Monday, February 15, 2010

Move over, Shaughnessy... There's a new cynic in town.

In a shocking new development, the Boston Globe has a bitter cynic working in the sports section. No, I'm not talking about CHB, but [relatively] new blogger Chris Gasper. He wrote a patronizing post the other day about the "farce" that is Truck Day, and even bashes his own paper (among others) for covering it so heavily.

Gasper is biting the hand that feeds him, though I'm sure the Globe won't mind - anything that stirs up controversy and enhances site traffic is just fine by them. Insulting the fans, however, is another matter entirely. Gasper tries to cover his bases by offering up a few cheap compliments:

"Red Sox fans you're better than this. You are the most astute, educated and critical fans in the game. You cheer the outstanding plays of opposing players. You argue endlessly over a manager's decisions, can debate the importance of .OPS vs. UZR and explain why Jose Iglesias has more upside at shortstop than Derrik Gibson."

Personally, I'm tempering my enthusiasm on Iglesias for now... But he sure looks good, doesn't he?

But then he drops the ball quicker than Julio Lugo in the rain (or the sun), and lets us all know how stupid and irrational we're being. Thanks, Chris, but we know that watching a truck leave Fenway Park isn't the most sensible thing to be doing.

But seriously, how can you look at this photo and not smile?

Then again, for many years, rooting for the Red Sox wasn't the most sensible thing to be doing either, and no one at the Globe asked us to stop reading their coverage of the team. I don't know about you, but for me Truck Day is about more than a truck full of bats, balls, exercise bikes, and buckets of Dubble Bubble... Truck Day means baseball is coming. Yes, I know in my heart that baseball will come whether or not I click through the gallery of the Truck Day photos, just as the folks who turn out to oggle Punxsutawney Phil don't really believe that the rodent is predicting the weather.

Gasper was just trying to stir things up, and he succeeded. For his sake, I hope he wasn't always this cynical, though perhaps he spent his childhood disillusioning his peers about the alleged existence of the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus. I've never actually been at Fenway for Truck Day, and don't have any immediate plans to do so... But who does Gasper think he is to judge those who, as he says, "believe the truck isn't just carrying bats and balls it's carrying the hopes and dreams of Red Sox Nation."

He asks us to "Spare him." Next time, Chris, spare me the cynicism and coldhearted analysis... We're in the middle of a New England winter, and things are cold enough.

2 comments:

  1. seems that this chris caracter does not live the sport with passion... lets not let him try to get us... if he's happy in that cynical little world of his, good for him...
    maybe when the red sox won the '04 world series he stared at the tv and said "about freakin time"...

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  2. Wow, very good. I think that must have hurt, Chris haha. Some journalists think they know everything or have to tell people what to do, but how can you go against a tradition like this and even more importantly, does he believe that anyone cares what he thinks of Truck Day ? Surely he already got his 10 seconds of fame, ok fine, but the tradition will continue and who will remember him? Go Red Sox!

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