Ingrate

I noticed when Eli Manning joined Twitter and Tom Brady was teasing him in some way, and in the few clips I saw from the golf match of Brady/Mickelson vs Payton/Tiger…how I am already sick of Tom Brady.  What an ingrate I am.  I mentioned this to a coworker who is a Denver fan who said “No, this is actually the first time I’ve liked him.”  Fans are fickle.

I brought this up in the group chat for one of my fantasy football leagues which is largely New England sports fans, and folks went further with the topic.  When people leave Boston, we don’t tend to wish them well, it seems.  Roger Clemens's name came up immediately as probably the most notorious of those we hated after they left us. Part of this is likely that he was fairly obnoxious even while here.  It took a while for me to think of anyone who remained beloved, or at least admired after he left.  Tom Brady’s backups are still liked.  People still root for Jacoby Brissett, even though he’s in our side of the league.  Jimmy Garappolo support is a little less strong, but still considerable. Not many others. Nor in baseball.  A few Celtics players that get traded out remain fan favorites, particularly if the circumstances of their leaving seemed unfair to them, as with Kendrick Perkins, or Isaiah Thomas and Jae Crowder.  We still liked Tony Allen for the rest of his career.

 

Nope, we mostly hate ‘em.  The major exception would be the players trying to squeeze a few more years out of their career or just finally get paid, like Vince Wilfork or Robert Parrish.  I am curious what this is like in other fan bases. Not many of my readers here are also professional sports fans, but you may have heard some things in your travels. What’s the attitude toward those who are gone?