The Anti-Boos Movement

April 10, 2007 7:02 AM

Are you tired of being against him? Are you tired of expecting him to fail, and standing up to boo when he does so? Are you tired of not feeling good about having Alex Rodriguez play third base for your favorite team? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, you are ready. Welcome to The Movement.
posted by one_bean (52 comments total)

Is this something you'd have to inexplicably enjoy pro sports to understand?
posted by DU at 7:10 AM on April 10, 2007

It looks like it. I never understand why A-Rod gets so much attention.
posted by willthethrill at 7:13 AM on April 10, 2007

Oh noes! Teh sports! I am incapable of examining the links to see if, perhaps, this phenomenon has anything to do with the human condition in general. Because it is a sports guy and I hates teh sportz because it's cool to hate them!
posted by Mister_A at 7:16 AM on April 10, 2007 [2 favorites has favorites]

Actually, I followed The Movement link. It looked like it was going to be against booing, but turned out to be only about this one baseball player and some contract he signed.
posted by DU at 7:19 AM on April 10, 2007

Also, cool to hate sports? Are you new to America?
posted by DU at 7:19 AM on April 10, 2007

I was once told by a Yankees fan that watching a game at Yankee Stadium is the best sporting experience in the world, "because there are so many fights." That might be way off base (PUNishing!), but if it's true, then Yanks fans just sound like a bunch of assholes. I implore the more positive fans to come to Wrigley Field - the Cubbies suck, everybody loves them anyway, so drink a beer and have a good time!
posted by billysumday at 7:22 AM on April 10, 2007

Yeah, DU hates sports and television! Take that, America!
posted by billysumday at 7:23 AM on April 10, 2007

I don't hate television. (As a medium, anyways--a lot of particular shows suck, though.) And I love eating, plus my hobby is torturing random world citizens without even the dignity of a fake trial. Oh and apple pie is great.
posted by DU at 7:25 AM on April 10, 2007

Is this something you'd have to inexplicably enjoy pro sports to understand?

Do you have something to add here or are we gonna just jump into the 'OMG Sports Are For Neanderthals' thing? Or did I misunderstand your statement.

RE: A-rod - as much as I can't stand Lupica, he made a good point on the Sports Reporters this week - A-Rod has become a game to Yanks fans. They will boo him relentlessly until he hits a homer (he has 5 now as of last night, which is almost a home run in every game) and then they will cheer him like a hero. It's a game A-Rod can't win and he should just leave after this year if he can't get a ring. If I didn't love David Wright and Jose Reyes so much, and if I didn't think the payroll would destroy our future, I'd take him on the Mets.
posted by spicynuts at 7:27 AM on April 10, 2007

By the way, DU, I notice you don't have anything snide to say about that "one baseball player and some contract he signed" in the Jackie Robinson thread below.
posted by spicynuts at 7:30 AM on April 10, 2007

...but turned out to be only about this one baseball player and some contract he signed.

Are you new to reading?
posted by Mister_A at 7:30 AM on April 10, 2007

DU, you can understand if you explicably enjoy pro sports.
posted by stevis23 at 7:33 AM on April 10, 2007 [2 favorites has favorites]

Wow, a lot of defensiveness among Internet readers who also watch sports. Alex Rodriguez is the new Jackie Robinson, even. Don't worry, I'll keep your slumming a secret!
posted by DU at 7:38 AM on April 10, 2007

It is interesting, DU, isn't it? The strange, strangely personal, yet quite telling defensiveness you exhibited by immediately posting a comment expressing your dismay at other people's (inexplicable) enjoyment of sports.
posted by billysumday at 7:46 AM on April 10, 2007

So anyway, for the edification of anyone who can't or won't take a moment to digest the information, Alex Rodriguez is a talented baseball player who gets paid an enormous sum of money for what he does; he is a guy who seems to have lived a charmed life, and some people are resentful.

Despite his considerable achievements in his field (pun intended), people focus on, and root for, his failures. Small-minded people are happy when he fails; if he succeeds, they just shrug.

This phenomenon is widespread in our celebrity culture; we build people up as demigods, and then bloodthirstily cheer their destruction, reveling in the knowledge that they are just people, after all.

I think we all know people who seem to live charmed lives, and there's an ugly side of human nature that wants to see a little rain fall into those lives. Some people even secretly (or openly) gloat when their friends' good fortune goes sour.

And yes, Alex Rodriguez is doing for handsome light-skinned black hispanic zillionaires exactly the same thing that Jackie Robinson did for blacks in general.
posted by Mister_A at 7:48 AM on April 10, 2007 [2 favorites has favorites]

That wasn't defensiveness, that was confusion. I read three pronouns before I got to the antecedent. And I'm still not really clear what all the booing is about, despite having read one of the relevant links.
posted by DU at 7:49 AM on April 10, 2007

Welcome to The Takedown of The Movement. (And those guys actually spend a ton of time defending ARod.)
posted by staggernation at 7:49 AM on April 10, 2007

At first glance, this looked weak to me. Fans (or more properly, 'fanatics') of teams are always starting websites and petitions to support their favorite player or get rid of one they blame everything on. Discussing the latest whipping boy is not particularly compelling. But this post was salvaged to me by the actual site for the Movement---not because the substance of his argument was good, but because I liked the website. It was well designed and exhibited a passionate argument in an interesting way. It's a nice application of the power of the internet to a mundane issue.
posted by dios at 8:04 AM on April 10, 2007

MetaFilter: A nice application of the power of the internet to a mundane issue.
posted by Mister_A at 8:05 AM on April 10, 2007

I just thought the effort some Yankee fans are willing to go to to take care of A-Rod was interesting. This wasn't advocating his support, nor trying to foster any interest in his sport. But yeah, the self-helpiness + futuristic look of the site I found noteworthy.
posted by one_bean at 8:14 AM on April 10, 2007

Yes, it is a surprisingly good site.
posted by Mister_A at 8:21 AM on April 10, 2007

"Despite his considerable achievements in his field (pun intended), people focus on, and root for, his failures. Small-minded people are happy when he fails; if he succeeds, they just shrug."

Uh, not a Yankees fan does not equal small-minded. Speaking as a Tigers fan, hell yes, I hope he chokes. Especially when playing us. But you have to remember that the rest of the country:the Yankees::the rest of the world:The US. Sure, they may have done spectacular things in the past, but now they're a bunch of entitled douchebags who it's easy to root against, and people who like 'em outside of New York are like the kids on the schoolyard who egg on the bullies.

Oh, and I hate the Lakers too, and get a little glimmer of happiness whenever Kobe does something moronic (or scores amazingly and the team still loses). Once I move to LA, I think I'm gonna root for the Clippers.
posted by klangklangston at 8:28 AM on April 10, 2007

5 home runs at this point in the season is kind of hard to be against.
posted by quarter waters and a bag of chips at 8:33 AM on April 10, 2007

Uh, not a Yankees fan does not equal small-minded.

Also, cool to hate sports? Are you new to America?

Gentlemen, meet context.
posted by Mister_A at 8:35 AM on April 10, 2007

As much as I hate the Yankees, I hate Alex Rodriguez even more. It's weird, I don't have a reason, just every time I see his pretty pouty face my vision goes red and I start throwing things around the room. Oh well, the Yanks were last century anyway. It's all about Los Mets.
posted by Divine_Wino at 8:42 AM on April 10, 2007

New York Pay-Rod haters are way late to the game. Seattle baseball fans, though. We hated him before it was cool.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 9:04 AM on April 10, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

man you guys act like no one's ever jumped into a video game or tv show thread or a compsci thread and said "is this something you'd have to have an [x] to understand?" before.

your seemingly rabid fandom aside, it's a mefi injoke. it's harmless, get over it.
posted by shmegegge at 9:05 AM on April 10, 2007

Yeah, I cheer for A-Rod to fail. And Jeter to fail too. And Giambi. And Posada. All of 'em. And I don't want them to fail in some small way. I want them to strike out with the bases loaded. I want them to swing at the ball so hard, that when they miss they fall down in the dirt and cry like babies. I want them to embarrass themselves in public and, when they do, I want their own fans to boo them so loudly you can hear it in New Jersey. In short, I want the Yankees to fail in spectacular fashion, just as they did in 2004.
posted by Man-Thing at 9:16 AM on April 10, 2007

doesn't saying that the yankees failed in '04 kind of fail to give credit to how well the red sox played?
posted by shmegegge at 9:25 AM on April 10, 2007

I am for A-Rod, but not against the booing.
posted by j-urb at 9:28 AM on April 10, 2007

The big question is, what unholy ritual did the Sox perform to lift The Curse? Something involving Johnny Damon's hair?
posted by Mister_A at 9:29 AM on April 10, 2007

doesn't saying that the yankees failed in '04 kind of fail to give credit to how well the red sox played?

Duh. The Yankees are the rightful winners of every World Series. Every loss is a Yankee failure, never a win for the opposing team. Especially the Sox.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 9:31 AM on April 10, 2007

'Nuff said.
posted by lovejones at 9:51 AM on April 10, 2007

Alex Rodriguez is doing for handsome light-skinned black hispanic zillionaires exactly the same thing that Jackie Robinson did for blacks in general.

That seems a bit of a red herring - there are dozens of Hispanic millionaires in US baseball, and they don't incur the kind of resentment that A-Rod does. Edgar Martinez played wonderfully for the Mariners his entire career, and he was much loved. I'd say it was a trend that began when he left the Mariners, got an unprecedented contract (10 years $252 million) in Texas and proceeded to play poorly, leading to much Schadenfreude on the part of Seattle baseball fans. He then went to the Yankees, which gets him no sympathy from anyone else. From there, it seems his personality did him in - he's apparently arrogant, and we generally like our stars humble - see the film 61* to find out what happened to Roger Maris, who only seemed arrogant.
posted by QuietDesperation at 9:59 AM on April 10, 2007

I'll never be tired of booing A-Rod or any Yankee.
posted by notmydesk at 10:19 AM on April 10, 2007

Okay, I won't boo Matsui. BUT THAT'S IT
posted by notmydesk at 10:20 AM on April 10, 2007

QuietDesperation, he didn't play poorly in Texas at all - he averaged 52 homers a year and won the 2003 MVP on a losing team. People hate him for the contract, but it's Tom Hicks' fault he outbid everyone by $60 million unnecessarily. He hasn't really been bad in New York, but he hasn't been a savior either, and he almost certainly hasn't been worth the price. I'd boo him too, were I a Yankees fan, if only because you rarely get a chance to boo Brian Cashman or Steinbrenner directly.
posted by andifsohow at 10:21 AM on April 10, 2007

I remember, as a kid, going to Tiger Stadium to see some games. And everytime Sweet Lou Whitaker would walk on to the field, the stadium would swell with the sound of booing. Except, of course, nobody was booing. They were yelling 'Louuuuuuu'. That was a lot of fun.
posted by Roger Dodger at 10:28 AM on April 10, 2007

"...you rarely get a chance to boo Brian Cashman or Steinbrenner directly."

Aint that the truth. I kind of felt the same about A-rod as I'd felt about Giambi.

The guy cannot win, he's totally screwed himself with the fans - you get the impression he's busy managing his image.

Dude, it's fucking New York - you grew up here and you're a douche? Move to fuckin'... somewhere else....
posted by From Bklyn at 10:44 AM on April 10, 2007

Except, of course, nobody was booing. They were yelling 'Louuuuuuu'.

Same with several other players, including Mike Mussina ("Moose") and Kevin Youkilis ("Youk"). Although Youkilis happens to be Jewish, which always makes me think they're yelling something else.
posted by staggernation at 10:52 AM on April 10, 2007

Yankees? Yankees? And just yesterday I was telling folks "Happy Easter, and speaking of rising from the dead, how 'bout them Atlanta Braves?"
posted by pax digita at 10:59 AM on April 10, 2007

He hasn't really been bad in New York, but he hasn't been a savior either, and he almost certainly hasn't been worth the price.

Not a savior, definitely not, but not sure the rest is true, from the Yankees perspective -- remember, Texas is STILL paying a sizable percentage of ARod's contract. The Yankees aren't on the hook for that much (relatively speaking, of course).
posted by inigo2 at 11:13 AM on April 10, 2007

Are you tired of not feeling good about having Alex Rodriguez play third base for your favorite team?

Nah.... we traded da bum in 04.
posted by Doohickie at 11:22 AM on April 10, 2007

I would like to encourage A-Rod and Jeter to mend their relationship by volunteering together for the US Army and going to fight in Iraq.
posted by Deep Dish at 11:37 AM on April 10, 2007

QuietDesperation:

Whaaaa? I think your meter's busted or something.
posted by Mister_A at 11:37 AM on April 10, 2007

According to Drudge, this nascent A-Rod Liberation Front (ALF) is funded by both the Saudis and the Yakuza. We report. You decide.
posted by joe lisboa at 11:43 AM on April 10, 2007

At least they're not the bloody People's Front of Alex Rodriguez (P-FAR).
posted by Mister_A at 11:47 AM on April 10, 2007

I wonder if A-Rod has been privy to The Longest Boo (alternately called The Boo Relay), whereupon one fan begins to boo, then when he or she is running out of breath, the next fan picks it up (minus the 'b'), and this process continues until everyone else is quiet. It can be accomplished by two or more people, and is most effective after an innocuous play (strike one, say).

Furthermore, regardless of who drew up his contract in Texas, it greatly contributed to that team not spending money on any pitching, which is why they've been bad since he was signed.

Also, for what it's worth, this guy is likely to have the all-time home run record by the time he's done (he's only 31 and has 469 dingers already).

Also, if you don't like sports, leave the thread.

And those are my thoughts on the matter.
posted by ORthey at 12:26 PM on April 10, 2007

Huh, can't believe no one else said it yet, but... I was saying "Boo-urns."
posted by notmydesk at 3:57 PM on April 10, 2007

When my family went to our first Astros game in the mid 80's right after moving back to the states, we couldn't figure out at first why the crowd hated Jose Cruuuz so much. We figured it out by the end of the game, though. We're whip-smart like that.
posted by Cyrano at 5:06 PM on April 10, 2007

The nickname "A-rod" is pretty cool, but now I want "con-rod" and "push-rod", too. In fact, I think "A-rod" sounds like a porn star name, and in fact if I ever become a porn star I'm going to change my name to "John Force"...

I think Hustler magazine had a comic strip way back when that featured a hard boiled dick named "Rod Ready".
posted by Tube at 5:08 PM on April 10, 2007

If hating Alex Rodriguez is wrong, I don't wanna be right.

(We didn't hate him here in Seattle until he ditched us. Had he stayed with the M's, I don't doubt he'd still be adored, Edgar-like. But perhaps his millions make up for the boos.)
posted by litlnemo at 6:04 PM on April 10, 2007