A few days ago, I was confronted about my opinions of Toronto "fans" who attend Jays games. In the confronter's defense, I didn't specify that I was speaking about the Jays and not about Toronto fans in general. I expressed my disappointment and borderline disgust at how the fairweather fans think about the athletes on the field and how they act at the games.
I expressed my feelings to Dirk Hayhurst on Twitter who appeared to be a bit down in the dumps due to his shoulder. I mentioned that I wish that all fans could see what he was writing since for some reason "fans" seem to think that athletes like being injured since they still get paid to "do nothing".
I was speaking specifically about how I've seen "fans" act. I attend every home game and the amount of BS I've seen in the past 3 seasons as a Season Ticket Holder makes me embarrassed to be a true Jays fan sometimes. I know I've mentioned in a past post about being harassed at games solely on my jersey of choice. But that's just a tip of the tip of the iceberg.
The amount of fans who, just yesterday, were cheering because Lyle Overbay hurt his knee and having wishful thoughts that he'd be out the whole season or that he'd never play again with his injury. It's disgusting in general (obviously there are a few exceptions), let alone in Sports, to applaud injury onto anybody. When Gabe Kapler hurt himself during his home run trot in the Dome and couldn't finish running, the amount of fans I heard cheering and laughing was probably louder than those cheering for the Jays when they scored. It's something I'll never understand.
I've seen "fans" rush down or sit behind the bullpen to start shouting profanities and threats to the pitchers. What "fans" don't realize is that athletes KNOW when they "suck" and are the first to criticize themselves. They don't need an asshat to shout it down to them to remind them, let alone shouting down trying to pick a fight. Said asshat gets kicked out, causing other "fans" to heckle even more. Why would you even go to a Jays game to insult BOTH teams that are playing?
And I'm all for heckling the other team, provided it's tasteful. As annoying as the Tropicana Field Heckler was, he at least heckled with stats. Fine, laugh your ass off when you believe "
I've seen "fans" insult and harass visitors to the city and the ballpark. I'm all for poking fun at the team as a joke to people around your age. But I've seen people insult 6-year-old kids who are visiting the city, making them cry then LAUGHING when the kids cry. I've visited a few ballparks, wearing my Jays jersey and excluding Philadelphia (where we had 2 really drunk guys insult us for being Canadian), we've been welcomed with open arms to the city/ballpark. Seriously, it's a damn game.
But nothing will beat the wonders of the Home Opener where all the asshats come out in full force to their only game of the season. 2 years ago, a fan was almost thrown over the side of the 500 level. In 2005 vs. Boston (Arroyo Vs. Bush), the giveaway of free fridge magnets ended being an epic failure with the magnets being thrown onto the field from the 500 Level en masse. It prompted the Jays to hand them out after the game ever since.
That's nothing compared to the last home opener vs. the Tigers when fans in the 200 Level decided it'd be funny to throw baseballs at Josh Anderson's in LF (one during a play, and one narrowly missing his head) causing a delay in the game and threatening a forfeiture of the game where the Jays were whomping the Tigers. The delay caused "fans" across the stadium to throw their bottles (including empty liquor bottles "smuggled" into the Dome) and other forms of garbage onto the field. It made me sick to my stomach as a Baseball fan.
I can't wait to see what this Home Opener will bring. I'm wondering if Rogers Centre staff will finally get their act together and do their jobs in making sure the players and the fans are safe from morons. I wonder if anybody's going to throw stuff at Alex Rios if he's playing since he "sucks". I also wonder if it's going to be worse since Doc's no longer with the team.
So I'm sincerely sorry if I'm "painting with a wide brush" with how much I dislike Jays "fans" (who unfortunately seem to overpower the true Jays fans) with all the BS I've seen.
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