Prince's "It's poor for the fans to boo us" comment (merged with "Prince blasts fans")

[BrewCityUnit]

I don't think booing should have a positive or negative effect on a player one way or the other. If that were the case, then every time I cheered really hard, the player I was cheering for would have a better chance of doing well the harder I cheered. I get what you are saying but I personally don't think it should matter to a player whether they are getting cheered or booed. They know when they are performing to the fans and their own expectations and when they are not performing to those expectations.

 

 

I don't hate or love anybody either based on the amount of money they make. But part of being a professional athlete is to be in the public spotlight. It comes with the big paychecks, if they don't like it, then don't be a part of it. The reason I am so worked up is because of T-Bows comments about wanting to leave because he got booed. That doesn't sit well with me.

[BrewCityUnit]

Brian, if you are getting paid 3.2 million dollars you should be able to throw a strike. Nobody is preaching perfection, but come on, we are talking about throwing strikes and then whining to the media that you don't know if you want to be in Milwaukee because the fans are mean and boo alot. If T-Bow wouldn't have cried to the media, I wouldn't even be in the discussion because I could care less about booing. I care about players being babies and not taking responsibility for thier roles and actions.

[twobrewers]

I personally don't think it should matter to a player whether they are getting cheered or booed.

Home Record

50-30

Road Record

32-49

 

Maybe it shouldn't - but I think it does.

 

What would be an example of a fan taking the high road in that situation?

Not booing. We want Turnbow to not be too emotional and say things based on it - such as how upset he is. So we are asking him to not react to the booing. Why can't we try to not react to our emotions by not booing?

 

As for the issue of cussing and throwing the remote at home - I don't have a problem with the disgusted "groan" type of booing. When Turnbow walks a guy on 4 pitches...everyone in the stands gives the same "UGH!" which resonates down like a boo. I just disagree with cupping your mouth and letting out a long drawn out boo.

I don't think this has even been brought up in this thread, but were the fans even booing Turnbow the man, as much as they were booing the fact that he was left in there when he obviously didn't have it...again?

Very fair point.

 

 

 

 

[Brian the Automator]

Brian, if you are getting paid 3.2 million dollars you should be able to throw a strike. Nobody is preaching perfection, but come on, we are talking about throwing strikes and then whining to the media that you don't know if you want to be in Milwaukee because the fans are mean and boo alot. If T-Bow wouldn't have cried to the media, I wouldn't even be in the discussion because I could care less about booing. I care about players being babies and not taking responsibility for thier roles and actions.

Yeah, I wouldn't have cried to the media either, and I think that was weak, but that's not what I was arguing.

Money doesn't make someone throw strikes. When Turnbow was extended, I argued against it. He had a history of control problems, and low and behold, it came back to bite the Brewers. Who would have thought?

Again, what positive effect on players' performance does booing have?

 

[lukevan]

Turnbow was asked a question and gave an honest answer. Hardly call that whining and crying.

 

I personally don't think it should matter to a player whether they are getting cheered or booed.

 

Maybe it shouldn't matter and it probably doesn't to a lot of players, but every one is human and different. Whoever said this is getting embarrassing is right.

[TheMCG]

From being at the game, I can safely say a lot of people hate Yost moreso than Turnbow, and even though Yost was out of the game at that point, the booing seemed as much directed at the coaching staff (the four pitch walk was excruciating as it was clear that was not going to be a strike thrown in the at-bat, making one wonder why exactly you would leave him in the game solely to give up another run) as it was at Turnbow.

[Brian the Automator]

From being at the game, I can safely say a lot of people hate Yost moreso than Turnbow, and even though Yost was out of the game at that point, the booing seemed as much directed at the coaching staff (the four pitch walk was excruciating as it was clear that was not going to be a strike thrown in the at-bat, making one wonder why exactly you would leave him in the game solely to give up another run) as it was at Turnbow.

I suppose that's the problem have when an inarticulate BoooooOOoooooOOooo comes out from a mob.

 

[BrewCityUnit]

Booing has 0% positive effect of players performing. Cheering has 0% positive effect of players performing. Booing and cheering are just and emotional sign that people care.

[brewers19]

Cheering has 0% positive effect of players performing.

 

I'd be curious to hear what your reasoning is behind asserting that.

[Brian the Automator]

Booing has 0% positive effect of players performing. Cheering has 0% positive effect of players performing. Booing and cheering are just and emotional sign that people care.

You don't think that cheering psyches up a player at all? I'll easily admit that it's much more of a factor in football than baseball, but there's certainly something to be said of the goodwill created between a player and their fans. I think it has an effect on future contracts, and an effect on effort. I don't of course think it's a LARGE factor, but I can't imagine that players are so professional to the point of not being human.

 

[BrewCityUnit]

The reason I say cheering has 0% positive effect on the game is because people are stating that booing has 0% positive effect on the game. Players aren't going to will themselves to a hit because you are cheering harder. Yeah, they might feel better about themseleves but cheering itself doesn't equate into automatic success. My whole point is whether you are being cheered or being booed, your abilites don't change. It is up to the individual athlete to be able to perform no matter what their surroundings are. Turnbow lacks mental toughness. So booing Turnbow makes him less effective. Derrick should go some professional help to make him mentally tougher. I understand the other side to this arguement and I agree booing isn't helping anything. But at the same time, booing is an impulsive emotional response. Players who are getting paid millions and millions of dollars should UNDERSTAND that when fans are invested emotionally and financially into a long 162 game season, impulsive reactions are going to occur. They have to learn to deal with it and not cry to the media about how mean the fans are.

 

Lets say T-Bow was a huge Brittany Spears fan and has followed her career from the beginning and spent thousands of dollars on tickets, posters, T-shirts. Followed her around from city to city, watched all of her interviews and tv performances and then all of a sudden she bombed concert after concert and kept putting on bad shows. Would T-Bow boo when Brittany started letting him down time and time again?

[jason21nl]

I'm not so sure cheering helps at all either. Scenario. Bases loaded, 2 outs, Braun or Prince up to bat and the MP crowd is going nuts. Does that help the batter or the pitcher? I don't want my batter getting so jacked up that he loses any focus. then you have Turnbow on late in the game in an important situation, the MP crowd once again, going nuts Turnbow is so jacked up he can't throw a strike. Does cheering help in either of those situations? In sports you have to be mentally tough and not let either booing or cheering effect you. More times than not when a player gets booed, its after the fact. When he is coming off the mound or when the team is finally out of an inning. So it really doesn't effect his or their performance at that time.

[Brian the Automator]

The reason I say cheering has 0% positive effect on the game is because people are stating that booing has 0% positive effect on the game. Players aren't going to will themselves to a hit because you are cheering harder. Yeah, they might feel better about themseleves but cheering itself doesn't equate into automatic success. My whole point is whether you are being cheered or being booed, your abilites don't change. It is up to the individual athlete to be able to perform no matter what their surroundings are. Turnbow lacks mental toughness. So booing Turnbow makes him less effective. Derrick should go some professional help to make him mentally tougher. I understand the other side to this arguement and I agree booing isn't helping anything. But at the same time, booing is an impulsive emotional response. Players who are getting paid millions and millions of dollars should UNDERSTAND that when fans are invested emotionally and financially into a long 162 game season, impulsive reactions are going to occur. They have to learn to deal with it and not cry to the media about how mean the fans are.

 

Lets say T-Bow was a huge Brittany Spears fan and has followed her career from the beginning and spent thousands of dollars on tickets, posters, T-shirts. Followed her around from city to city, watched all of her interviews and tv performances and then all of a sudden she bombed concert after concert and kept putting on bad shows. Would T-Bow boo when Brittany started letting him down time and time again?

You're comparing a player who lost control of his pitches, found control of his pitches, and then lost control of his pitches to one of the more despicable icons of our day who went crazy and possibly wrecked her childrens' childhoods. I'm having a hard time taking that comparison seriously.

Again, you're focusing on Turnbow lacking mental toughness, and focusing on Turnbow's statement to the media. I haven't disagreed on either of those things.

 

Of course the player SHOULD be overcome whatever insults (their own) fans throw at them, but why should they have to? You act as though it's as involuntary as blinking or breathing. It's not. Why take the chance that you have a player that is emotionally affected by riding him when you could instead be doing anything in your capabilities to possibly make a player feel like the fans are behind him and haven't given up on them?

[whizkid]

if you are getting paid 3.2 million dollars you should be able to throw a strike.

 

All players fail at times. The good ones obviously less than the not so good ones. Derrick is good enough often enough to be on a major league roster. When he fails it is uglier than most I suppose, but he is what he is. When he fails he generally loses his control. He's not the only one like this both on the Brewers or in MLB. Others leave their pitches up when they're off. Would it be better if when he fails he instead gave up a bunch of hits and HRs? Maybe that would be prettier somehow but not any more effective.

 

Fans who boo do seem to want perfection in a particular instance. Perhaps because they're at the game that day and spent their money that day. Players are what they are. I believe they are all trying. No one wants to be a goat. But it seems to ring hollow when those who boo say they aren't expecting players to be perfect. Expecting Derrick to be Mariano Rivera or Trevor Hoffman everytime out is unreasonable expectations. Well, maybe the second example was a bad one.

 

I've boo'd a few times in my life. When guys don't hustle. When they forget how many outs there are. Purely mental stuff or effort.

 

I think booing has lost it's effectiveness anyway. I think when things go bad and fans can't handle the frustration, they should stomp their feet and hold their breath till they turn blue. A stadium full of blue faces would draw a lot of attention and make much more of a statement that failure isn't acceptable.

[TheBrewer]

Like I said before, if Prince and T-Bow think this is such a big issue, why hasn't Sheets or Jenkins said anything in the past about it, they've been here for how long. The difference may be that there alot older and are more use to pressure etc etc and they have that mental toughness.

[DSFastball55]

Like I said before, if Prince and T-Bow think this is such a big issue, why hasn't Sheets or Jenkins said anything in the past about it, they've been here for how long. The difference may be that there alot older and are more use to pressure etc etc and they have that mental toughness.

 

In my opinion, the booing in Milwauke has been significantly worse this year than in years past - which is ironic since this is the best year we've had since '92.

[Mike Felder]

I agree...it seemed like this year, people would boo at the drop of a hat. I really don't want Brewer fans to go down that road.

 

EDIT: Did anyone hear Prince when Coshun and Nelson were interviewing him after the game? They asked him what he wanted to say to the fans and he said something to the effect of, "I want to thank them for all the support, even though they're not always the easiest fans to play in front of." (I was half-watching the Rockies at the time, so it's a paraphrase.) Obviously, it's something that's stuck with him and was not just a one night vent.

[1992casey]

Turnbow was asked a question and gave an honest answer. Hardly call that whining and crying.

I think that fact often gets lost when a comment from a player is reported. It'd be a whole lot different if a player sought out a reporter and complained. As it stands, he's being asked a question, attempting to answer honestly, and having his answer quoted in whatever manner it might be filtered into some news article.

[1992casey]

he said something to the effect of, "I want to thank them for all the support, even though they're not always the easiest fans to play in front of."

I rewound the Tivo and it was very difficult to discern what Prince said. It was almost like he stumbled on his words a bit or someone at FSN hit the cuss button. If anyone happens to have the interview recorded, it's at 4:42 PM.

 

[jason21nl]

if he did say that, he needs to get over it.

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

I like the fact Prince called the fans out. The guy is not just our best player, but he is the leader of the team. The fans shouldn't be booing, it's classless and serves no purpose. The booing of Turnbow is ridiculous. The guy has been very effective, and if it wasn't for the team burning him out would probably have remained effective. There are plenty of reasons for Milwaukee baseball fans to be frustrated over the years...from the Braves moving to the Bando regime and the difficulties of small market baseball economics no matter how much money the locals have put into Miller Park. Why take it out on our current players? For the first time in years we've got a great bunch of talented, hard working guys who actually care as much about winning as the fans do. These are the last guys to boo. There is no reason to build a wedge between the players and the fans.

 

There are a number of things I hope the Brewers improve on during the offseason...I think the fans have some work to do too...stop the booing!!!

[billyhallfan]

i'm kind of getting sick of prince running his mouth.

[sgtcluels]

Prince is still young, I'd expect him to make media mistakes a few times and not say the right thing. I personally dislike booing (Cept when Mench is up.. he sucks) and I could see how he thinks it adds more pressure to an already tough position.

 

Well 2008 here we come! And if prince keeps hitting 50+ HR a year, he can call me the worst fan in the world and it won't bother me.

[mark brouhard is number on]

i'm getting sick of fans bad mouthing him for this. he's not seeking out the media to tell them this, they are asking him the questions and he's being truthful, which is kind of nice not dealing with all the PC answers so many athletes give. Its pretty much a non issue

[giffted1]

I'm glad Prince is calling out the fans on this issue. Fans aren't going to care what someone in the media says about booing, but if the players speak out about it some of the boo birds might change their ways.