Today may be Mother's Day, but before I was a mom I was a Cleveland Sports Fan. Sometimes, my "mom-ness" shows through in my blog posts or my tweets. I say that because I, too, get frustrated with our teams performances and struggle to make sure that I vent that frustration on the team and not individual players. I get after people on Twitter who get after players. It's not nice. Any that's my mom-ness showing. Athletes are people too and with social media like Twitter, people seem to think it's ok to say whatever they want and not consider the consequences.
Going through my time-line after a Chris Perez "Save" opportunity says it all. People are mean. And rude. And the mom in me wants to send them to their rooms with no supper, while the sports fan in me understands their feelings. BUT I really, really try not to go there with a player. Yes, I've sent messages of unhappiness to players in my time. But I've tried to be constructive or even humorous. NEVER with anger or hate. It's just not my style.
I would like you to click the link below and read the Deadspin article. I am hoping that it will touch a chord in you like it did with me. I am praying that maybe, the next time you get really pissed off at a bonehead move by a player, you will take a moment before venting your frustration at someone who already feels bad enough about what happened.
As it says in the article, "One of the worst parts of being a devoted fan of any crappy team, in any sport, is the sense that you're truly only rooting for the laundry, that the players in the uniform bearing the name of your town don't care half as much as you do." But I think they DO care. And our pain and rancor are weights that they shouldn't have to carry - no matter how much they are paid to play a kid's game.
Respectfully Submitted,
Cleveland Kate
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