Regis Courtemanche

Quote: They Love Their Team
By Regis Courtemanche - Aug 15, 2008 11:50 am

In an article for The Free Lance-Star, Rich Campbell relays a quote by Nats OF Austin Kearns regarding the amount of Mets fans at Nationals Park.

Kearns, on the fans, said:

“I’d rather shut them up than have them chanting at the end of the game, but that’s part of it. They love their team, and they’re going to make it known wherever they are. Obviously, you hope you’re on the other end of it where they’re the ones that have got the muzzle on.”

This is actually a kind of compliment that Kearns is paying to Mets fans, who get a lot of criticism for booing their team.  However, when I watch other teams play, very rarely do I hear the visiting team’s fans cheering for their club as loud as Mets fans do when they are on the road.

I appreciate few things more than hearing “Let’s Go Mets” emanating from the crowd during a road game, as was the case again last night.

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34 Comments »

Comment by Giuseppe Franco our next GM
2008-08-15 11:58:38

It has to suck hearing in ur crowd rooting for the other team. But like nats and the marlins the only way to shut us up is to beat us

Comment by gipper82475
2008-08-15 19:25:54

Having seen the Mets play at Petco, Safeco and Chase Field…I can report that Mets fans out-cheer the home fans at each venue. I was at the game in AZ last year which was the final W in a streak of something like 12 or 13 straight Mets wins at Chase. Mets fans were chanting “Shea Stadium West!” with only halfharted boos in response from the home “fans.”

 
 
Comment by pezao
2008-08-15 12:04:21

Well here in DC there’s the added problem that the term “gNats Fan” is an oxymoron. Last night’s game (and I’m sure this is the norm for all home gNats games) saw less red than blue. We Mets fans wouldn’t have been so conspicuous if there had been a decent amount of gNat fans to balance us out.

Comment by toomanyuniforms
2008-08-15 15:37:16

This is true (I was there as well), but it’s a problem all DC teams (save one — the NFL’s Epithets) have with such a large number of out-of-towners and a relatively transient population. Join that with (1) a crappy team, (2) little DC baseball tradition and (3) 21st century ticket-purchasing base (corporations, law firms, etc.) and you end up with a lot of out-of-town fans (aho get hold of the “firm seats”, etc.) and a relatively quiet group of hometown fans. Things will change when (if?) they can start winning, however.

 
 
Comment by TheBigStapler
2008-08-15 12:07:37

I almost feel a little guilty about it. It’s like we’re the Red Sox or something. I would hate to be cheered against during a home game.

Comment by There's Always '09
2008-08-15 12:39:15

I was going to say that. Red Sox fans seem louder on the road than Mets fans. They are all over the place.

 
Comment by Gary Busey
2008-08-15 13:05:44

I was thinking this too. Poor fanless Nats :(

 
 
Comment by Ceetar
2008-08-15 12:10:24

Only thing better is hearing a “Jose Jose” chant at Phillies or Yankee stadium.

 
Comment by Giuseppe Franco our next GM
2008-08-15 12:11:43

We are no way close to red socks fans because they have a nation
we have a ………………………………………

Comment by CaseStreet
2008-08-15 12:15:30

Big Family

 
Comment by khmustache
2008-08-15 12:22:26

beverly hills salon

 
Comment by Simpsonsfan421
2008-08-15 12:26:46

Yeah a nation of bandwagoners. Nobody outside of New England cared about them before October 2004.

Comment by Nightlife
2008-08-15 12:28:48

Yeah, they marketed that whole “we are the anti-Yankees” thing to perfection and are now reaping the profits.

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Comment by gomets6091
2008-08-15 13:50:33

ironic, considering they are basically the same thing.

 
Comment by toomanyuniforms
2008-08-15 15:39:17

I read an article about this in a BOSTON paper, believe it or not. To beat the Yankees, John Henry essentially turned his team into the Yankees. Most Boston fans outwardly don’t care, but I’m sure there’s a core that has a gnawing feeling that they didn’t quite succeed in their “pure” form.

 
 
 
Comment by amazin82
2008-08-15 12:51:12

A METropolis, obviously.

 
 
Comment by Giuseppe Franco our next GM
2008-08-15 12:12:30

state

 
Comment by OPP is Metsmerizing
2008-08-15 12:19:38

Man, I remember last September I sat Loge right field behind the foul poll and was giving Kearns a hard time. Now I know it was not for naught; he probably heard me and my friend, and it probably irritated him!

Comment by There's Always '09
2008-08-15 12:40:38

Wow. I was sitting right field foul pole in April 2006 vs. the Nationals. There were two guys getting on Jose Guillen so badly, I can’t believe he didn’t run into the stands and pummel them. That would have been great.

 
 
Comment by Seaver41
2008-08-15 12:20:20

Ironically, Atlanta’s fans are some of the most respectful and courteous I’ve encountered while cheering the Mets on in an opposing stadium. In San Diego, most fans are too preoccupied discussing the real estate market to notice or care, but LA fans have become increasingly hostile and their chanting “New York sucks!” in response to Mets fans’ cheering gets under my skin.
As for being cheered upon by visiting fans at Shea, I hadn’t seen and heard it so evident as it was last September when hordes of Phillies fans showed up. It was like it was in the late-’70s through the early-’80s, when at least a quarter of Shea would be cheering for the Dodgers.

 
Comment by Nightlife
2008-08-15 12:21:54

Mets fans were rated in the bottom 9 in some Forbes “Fan Loyalty” article I saw on Yahoo! the other day. Hey, at least we were ahead of the Phillies and Yankees…..I guess.

I thought it was funny how they ranked Braves fans in the top 5 most loyal. They don’t even sell out playoff games.

Needless to say I was confused as to how they came up with these rankings despite the foreword in the article.

Comment by dave27
2008-08-15 12:30:54

You can’t measure loyalty…nor can you stereotype groups of fans. Every team has loyal fans and bandwagon fans.

As Mets fans we all know how loyal we are - could care less what Forbes thinks!

 
Comment by Mets Fan on Wall St.
2008-08-15 12:39:39

Did they not look at attendance figures? I know our attendance has a lot to do with the fact that Shea is one of the larger ballparks in the league but you still have to at least sell the tickets.

Comment by Bogar
2008-08-15 12:46:02

If that’s the same loyalty article I saw it had a coupla flaws:

Didn’t count a bunch of teams (Rays, Marlins, Nats, etc)

“Loyal” fans were those that showed up in the same number, win or lose, than those who attendance went up for the good times. If you draw 20,000 for a division title team and an also ran (Hello, Pittsburgh) you’re more loyal than teams like the Mets, Phillies, etc where those loyal thousands are joined by bandwagoners.

Kinda silly. Hey, we can’t draw no matter how good we are, but the few that come are loyal .

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Comment by mbeli
2008-08-15 12:25:04

just wait for next tues in philly…jose jose jose will be loud and clear for everyone to hear on tv

Comment by There's Always '09
2008-08-15 12:44:49

wow, they play next tuesday in philly already? the season is winding down. this pennant race is going to heat up. big time.

Comment by Bogar
2008-08-15 12:47:04

Nats play in Philly next Tuesday. I guess Reyes cleared waivers and the Mets are trading him for Kearns…

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Comment by mbeli
2008-08-15 13:00:14

umm mets play ATL tues coming up, the tues after that we are in philly…is it that hard to figure out

 
 
 
 
Comment by luigi1990
2008-08-15 12:44:57

i was at the game last night…funniest thing was after the game ended almost everyone leaving was a Mets fan..since the Nats fan had long since left…and there were a lot of Mets fans leaving

Comment by Mets Fan on Wall St.
2008-08-15 12:55:22

Outside of their support for the Redskins, DC might be the worst large sports city in the country. People hate on Atlanta, they might not support the Braves as much as their success should warrant, but at least they support other sports like NASCAR and college sports.

Unless Georgetown or GW has a decent basketball team, I’ve met very few people that say they like any of the other DC teams. I met a Capitals fans once at my local bar, I should have taken a picture to prove his existence.

Comment by gomets6091
2008-08-15 13:55:23

how many Islanders fans do you run into on Long Island? Or Rangers fans in the city? Not too many…the NHL just ain’t that popular these days. And the Nats are only 3 years old, most people in the DC grew up Orioles fans and cheer for both teams these days. I see a ton of kids with Nationals jerseys and hats around here all the time…in 5-10 years, when these kids grow up and the Nats are (maybe) good, their fan base will blossom. Redskins fans might be the best fans in the country, in any sport, and that comes from a Giants fan.

Living in DC now after living outside of Philly, you can’t even compare, DC fans are a quadrillion times better.

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Comment by Gary Busey
2008-08-15 13:55:59

LOL @ “Nats fan”