brewer's MVP in 2013? I know, I know, Braun needs the fans support, forgiveness, and love more than Gomez does. By that standard, Rickie Weeks should get a standing O every time he comes to the plate. If anyone needs the fans support right now it's him!

Everything else aside, I get your point here, and I think you ask a great question. In fact, it's a classic question. It's the parable of the prodigal son. Is it fair to "kill the fatted calf" for Ryan Braun? I can't say. It's just what people do sometimes. Me, if I could get to Miller Park, I'd be screaming my lungs out for Rickie Weeks. He's always seemed like a good guy, he was once an excellent player, and yeah he has the money but I bet he feels like crap. So that outs me for the mush-brained softy I am, and there's nothing passive-aggressive in that confession.

[Thurston Fluff]

Dragging Rodgers into it? I doubt Braun made Rodgers go and defend him on twitter. That's on Rodgers, not Braun.

 

Braun secretly called Rodgers right after he called Kemp, Tulo and Joey Votto, and told him, too that Dino Laurenzi Jr was an anti-semitic Cubs fan who kicked dogs, and stole lollipops from babies.

 

Haven't you heard?

 

Yeah. I've never understood this view that Braun ruined Laurenzi's life..blah blah blah. The dude didn't follow procedure and it probably wasn't the first time (people presume Braun didn't just use once, so we can likely say the same for Laurenzi). Laurenzi gets zero sympathy from me. To say that Laurenzi was slandered by Braun is laughable, imho.

 

 

To the best of my knowledge Braun never gave out his name. Which is why I have a hard time with the media going all sanctimonious on Braun. They were the ones who found the dude's name and published it. Might be legal but it doesn't take away the damage that it did to him. Far more than Braun did by saying some anonymous sample taker was at fault.

[Nottso]

Folks, the only one morally superior to anyone on this board is me, as demonstrated by my name being in green. With that settled, let's back-off with throwing that around at other members and the passive-aggressiveness. Please and thank you.

Oh, you think so? *pauses to gaze at the navy at upper left*

 

I clearly have the best title. Ever.

[nate82]

I am not sure what the point of this thread is really. Why does it even matter what other teams fans think of the Brewers? or Braun even? Is it going to help you sleep better at night that the other teams fans have a positive perspective on the Brewers rather than a negative one?

[Patrick425]

I am not sure what the point of this thread is really. Why does it even matter what other teams fans think of the Brewers? or Braun even? Is it going to help you sleep better at night that the other teams fans have a positive perspective on the Brewers rather than a negative one?

 

 

Some might argue that that's almost the point of being a fan of sports team. I know midwesterners routinely get upset with some of the national sports outlets for their lack of coverage of teams inside the "fly over" states. ESPN is commonly referred to the East Coast Sports Network many in this part of the country for their love of all things Yankees/Red Sox. As silly as it may be, fans tend to take pride in having their team talked about by someone other than the local sports media. How many times when you are on vacation somewhere do you see someone wearing a championship t-shirt of their team (Ha..my team won the championship and your's didn't!)?

 

Some of that national media stuff may has lost some of it's luster now that there is Fox Sports, ESPN, MLB network, and all the various internet sites. However, I do remember when I was a kid and there was basically only the three major networks, I watched This Week In Baseball religiously, especially if the Brewers had a good week in hopes that they would make some mention of the team. I think sales of SI still get a boost locally whenever they put one of our local teams on the cover. I believe some of that is because people in this part of the country still get that "Wow, look at that, our team is on the cover of a national magazine!" feeling. My son has an oversize canvas picture of the 2011 SI cover featuring the Brewers on his bedroom wall that he asked for that Christmas.

[nate82]

 

Some might argue that that's almost the point of being a fan of sports team. I know midwesterners routinely get upset with some of the national sports outlets for their lack of coverage of teams inside the "fly over" states. ESPN is commonly referred to the East Coast Sports Network many in this part of the country for their love of all things Yankees/Red Sox. As silly as it may be, fans tend to take pride in having their team talked about by someone other than the local sports media. How many times when you are on vacation somewhere do you see someone wearing a championship t-shirt of their team (Ha..my team won the championship and your's didn't!)?

 

Some of that national media stuff may has lost some of it's luster now that there is Fox Sports, ESPN, MLB network, and all the various internet sites. However, I do remember when I was a kid and there was basically only the three major networks, I watched This Week In Baseball religiously, especially if the Brewers had a good week in hopes that they would make some mention of the team. I think sales of SI still get a boost locally whenever they put one of our local teams on the cover. I believe some of that is because people in this part of the country still get that "Wow, look at that, our team is on the cover of a national magazine!" feeling. My son has an oversize canvas picture of the 2011 SI cover featuring the Brewers on his bedroom wall that he asked for that Christmas.

 

That is the national media and ESPN has never really been a national media type of an organization even though they believe they are. ESPN has always been an east coast based sports news company since it began. It was not just the Yankees and the Red Sox that they promoted over other teams but the Big East in college basketball was helped by ESPN by making it a popular division.

 

My question still remains though why is it important what other teams fans think of the Brewers? Another teams fans are not going to like the Brewers or the Brewer players and most fans are not even going to care about another team all they care about is their team. If you put Braun on any other team in MLB the other teams fans are going to boo him with or without the issues Braun has had. Why? Because he is playing for the other team and not their team.

 

The majority of fans across MLB, NFL, NHL, NBA or any other sport are not going to care all that much about another team that is not the team they are cheering for. Will there opinions be based on what the sporting news tells them of course it will be it would be ignorant to think otherwise.

 

To me what another teams fans think of the Brewers has very little meaning to me and I don't really care if a fan of the Diamondbacks thinks the Brewers are a horrible team because of Braun. Does it really matter what another teams fans perspective on the Brewers is? The majority of the time it is always going to be negative. A lot of Brewer fans think that the Cardinals are overly pompous pricks when it comes to their antics on how the game should be played. Should Cardinal fans be worried about what the Brewers, Cubs, Reds, or Pirates fans perspective on their team is?

[DHonks]

Don't forget that Braun has always been viewed as a nice, great guy. His fall is similar to Tiger's fall as many people thrust their own emotional expectations on him. Where people are mistaken now is that he's still regarded as a great guy and they're vilifying him like he's Bonds or ARod.

[DHonks]

As for the rest of the team, Wily Peralta is the best star prospect in baseball that nobody has heard of. Estrada has been good for 2 seasons. Throw in Nelson, Thornburg, Fiers, and Smith and we're 9-deep with quality starters, not counting guys like Burgos, Hellweg, Pena, etc that could compete for spots if we had less depth. I've heard people say our pitching staff is weak, and I say how? They say the lineup is weak, and I say where? It's a very well-constructed tesm

[jerichoholicninja]

This guy isn't a fan.

 

The Milwaukee Brewers can go to hell. Miller Park and it’s leaky roof can go to hell. Bernie Brewer and his stupid slide can go to hell. Ryan Braun can go to hell. Bad baserunning can go to hell. And the new blocking the plate rule can definitely go to hell.

 

http://thisisgettingold.net/2014/04/12/game-11-pirates-vs-brewers-recap/

[BCZF]

This guy isn't a fan.

 

The Milwaukee Brewers can go to hell. Miller Park and it’s leaky roof can go to hell. Bernie Brewer and his stupid slide can go to hell. Ryan Braun can go to hell. Bad baserunning can go to hell. And the new blocking the plate rule can definitely go to hell.

 

http://thisisgettingold.net/2014/04/12/game-11-pirates-vs-brewers-recap/

 

 

Hard to argue with logic like that

 

People who say "go to hell" can go to hell..Oh wait..

[kalle8]

in Italy there's only one way to call a liar and a cheater: Prime Minister...

(recorded laughter)

 

i watched one game of the Fenway series with a italian broadcast, they were talking about Braun as if he was a serial killer.

 

according to them big papi was on his way to Rome to be santified...

 

viva l'Italia!

[JohnBriggs12]

This guy isn't a fan.

 

The Milwaukee Brewers can go to hell. Miller Park and it’s leaky roof can go to hell. Bernie Brewer and his stupid slide can go to hell. Ryan Braun can go to hell. Bad baserunning can go to hell. And the new blocking the plate rule can definitely go to hell.

 

http://thisisgettingold.net/2014/04/12/game-11-pirates-vs-brewers-recap/

 

I'm sure he speaks for a lot of Pirate fans. I get MLB extra innings, and I chuckle how one playoff season has turned Pirate nation into thinking they are now a great team and entitled to multiple consecutive post season trips. They are shocked/dismayed that their old nemesis is back beating them as if 2013 didn't happen.

[fondybrewfan]

I do tend to spy on other teams message boards while we are playing; especially if we are playing good.

 

Most message boards out there are filled with blowhards that make reading their threads rather funny. I don't really care what they think about the Brewers one way or another; I just spy for the entertainment value.

 

We are pretty spoiled on this board as it is usually civil; that is a rarity.

[fondybrewfan]

And I am wholly unimpressed with the Pirates. Their offense is simply average at best and with the loss of Burnett I think their pitching is not nearly what it was last year either. If Liriano or Cole ever run into injury problems that team is in trouble. Volquez surely isn't going to keep pitching that well.

 

What the heck is going on with the Reds? Hamilton has been awful as the CF but there entire team in general has not been playing well the first 2 weeks

[Fear The Chorizo]

The Reds have significant pitching injuries (Latos, Chapman among them) that have shuffled both rotation and bullpen roles staffwide. Losing Choo cost them one of the few guys who got on base a lot. Hamilton is lightning fast but the jury is most definitely out on whether he'll be able to hit major league pitching well enough to play everyday. They're off to a rocky start for sure, but there's plenty of talent there to turn things around.

 

Basically, the start to the Brewers and Reds 2014 season are polar opposites of one another.

[Thurston Fluff]

Don't forget that Braun has always been viewed as a nice, great guy. His fall is similar to Tiger's fall as many people thrust their own emotional expectations on him. Where people are mistaken now is that he's still regarded as a great guy and they're vilifying him like he's Bonds or ARod.

 

It appeared to me Braun was always viewed as arrogant by other teams. I know Pittsburgh hated him forever.

And I am wholly unimpressed with the Pirates. Their offense is simply average at best and with the loss of Burnett I think their pitching is not nearly what it was last year either. If Liriano or Cole ever run into injury problems that team is in trouble. Volquez surely isn't going to keep pitching that well.

 

I was thinking that over the series as well. Funny how people pointed to first base as a major issue for Milwaukee because they have Mark Reynolds and Lyle Overbay. Yet Pittsburgh trots out Travis Ishikawa and Gaby Sanchez at first and people view them as legitimate contenders.

[RobDeer 45]

I do tend to spy on other teams message boards while we are playing; especially if we are playing good.

 

Most message boards out there are filled with blowhards that make reading their threads rather funny. I don't really care what they think about the Brewers one way or another; I just spy for the entertainment value.

 

We are pretty spoiled on this board as it is usually civil; that is a rarity.

 

I too do a little message board reading of other teams, here and there. I always think the same thing, we are pretty lucky how good this board is. It's pretty genuine debate and usually pretty intelligent conversation. Some of these boards sound like drunken idiots at a bar about to get in a fight about who is a better slow pitch softball player.

[JohnBriggs12]

Don't forget that Braun has always been viewed as a nice, great guy. His fall is similar to Tiger's fall as many people thrust their own emotional expectations on him. Where people are mistaken now is that he's still regarded as a great guy and they're vilifying him like he's Bonds or ARod.

 

It appeared to me Braun was always viewed as arrogant by other teams. I know Pittsburgh hated him forever.

And I am wholly unimpressed with the Pirates. Their offense is simply average at best and with the loss of Burnett I think their pitching is not nearly what it was last year either. If Liriano or Cole ever run into injury problems that team is in trouble. Volquez surely isn't going to keep pitching that well.

 

I was thinking that over the series as well. Funny how people pointed to first base as a major issue for Milwaukee because they have Mark Reynolds and Lyle Overbay. Yet Pittsburgh trots out Travis Ishikawa and Gaby Sanchez at first and people view them as legitimate contenders.

 

 

The Brewers without Braun and Ramirez for much of the year and with little to no production at 1B, still managed to outscore Pittsburgh 640-634 last year. Pittsburgh relied heavily on career years from several guys in their bullpen, one of whom was Melancon who the Brewer middle of the order whipped up on the other night. Pirate fans are pinning a lot of hopes on the Polanco kid giving their offense a big boost in a couple months.

[Mays Hayes]

The Brewers are 2nd in ESPN's Power Rankings.

 

http://espn.go.com/mlb/powerrankings

 

1st in Bleacher Report's Power Rankings

 

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2025729-mlb-power-rankings-where-all-30-mlb-teams-stand-after-2-weeks/page/31

[homer]

Grantland has them 10th:

 

http://grantland.com/features/mlb-power-rankings-the-30-twins-mariners-brewers-rays-giants/

[lcbj68c]

Didn't we used to have a thread that listed ligitimate message boards of all the other 29 teams? If somebody could find that again, I would be appreciative. I too like spying on the conversations of other fans.

[gregmag]

A journalist, not a fan, but today the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Bernie Miklasz has a very detailed and admiring writeup on the Brewers' hot start:

 

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/bernie-miklasz/daily-bits-why-the-brewers-are/article_5312e8a1-2f41-5f16-a414-87ad114440ac.html

 

One of the things I like about stuff like this is that you can sometimes get a more objective sense of your own team's strengths and weaknesses.

[Baldkin]

Didn't we used to have a thread that listed ligitimate message boards of all the other 29 teams? If somebody could find that again, I would be appreciative. I too like spying on the conversations of other fans.

 

http://forum.brewerfan.net/viewtopic.php?&t=4209

[Warning Track Power]

Listening to Pittsburgh fans boo Ryan Braun tonight is pretty embarrassing given that I would imagine most of them are Steelers fans who still root for Big Ben despite his rape allegation a few years back. Same thing in Boston with Big Papi & Manny Ramirez and their PED usage. Same thing in Philadelphia with Michael Vick and his dog fighting scandal.

 

I guess the Ryan Braun saga has really made me evaluate what being a fan means. I doubt I will be booing too many players anymore given that we all have players on our teams that are by no means saints and we still root for them.

[torts]

Listening to Pittsburgh fans boo Ryan Braun tonight is pretty embarrassing given that I would imagine most of them are Steelers fans who still root for Big Ben despite his rape allegation a few years back. Same thing in Boston with Big Papi & Manny Ramirez and their PED usage. Same thing in Philadelphia with Michael Vick and his dog fighting scandal.

 

I guess the Ryan Braun saga has really made me evaluate what being a fan means. I doubt I will be booing too many players anymore given that we all have players on our teams that are by no means saints and we still root for them.

 

Pittsburgh fans boo braun every game, even before the whole biogenesis thing. there is also a pretty decent size faction of steelers fans who hate Ben, not a majority, but they're pretty vocal.