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Friday, June 27, 2008

Boston Globe: Pink hats drive some fans batty

Your daily dose of sport sociology. Is it RSN civil war, or just SDCN bullying?

If local sports blogs, fan sites, and talk radio are any indication, the sniping is approaching fever pitch, now that the Sox have two recent Series wins to their credit. Message boards at local sites like Barstool Sports fill up with vitriolic comments - most of which are unfit for publication - on both sides of the issue whenever pink hats are mentioned. And now, even new Celtics fans are dubbed “pink hats.”

“I believe this is the year that Red Sox fans - the pink-hats and the die-hards, who have been eyeing each other suspiciously for five years now - finally have it out with each other,” Randolph native Eric Gillin recently wrote on the national sports blog Deadspin. “This is the season where what it really means to be a Red Sox fan finally bubbles to the surface.” [...]

Maggie Magner, a lifelong Red Sox fan, started the web site GirlSoxNation.com specifically to quash the notion that women can’t be both sports-savvy and feminine.

“We were tired of all these stat-wielding bullies saying real fans don’t wear pink. Who decides what a real fan is anyway?” Magner asked. “Women represent half of the ballpark attendance today and are buying more merchandise every year.”

Greg Franklin Posted: June 27, 2008 at 03:08 AM | 112 comment(s)
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101. jolietconvict Posted: June 27, 2008 at 05:56 PM (#2834965)

I should also add, that as much as I loathe the White Sox I don't really recall seeing the wave at the Cell either.

102. Rough Carrigan Posted: June 27, 2008 at 08:47 PM (#2835123)

I just wanted to add that I can still vividly picture in my mind the faces of a couple of the women in the stands at Fenway during the 2004 ALCS. One was blond, the other raven haired. And the Fox cameras returned over and over to the looks of excruciating tension on their faces watching ALCS games 4 and 5. If those women weren't real fans then who the #### is?

Identifying the bandwagon fans only as "pink hats" is grossly unfair to the many women like that who are as real fans as anyone.

103. Rough Carrigan Posted: June 27, 2008 at 08:52 PM (#2835134)

Let me preface what I'm about to do by first saying that I hate the wave. But in a tiny defense of some, *some* instances of the wave breaking out at Fenway, a portion of the fans come to have a sort of participatory experience. They expect to clap and chant for the team and when a particularly dull game with little Sox offense occurs, they do the wave as something of a last resort. That excuses a few instances of it, but probably not that many.

104. Srul Itza Posted: June 27, 2008 at 09:32 PM (#2835214)

The one you linked isn't what I am talking about.
I'm talking about the ones that are white everywhere (brim, bill, logo, everywhere).

http://i2.iofferphoto.com/img/item/421/656/76/white_hat_good.jpg

Did you notice the sticker -- it's not a cap, it's a flag.

Now how appropriate is that: NY Yankees cap = White Flag.

105. robinred Posted: June 27, 2008 at 09:41 PM (#2835227)

And there was a comfort in knowing that when I went to away games (or even games the Red Sox weren't involved in) and saw other fans in Sox gear, we shared an experience that we both held to be very important. That's no longer the case.

This is nicely put, but having been to Red Sox games in SD and Anaheim, and having lived in cities loaded with transplants all my life, I am kind of sick "fans in Sox (or Yankee/Cub etc) gear" coming to other ballparks and being really loud, and in some cases, obnoxious.

106. TerpNats Posted: June 28, 2008 at 09:59 AM (#2835536)

I am kind of sick "fans in Sox (or Yankee/Cub etc) gear" coming to other ballparks and being really loud, and in some cases, obnoxious.

I concur -- and that's true even when their teams aren't playing in the game. For example, last night at Nationals Park I saw quite a few people in Red Sox caps, jerseys, etc., for an Orioles-Nationals game. When I see those fans, I think of Bob Dylan's line from "Positively 4th Street": "You just want to be on the side that's winning."

Conversely, when I see fans wearing stuff of teams other than ESPN/Fox's "chosen few" (Yanks, Bosox, Cubs, Mets) at a game their team isn't involved in, their stock raises a bit in my book. It takes a special amount of guts to wear a Royals cap to a non-Royals game these days.

Incidentally, tomorrow the Nats are having a "conversion day" as a promotion, where the first 10,000 fans who give them an MLB item from another team will get a Nationals cap in return. I'm sure the date was targeted at all the old Baltimore fans in the D.C. area, but I wonder how much stuff from other teams will end up being collected -- specifically Yanks/Bosox/Cubs items.

107. Darren Posted: June 28, 2008 at 11:06 AM (#2835542)

I hate wearing any kind of hat. What kind of Red Sox fan does that make me?

A Soshially unacceptable one, of course.

108. walt williams bobblehead Posted: June 28, 2008 at 12:22 PM (#2835563)

Only people with detailed baseball knowledge and proper attire should be allowed to go to a stadium and scream out their deep admiration for Dustin Pedroia and Jonathan Papelbon.

109. jwb Posted: June 28, 2008 at 05:28 PM (#2835753)

My second wife loves the game. Can't wait to go to the ballpark, throw back a few, and yell her lungs out. She owns and wears a pink hat to every game.

Dare I say anything?

I would go with, "I love you," or "Let's go to a game next week." Or ask the Shysterball Guy for other hints. Lucky bastard.

There have been many, many stupider trends than this

And there have been many, many stupider kids on the short bus.

110. Every Inge Counts Posted: June 28, 2008 at 05:47 PM (#2835781)

They still do the wave at Atlanta Braves games, at least the last one I went to this year.

Even worst they do the ####### wave at Alabama football games...and they tend to attempt it at the stupidest time possible. Hey look its a key drive, lets all do the wave during this big 3rd down play. The Wave is fun if you are under 10 and that is it.

111. Lassus Posted: June 28, 2008 at 05:56 PM (#2835793)

wrong thread

112. rLr Did Your Mother 'Cause She's Hot As A Baker Posted: June 28, 2008 at 07:08 PM (#2835866)

Incidentally, tomorrow the Nats are having a "conversion day" as a promotion, where the first 10,000 fans who give them an MLB item from another team will get a Nationals cap in return.

That Reverend Moon is awfully canny.

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Friday, June 27, 2008

Boston Globe: Pink hats drive some fans batty

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