Dear Stefan Stephenson of the Ft. Worth Star Telegram,
I read your article regarding the "Woo" birds at the Astros game. For those of you unfamiliar, here's Mr. Stephenson's column.
I get that when you write for a newspaper like the FWST, you have to have a certain level of bias toward the home town team. But complaining about an emerging fan engagement by Astros fans (or any fans) makes you the sports reporter equivalent to Dolores Umbridge. It's also incredibly tacky to write about a negative fan experience of not liking what fans do because "you simply find it annoying". From what I understand, you are not even a fan of the wave anymore. The Texas Rangers have even tried to ban it.
In all fairness, I can understand why the wave should be banned. The wave started when most baseball teams used to play in old concrete donuts like old Busch Stadium, Three Rivers Stadium, or even the Astrodome. It was fun to start the wave and seeing it never end. That's not the case with newer designed ball parks like Globe Life Park. The wave loses it's fan appeal. That's not saying that there shouldn't be good, organic fan experiences at a baseball game. The "Woo" is certainly the latter.
Very recently, we have seen very negative fan experiences in baseball. Look no further than this season when a select few Boston Red Sox fans made racist comments directed at Baltimore Orioles outfielder Adam Jones. If you also want to see what baseball is like WITHOUT the fan experience, look no further than this comical, yet sad video.
I read your article regarding the "Woo" birds at the Astros game. For those of you unfamiliar, here's Mr. Stephenson's column.
I get that when you write for a newspaper like the FWST, you have to have a certain level of bias toward the home town team. But complaining about an emerging fan engagement by Astros fans (or any fans) makes you the sports reporter equivalent to Dolores Umbridge. It's also incredibly tacky to write about a negative fan experience of not liking what fans do because "you simply find it annoying". From what I understand, you are not even a fan of the wave anymore. The Texas Rangers have even tried to ban it.
In all fairness, I can understand why the wave should be banned. The wave started when most baseball teams used to play in old concrete donuts like old Busch Stadium, Three Rivers Stadium, or even the Astrodome. It was fun to start the wave and seeing it never end. That's not the case with newer designed ball parks like Globe Life Park. The wave loses it's fan appeal. That's not saying that there shouldn't be good, organic fan experiences at a baseball game. The "Woo" is certainly the latter.
Very recently, we have seen very negative fan experiences in baseball. Look no further than this season when a select few Boston Red Sox fans made racist comments directed at Baltimore Orioles outfielder Adam Jones. If you also want to see what baseball is like WITHOUT the fan experience, look no further than this comical, yet sad video.
That, Mr. Stephenson, is baseball without fans. No reason to come to the ballpark. Just shut up and watch baseball and cheer when you're supposed to? As far as your propensity towards squashing the baseball fan experience, I'll leave this in the capable words of Bryce Harper.
Let the fans enjoy the game the way that they want, so long as it's good, clean, fun. Remember that children come to baseball games.
Sincerely,
Baseball Fans Everywhere
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