In todays Worcester Telegram & Gazette, there’s some nondescript blather from some the Celtics owner about how other owners love what he’s done. Here’s the part I thought worth discussing:↵
Owner Doesn’t Know Why Fans Hate Boston, Or Where Atlanta, Cleveland Are Located
↵⇥↵⇥The game presentations in Atlanta and Cleveland poked fun at the city of Boston on their giant video screens earlier in the playoffs. The Celtics don't stoop that low.↵⇥
↵⇥
↵⇥"Why would we need to poke fun at Atlanta and Cleveland?" [Wyc] Grousbeck asked. "That's just piling on. We couldn't find them on a map."↵
↵To me, this is the absolute perfect time to make this point: Unless you’re dealing with Kobe or the Spurs, usually, hatred of a city has nothing to do with the team itself and everything to do with perception of fans. Or with the larger sense of the city; in itself, Boston isn’t such a terrible place. But the sports culture there drives people insane. Look, players are players. They all love each other. And then, most of what outsiders know of a city is its televised fans. Like I’m sure plenty of people think Utah is hell on earth after watching the Jazz’s home game.↵
↵
↵So Wyc, sorry teams are dumping on Boston. It’s not about who’s on the map or not (seriously? you can’t find Atlanta?), but how your fans are perceived. And in that, almost no one’s got as much working against them as those, umm, complicated Beantown fans.↵
This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.
See More:
