Caps Fans Hate Orioles, Love DCU
Balt Sun blogger Roch Kubatko was obviously miffed by the treatment a few O's received at the Caps-Canes game over the weekend. Roch writes:
If it's boos you want, this is your guy. (File Photo)
Yes, it's true: Nick Markakis and Adam Loewen were roundly booed at last night's Capitals game when they were shown on the video screen and identified as Orioles. A member of DC United, meanwhile, received a huge ovation.
Maybe a few of the Nationals will attend a Blast game and fans can boo them.
Cross-city sniping, I love it. Bear in mind that the enmity between the cities' sports teams will only increase this year; Baltimore is getting an indoor football team (the Blackbirds), and so is D.C. (the Tide.) With luck, we'll one day witness UDC fans booing the Blackbirds, and UMBC fans booing the Tide. Also, by "a member of D.C. United," Roch meant "former U.S. National Team member Ben Olsen," per the AP:
Baltimore Orioles players Adam Loewen and Nick Markakis were booed when shown on the scoreboard telescreen, while D.C. United soccer star Ben Olsen drew cheers from the crowd of 16,924.
And naturally, the Caps fan board is having at it. We have pro-booers:
The crowd was very impressive and I am proud of them for booing those two Oriole players. This isn't Baltimore, this is Nationals country.
(Although I'd argue, in the spirit of men in cowboy hats and tasteless video clips of American History, that really, this is our country.) And we have anti-booers:
I honestly think it's sad that, at a hockey event featuring a team that considers Baltimore part of it's home territory for television and marketing purposes, a couple of Baltimore baseball players coming out to support the Caps are booed. It's not even as if the Orioles and the Nationals are two bitter rivals slugging it out for a division title, they're two losing teams in separate leagues....
Honestly, the behavior of DC fans is making it tougher and tougher for me as a Baltimore guy to be a Caps and Wizards fan, or to possibly adopt the Nats as my favorite NL team, though. There's this big vibe of hatred towards Baltimore, Baltimore teams, and even Baltimore fans. Can't we all just get along?
Answer: No.
Actually, here's how the Bog define the regional sports area: Yes Virginia Tech, yes Virginia, yes ODU, yes Loyola of Baltimore, yes UMBC, yes Baltimore Blackbirds, no Ravens, no Orioles unless we're talking about humorous fan protests, and by all means yes Baltimore Blast, unless their fans are booing the Nats.
By Dan Steinberg |
January 29, 2007; 11:22 AM ET
| Category:
Caps
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Orioles
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Posted by: Dave B. | January 29, 2007 11:44 AM
I was there and proudly booed the Orioles. Shoot, I'd only barely heard of one of them, and that took me a minute. I was regretting my decision afterwards after I was punched by my date, who is an Os fan.
Posted by: FS | January 29, 2007 11:47 AM
Following the trend of pro athlete owners of sports teams, will Gilbert be part owner of the Tide? Oh wait, no, nevermind, apparently they aren't in the Arenas Football League.
Posted by: Rob Iola | January 29, 2007 11:50 AM
Hey, didn't we have a big debate about this earlier concerning those (idiots) who yell "O" during the National Anthem? If Angelos (and previous owners) hadn't been such an obstacle to getting a baseball team here, or to letting us watch the games on TV, then I'd have no reason to boo the O's. I'd just ignore them.
Posted by: TG | January 29, 2007 12:16 PM
It's not our fault the owner is a feckless clod. You won't find any more love for Angelos in B-More than you will down here. The sooner he sells the team to Cal the better off we'll all be. That said, it's pretty classless and tasteless to boo players from another town's team who make the effort to come down and enjoy a game.
Posted by: EricS | January 29, 2007 12:33 PM
I spent many of my formative years attending Blast (and later, Spirit...and then, Blast again) games. Is it wrong that my favorite thing to do was to buy a mini-ball with my paper route money and play a pickup game with other kids in the hallway?
Posted by: Chest Rockwell | January 29, 2007 12:52 PM
Here's to revoking the ticket of every lemming moron in that place who shouts "O" during the national anthem. Seriously, they're not smart enough to attend a professional sports event. And that's saying something.
Posted by: DC | January 29, 2007 01:14 PM
even more moronic than yelling O's during the national anthem is getting upset about it on a sports bog.
--from down the ocean, hun
Posted by: pete | January 29, 2007 02:11 PM
Why would anyone be an O's fan? The owner hates the city and uses the team just to line his own slimy pockets with money, and the teams really, really sucks. (Funny, the same applies to the Redskins....)
Posted by: Dave | January 29, 2007 02:45 PM
"... players from another town's team who make the effort to come down and enjoy a game."
Well, not quite. They were down here for the Car Show. So they were paid to be in downtown DC. (Same as the two people from.... General Hospital?)
But it was of their own accord to go to the hockey game.
Still, from the pro athletes I know, there is something that relishes the boos. I don't think their feelings were hurt. It probably kept them entertained.
Posted by: RWG | January 29, 2007 07:15 PM
I would thibk they'd more perplexed that peopel at a Caps game were booing them. I know I would confused as all hell. It wasn't even a baseball event. It's like a Caps player getting booed at a Yankees game.
Posted by: EricS | January 29, 2007 07:34 PM
"Well, not quite. They were down here for the Car Show. So they were paid to be in downtown DC."
So in other words, the Washington Auto Show had Orioles players as guests, but no Nationals players (at least none that I know of)? Go fig.
Posted by: Vincent | January 30, 2007 10:33 AM
The comments to this entry are closed.
B-More kept a baseball team out of the most powerful city in the world for years. Sure the moronic government that made it an easy choice for ol' Jack to put the Skins in the boonies probably had a lot to do with it too, I mean that whole thing was a circus (remember Linda Cropp..gughgh)...having said that, no Nat fan should have any reason to cheer for an Oriole...Cal is gone and with him goes any reason for a DC-ite to cheer for Wire-land.