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Sunday, June 24, 2012

Steinberg: Robin Ficker has Natitude

“They keep putting signs up saying ‘Let’s make some noise!’; I was just trying to accommodate the Nats,” he told me with a chuckle. “I mean, this isn’t the Kennedy Center. It’s not a ballet recital. It’s a ballgame. The Yankees fans weren’t too shy, and the Tampa fans the same. I felt like I was counter-balancing some of those folks.”

He Is…The Most Annoying Fan In the World.

boteman Posted: June 24, 2012 at 11:29 AM | 24 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
Tags: general, nationals

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1. asinwreck Posted: June 25, 2012 at 11:36 AM (#4165610)

He got under the skin of the weird wuss.

the Joel Peralta pine tar story was still swirling, and Ficker — sitting in Section 117 Row K, near the Rays’ dugout — spent the first few innings staying on message. He told the visitors not to “Tampa” with the ball. He asked Maddon if he was going to “stick” to his game plan. He made repeated pine tar references, earning several backward glances from the Rays’ manager.

Finally, in the third inning, Maddon flipped a baseball into the stands, intended for Ficker. When another fan wound up with the ball, Maddon pointed to his target, the 69-year lawyer wearing polka-dot shorts and a Maryland wrestling t-shirt covered with an image of Bryce Harper’s face.

“Stick up for those you care about!” read the message on the ball, which had been smeared with pine tar.

“I think everyone was kind of shocked,” said Channing Pejic, a 21-year-old Nats fan sitting nearby, who quickly alerted me to this developing story. “After Joe Maddon threw that ball up, it went from irritating to hilarious.”

2. cercopithecus aethiops Posted: June 25, 2012 at 11:47 AM (#4165627)

Why on earth would Maddon admit, to a heckler of all people, that he really had no complaint and was just defending his guy no matter what? I get why he defends his guys, of course, but it's not much good if you shatter the plausibility of your own arguments like that.

3. McCoy Wilfong for Money Posted: June 25, 2012 at 12:04 PM (#4165650)

Didn't pretty much everybody on the planet know that Maddon was simply yelling to stick up for his guy? I mean Peralta was caught cheating. That isn't in dispute. So if Maddon is going to say anything it is because he is sticking up for his guy.

4. cercopithecus aethiops Posted: June 25, 2012 at 12:16 PM (#4165663)

There's a difference between everybody on the planet knowing what Maddon was doing and Maddon coming out and saying that that is all he was doing. The latter kind of makes it all pointless, but maybe it was all pointless already.

5. McCoy Wilfong for Money Posted: June 25, 2012 at 12:22 PM (#4165672)

Well, he didn't say that was all he was doing. He scribbled on a ball that you stick up for those you care about. Maddon thought Peralta got treated shabbily by his old team and he voiced it. I think you are reading way too much into this.

6. SoSH U at work Posted: June 25, 2012 at 12:34 PM (#4165680)

Why on earth would Maddon admit, to a heckler of all people, that he really had no complaint and was just defending his guy no matter what? I get why he defends his guys, of course, but it's not much good if you shatter the plausibility of your own arguments like that.

In addition to McCoy's No. 5, what harm does it do? Everyone knows why he did it, including Peralta. No one cares if that was his motivation, including Peralta. So what's the downside?

7. Rickey Fredonia Fudge Duckery Precious Twiddle Posted: June 25, 2012 at 12:40 PM (#4165683)

The Nationals stole the Expos.

The Nationals have this guy and Joey B. as fans.

The Nationals are covered by a source who thinks "Natitude" is clever.

Why would rational men root for this team again?

8. McCoy Wilfong for Money Posted: June 25, 2012 at 12:42 PM (#4165686)

The Washington Nationals use the word "natitude" a lot. I think it is even on the side of building inside the park. The PA announcers tells fans to "ignite their natitude!" before every game,

9. Rickey Fredonia Fudge Duckery Precious Twiddle Posted: June 25, 2012 at 12:45 PM (#4165688)

The Washington Nationals use the word "natitude" a lot. I think it is even on the side of building inside the park. The PA announcers tells fans to "ignite their natitude!" before every game,

Holy god. My instincts are never wrong.

10. McCoy Wilfong for Money Posted: June 25, 2012 at 12:49 PM (#4165693)

Holy god. My instincts are never wrong.

Well, to be fair Atlanta does the tomahawk chop and the Mets have a big apple that rises when a home run is hit. Nobody gets away clean in this game.

11. cercopithecus aethiops Posted: June 25, 2012 at 12:55 PM (#4165701)

And the Marlins have a stadium with a color scheme that makes my eyes bleed.

12. ThisElevatorIsDrivingMeUpTheWall Posted: June 25, 2012 at 12:55 PM (#4165703)

Minnesota and Texas both stole the Senators. At least it took more than a city to do it. Montreal is going to have to lose a couple more teams for me to have any sympathy.

13. Lassus Posted: June 25, 2012 at 12:59 PM (#4165708)

You're going to equate a rising big apple with a stadium-wide frenzied racial caricature?

Ficker's mentally ill, but at least he's not one of THAT crowd.

14. Tom Nawrocki Posted: June 25, 2012 at 01:04 PM (#4165715)

Atlanta stole the Braves. Can't imagine why anyone would root for that team.

15. McCoy Wilfong for Money Posted: June 25, 2012 at 01:08 PM (#4165716)

You're going to equate a rising big apple with a stadium-wide frenzied racial caricature

Are you talking about Mr. Met here?

16. Jose Can Still Seabiscuit Posted: June 25, 2012 at 01:10 PM (#4165718)

Well, to be fair Atlanta does the tomahawk chop and the Mets have a big apple that rises when a home run is hit. Nobody gets away clean in this game.

Heh, silly teams. The Boston Red Sox would never do something cheesy for their fans! The organization is just so good...so good...so good.

17. The Long Arm of Rudy Law Posted: June 25, 2012 at 01:15 PM (#4165723)

New York stole the Orioles. Only the kinds of people who are Yankee fans are Yankee fans.

18. ThisElevatorIsDrivingMeUpTheWall Posted: June 25, 2012 at 01:16 PM (#4165726)

Well, I think the choice at the beginning of the year was between "natitude" and "c'mon, if you really don't have anything better to do, we have tickets", so the 16-yr old skater punk in the marketing group won out. It's certainly not worse than the rest of the 100db piped in demands PA announcements make upon fans.

19. puck Posted: June 25, 2012 at 01:30 PM (#4165738)

It's working out better than "Year of the Fan."

20. Joey B. has ignited his October #Natitude Posted: June 25, 2012 at 01:30 PM (#4165740)

Atlanta stole the Braves.

Also, they have Ted Turner and Sam Hutcheson as fans, and they think that the moronic "tomahawk chop" (which they stole from Florida State University) is clever. Why would rational men root for that team again?

21. Rickey Fredonia Fudge Duckery Precious Twiddle Posted: June 25, 2012 at 01:31 PM (#4165742)

Well, to be fair Atlanta does the tomahawk chop and the Mets have a big apple that rises when a home run is hit. Nobody gets away clean in this game.

Stipulated.

Atlanta stole the Braves

Untrue. They were living on the streets homeless and we took them in. They were the Michael Oher of baseball clubs and we saved them. True story.

22. ThisElevatorIsDrivingMeUpTheWall Posted: June 25, 2012 at 01:33 PM (#4165744)

Nah, homeless people migrate to Atlanta AFTER the summer.

23. Crispix Attacks 2: Swag Airlines Posted: June 25, 2012 at 01:47 PM (#4165752)

You're going to equate a rising big apple with a stadium-wide frenzied racial caricature

The Phanatic isn't that big, and he's all that remains of the race of the Tharks, who all acted that way.

24. Tom Nawrocki Posted: June 25, 2012 at 02:02 PM (#4165765)

It's working out better than "Year of the Fan."

I wish they had explained upfront that the idea was to have the team play as well as a collection of random fans. That baserunning in the ninth inning last night would have been embarrassing in beer-league softball.

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Sunday, June 24, 2012

Steinberg: Robin Ficker has Natitude

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