Tweet
.....what can I say, I was listening to it while driving home to Baltimore today....
Eskin had Mike Schmidt as a guest on his show today. Anybody who heard it, feel free to set me straight if I got the details wrong. While asking him about how things were going with the tropical storm, asking him about why the Phillies have been inconsistent lately (after mentioning how some players were doing, he thought that the Phillies' hitters were just plain striking out too much and killing their own rallies), saying some things about a charity golf tournament, and a "548 red zinfandel" wine that Schmidt's selling for charity, he also asked him about the recent press that J-Roll got for saying that Phillies fans were front runners.
Schmidt mentioned that some of what J-Roll said might've been taken out of context, but after a while Eskin started asking Schmidt if he thought that Philly fans had a right to boo their athletes. They went back and forth for a long time, but a few things seemed to stick out:
- both Schmidt and Eskin agreed that anyone who thinks that Philly fans are front runners is wrong
- Schmidt believed that booing does not make an athlete perform better, and saying that it's ok because it encourages the athlete to try harder the next time is wrong, because instead it's more likely to be counterproductive and make the athlete press and lose focus
- he understood that the fans are booing the athlete's performance, but said that the fans don't realize that the athlete feels like the fans are booing the athlete as a person...and that because the fans are only the booing the performance, they'll cheer super loud the moment that the performance turns around (i.e. you strike out three times, they'll yell profanities at you as you jog to the dugout. You hit a home run to win the game in your next at bat, you get a standing ovation).
- he believed that booing is for guys who are clearly disrespecting the game, the fans or their team, and that booing somebody who gave a full effort but had a bad night is wrong
- Eskin tried to put a positive spin on the booing that Schmidt received during his career, saying that "Well, you handled it though. You handled it just fine, you had three MVP seasons and a Hall of Fame career" and really Schmidt didn't buy that he "handled it fine." Schmidt mentioned that he wished that he handled it better earlier in his career. Eskin said that he didn't know what Schmidt meant, and mentioned the "wig and shades" incident as a good example of Schmidt handling Philly fans well. Schmidt responded that they had better things to talk about than that particular incident. Although he suggested that Larry Andersen might want to loan J-Roll a wig and shades.
- Schmidt also mentioned that in a lot of big league cities, "booing by our home town fans" as a sports subject simply doesn't come up in other big market sports cities, and that for Philly fans to talk about it as much as they do, is a sad statement on Philly sports. Eskin countered that the sports culture in some particular cities is simply just that way, that we're no worse than a few other cities and that it's better than having an apathetic fanbase (he mentioned New York and Boston in particular). I don't recall Schmidt's response to this.
I lost radio reception as I got closer to home, so I don't remember much more than this.
My opinion? It'll take a long sustained run of championships by various teams to ease up on the venom that Philly fans say. It's funny to hear the WIP guys go out of their way not to piss off the fanbase, while the newspaper guys will sometimes call the fanbase out now and then. I guess the WIP guys are worried and don't want their phones ringing off the hook with call-in fans telling them that they're jerks.
Eskin had Mike Schmidt as a guest on his show today. Anybody who heard it, feel free to set me straight if I got the details wrong. While asking him about how things were going with the tropical storm, asking him about why the Phillies have been inconsistent lately (after mentioning how some players were doing, he thought that the Phillies' hitters were just plain striking out too much and killing their own rallies), saying some things about a charity golf tournament, and a "548 red zinfandel" wine that Schmidt's selling for charity, he also asked him about the recent press that J-Roll got for saying that Phillies fans were front runners.
Schmidt mentioned that some of what J-Roll said might've been taken out of context, but after a while Eskin started asking Schmidt if he thought that Philly fans had a right to boo their athletes. They went back and forth for a long time, but a few things seemed to stick out:
- both Schmidt and Eskin agreed that anyone who thinks that Philly fans are front runners is wrong
- Schmidt believed that booing does not make an athlete perform better, and saying that it's ok because it encourages the athlete to try harder the next time is wrong, because instead it's more likely to be counterproductive and make the athlete press and lose focus
- he understood that the fans are booing the athlete's performance, but said that the fans don't realize that the athlete feels like the fans are booing the athlete as a person...and that because the fans are only the booing the performance, they'll cheer super loud the moment that the performance turns around (i.e. you strike out three times, they'll yell profanities at you as you jog to the dugout. You hit a home run to win the game in your next at bat, you get a standing ovation).
- he believed that booing is for guys who are clearly disrespecting the game, the fans or their team, and that booing somebody who gave a full effort but had a bad night is wrong
- Eskin tried to put a positive spin on the booing that Schmidt received during his career, saying that "Well, you handled it though. You handled it just fine, you had three MVP seasons and a Hall of Fame career" and really Schmidt didn't buy that he "handled it fine." Schmidt mentioned that he wished that he handled it better earlier in his career. Eskin said that he didn't know what Schmidt meant, and mentioned the "wig and shades" incident as a good example of Schmidt handling Philly fans well. Schmidt responded that they had better things to talk about than that particular incident. Although he suggested that Larry Andersen might want to loan J-Roll a wig and shades.
- Schmidt also mentioned that in a lot of big league cities, "booing by our home town fans" as a sports subject simply doesn't come up in other big market sports cities, and that for Philly fans to talk about it as much as they do, is a sad statement on Philly sports. Eskin countered that the sports culture in some particular cities is simply just that way, that we're no worse than a few other cities and that it's better than having an apathetic fanbase (he mentioned New York and Boston in particular). I don't recall Schmidt's response to this.
I lost radio reception as I got closer to home, so I don't remember much more than this.
My opinion? It'll take a long sustained run of championships by various teams to ease up on the venom that Philly fans say. It's funny to hear the WIP guys go out of their way not to piss off the fanbase, while the newspaper guys will sometimes call the fanbase out now and then. I guess the WIP guys are worried and don't want their phones ringing off the hook with call-in fans telling them that they're jerks.
Comment