Thursday, November 8, 2007

Polite Applause Always Appreciated

You all know that I am a big fan of the letters to the editor. A particular favorite subgenre is the letter to the sports editor that complains of home fans booing the opponent. There is no letter that so sublimely misses the whole freaking point. Today's R-G carries a prime example I thought I'd share. It is so grumpy old man, it almost demands to be printed on faded newsprint. It made me smile, I hope it does the same for you.

Accentuate the positive

Noise! It isn’t the amount. It’s when.

When the Ducks come out of the tunnel, the rush everyone gets is an amazing phenomenon. Players, coaches and fans are uplifted by the roar of the crowd. It’s a very massive upwelling of positive spirits.

By contrast, the negative noise and booing that occurs when the visiting team is trying to run a play? It’s ugly. Check out the faces of the people doing that. Not a pretty sight. Compare it to the look when the Ducks make a great defensive play, a score or a field goal.

And besides, it’s cheating. Anytime a visiting team can’t hear its signals, that’s interference with the field of play. And when some of the Duck players are waving their arms for more noise, that tells me they can’t win on their own talents. It’s like their insecure, scared.

I get a mild rush just recalling the Ducks coming out of the tunnel, our mascot on the Harley. It’s just plain grand! Why not accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative?

Bob Pickard

4 comments:

mike3550 said...

Maybe we shouldn't have winners and losers, either. Why? Because the pained faces on the losing side.

We could just play games and then declare every one of them a tie...

Give me a break.

dave3544 said...

I will remember this when you are advancing some vaguely communistic economic argument.

wobblie said...

Wow - dude doesn't believe in homefield advantage. Maybe we should always play games at neutral venues, that would make it more sporting! Jeebus.

And Mike's comments reminded me of that "King of the Hill" episode where Bobby gets tempted into playing soccer. "A 1-1 tie! Everybody wins!"

dave3544 said...

One of my favorite quotes from Amber was after a tie soccer game when she said, "We tied, which is great, because now we don't have to argue about who won."