Bench Schoop
Pirates @ Card’s series Monday-Wednesday looks like toast too.
Card’s have played five games, which means they have 55 left. They rescheduled the first seven games missed. Right now it’s: 5 7-inning doubleheaders, 39 single games, two off days (w/six games to reschedule). Perhaps: 9 7-inning doubleheaders, 37 single games, no off days.
When Sabo the dog picked the Reds for his new team, I naively assumed that most Reds fans would pick the Pirates as their #1 rival. I was wrong, of course, the correct answer is the Card’s.
Why is that?
I’m not buying into all this website has to say, but I found it pretty interesting: knowrivalry.com. According to these academics research, which rates rival-ness on a scale to 100, we have…
The NFL Bengals (62.13) -and- Browns (53.97) main rival is the Steelers. While the Steelers and Ravens are the 2nd highest mutual main rivals in the NFL (63.64 + 60.84).
The Reds (51.04) -and- Brewers (54.85) main rival is the Card’s. While the Cards and Cubs are the 3rd highest mutual main rivals in MLB (49.63 + 64.79). It seems nobody GAF about the Pirates, as they don’t have a sample size of responses.
Doesn’t everyone hate the Cards?
No, really, there was a lot of beef, bad blood, and brawls back in the early 2010s and also the fact that somehow they kept winning while often spending no money, having no stars, etc. So jealousy, too.
It’s like why people hate the Patriots. We’re just fucking tired of them going to the playoffs every single fucking year zzzzzz
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I think the Cardinals are even worse. They have a showy and sanctimonious “Cardinal Way” phony culture about “playing the right way”.
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I hate the Cards for their fans more than anything. I can’t think of a fan base who deserves good things less.
https://twitter.com/jimstlouisgolf/status/1286507830263119872?s=21
https://twitter.com/ayeayer46908889/status/1286303992738349056?s=21
https://twitter.com/bestfansstlouis/status/1288158197459582976?s=21
https://twitter.com/bestfansstlouis/status/1287892057185558530?s=21
Is this the thread for shitting on Cards fans?
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TYVM for your response. Let me ask a few more Qs…
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I’m making the assumption that you have an affinity to the Cincinnati metro area outside of sportsball. If that is not the case, nevermind. If it is… what is your opinion of the St.Louis metro area outside of sportsball? Same Q regarding the Pittsburgh area?
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I realize this might be impossible to do in practice. But if you could mentally swap, since the creation of the central divisions in 1994, the Cardinals record with the Pirates record… do you feel that might swap main rival status?
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I can’t imagine MLB pulling the plug on St,Louis. But… I couldn’t imagine the NFL pulling the plug on San Diego either. If the Cardinals moved to San Antonio… are they still the Reds fans main rival? How about 10 years later, when all the people have changed over? How about if they rebrand as the “Spurs”? How about if they change leagues?
I don’t see why not.
But, while I think they’re overrepresented in Cards nation, I could find tweets like that for every team. USA sucks.
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I mean, I have no doubt that you could, but the Cards fanbase in particular is so well-known for being awful that I didn’t even have to look, because there’s a Twitter account (@BestFansStLouis) that’s been dedicated to pointing out Cards fans’ racism for nearly ten years.
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Yeah, I know. I have family in the IL suburbs that I cannot visit without being utterly miserable and spending the entirety of the trip traveling to the Cahokia Mounds and Mother Jones monument. The place is a wasteland of the worst kind of people.
This one and all the other ones, IMO.
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This is true. They did a thing on this on 538 a couple of years ago. In my extensive experience yapping about sportsball in the bars, this is what I’ve found…
In general, and beyond sportsball, there’s a certain contingent of what I call “Jesse”. These peeps (a) consume that RWMJ entertainment product like sportsball, (b) don’t seem to understanding that that’s not news or politics, that there isn’t “another side” to it, and therefore often can’t distinguish reality from fiction, and (c ) most importantly, just cannot keep their feelings about their favorite entertainment product “under thier hat”, and always seem to interject in the most inappropriate circumstances.
Of course, at the bar, it’s always inappropriate to discuss politics, religion, and Pluto’s status as a planet. But Jesse just can’t help himself… even when it comes to sportsball.
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The actual Jesse I get the name from is a huge Jets fan. I’m a Patriots fan. They are unquestionably reciprocating main rivals. Still… Jesse can’t bring himself to root against the Patriots because R.Kraft and T.Brady are big friends and fans of D.Trump.
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We have Rick, who when I said I’m a fan of Cal in FBS, replied “We don’t like that team.” The ‘we’ being the consumers of that RWNJ entertainment. I asked him “How about SDSU?” He said: “Go Aztecs !!!1!”. I asked “How about UCLA?”. He said “I’m cool with UCLA”.
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Then we have Tom & Dale. Former BFF who both consume that RWNJ entertainment. The reason they are former friends is that Dale moved to a semi-rural area with no NFL team, and Tom said he only goes on roadtrips to see his favorite NFL team, so would never ever come to visit… even though Dale spent significant time & money visiting Tom (about a half which was spent at a business Tom owned). That’s how much Tom was into his favorite NFL team.
Fast forward to that NFL team ceasing to exist, and C.Kapernick and allies doing their thing. All of a sudden Tom is boycotting the NFL. That lasted for exactly one (purported) season, then he became a Cowboys fan… because their owner is big friend and fan of D.Trump.
In the meantime, I figure I can rile up Dale by making fun of Tom (who he now dislikes). I mention this: is Tom boycotting the NFL because his favorite team ceased to exist? No… is Tom boycotting the NFL because of CTE? No… is Tom boycotting the NFL because he wants to do something else with his time? No. He’s only boycotting the NFL because he’s a sheeple who can’t distinguish between reality -vs- the content of his preferred entertainment product… he’s a fool… and you should join me in making fun of him (behind his back).
Dale replies… C. Kapernick isn’t good enough to be a backup in the NFL, which he knows “objectively”… that the NFL players are a buncha overpaid whiners… and etc/etc/etc.
This is why I don’t go to bars.
Or talk to anyone outside of niche curated online fora.
I also avoid the online dens of Jesse… otherwise known as the comment sections. You’re missing all the fun in the bars however.
My overall point was, I guess, that Jesses are rather rare IRL, I’d WAG only 1-3% of bar regs. Likewise, I’d WAG that they are also relatively rare on internets sports chatting, but seem ubiquitous because in sportsball there really isn’t any “other side”. In the absence of actual research, I’m very skeptical that any team’s fan base is significantly more or less deplorable than any other.
To comment a little more regarding there really being no “other side”, the only comments I’ve ever heard that way are (a) Packers fan because they are community owned, or (b) 49ers fan because of San Francisco’s reputation for being a donkey haven. In every case I’ve found (a) unlike a Jesse, these peeps don’t volunteer this info, you gotta ask, and (b) they are very “shallow” sportsball fans, and really don’t care that much about fandom.
ETA: It’s almost always -EV to bet a Jesse personally… because good luck collecting if you win. However, their inability to distinguish reality -vs- their entertainment product makes them terrible, and terribly predictable, sports handicappers. With sports betting going legal nation wide, all Jesses should be encouraged to bet at the books. They are what I used to call Brain Dead Money.
You all just don’t play the game the “right way”.
Get the fuck out of here.
We are the best fans in the world and so knowledgeable.
We give our pitchers standing ovations for sacrifice bunts. FUCK THE DH!
We love role players that play good defense and hustle to first base. We don’t care if their OPS is under 600.
We cheer good plays by the other team!
We give former players standing ovations!
You need grit to play in St. Louis.
You need even more grit to be the best fans in baseball.
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In all seriousness it is a well ran organization from the minor leagues on up but the fans are the worst.