Walk Away?

Is it me, or are sports teams making it harder for fans to cheer for them while retaining a shred of self-respect? This has been going on for a while, I think. At the very least, it dates to the public funding craze for stadiums. If fans want to keep their teams, they have to agree to become the most generous landlords known to humanity. Or we move. Did I mention personal seat licenses? Bears fans are learning they’re not transferable should the Munsters move into a new stadium in Arlington Heights. Let’s not forget PEDs, while we’re at it. How any Cardinals’, A’s or Giants’ fan can not be upset over the apparent or admitted steroids’ use by Barry Bonds, Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire is beyond me. In Chicago, Cubs’ fans were spared having to confront the validity of Sammy Sosa’s stats, thanks to Sosa making a fool of himself every time the issue of PEDs is brought up. Kryptonite knocks out Superman, the P-word does the same to Sosa. Over on the South Side, we have a manager seemingly oblivious to the PEDs’ usage of Canseco and McGwire when he managed them. See No Evil LaRussa—that’s what Tony LaRussa’s HOF plague should have on it, with a monkey shielding its eyes. And now we have the situation in Las Vegas, where the Raiders are stinking up the joint, at least for anyone who has a conscience. First, coach Jon Gruden is forced to resign for comments racist, homophobic and misogynistic made in emails while he was between coaching gigs. (Class guy that he is, Gruden is now suing the NFL for letting those emails go public.) Now, they’ve gotten rid of their two most recent first-round draft choices. Why? Because they had no choice. One posted a video of himself waving a gun and threatening to kill someone; the other was involved in a high-speed car collision that did kill someone. Las Vegas was made to cough up $750 million in public funding for a new stadium and the “privilege” of having owner Mark Davis move his team from Oakland. Was it worth it? Why does Davis get to keep his team in the wake of such gross incompetence? At what point do you stop following a team and just walk away? It’s a question for these times.