Visitors

There was a time, when the Orioles called 33rd Street home, and the Redskins fans were jumping on those old aluminum bleachers at the end of east Captiol Street, that out-of-town fans were rare. Both teams were good, they sold out (or came close to selling out) to a loyal home base. The thought of selling your hard-earned Redskins season tickets to a Cowboys or Eagles fan was, well, almost inconceivable.

Of course, back then, both teams were pretty good. Not always the best, but almost always respectable.

No more. Attending games at FedEx field has become depressing, especially against NFC east rivals. Giants fans are way too numerous, but not overly annoying; Eagles fans inevitably bring their city's thuggish violence with them, requiring an increased police presence. And Dallas fans... well, they love the gear. They usually can't name three players on their team, but they sure do buy lots of gear.

Unfortunately, Camden Yards, once the gem of the Major Leagues, and once the stadium that boasted the highest attendance in the major leagues, is now the home-away-from-home for visiting teams. The Red Sox fans are pretty upbeat. But the Yankees fans... well, they see to combine the worst of the Eagles with the worst of the Cowboys: Clueless and thuggish at the same time (see the two examples above). Case in point, as I sat in the bleachers of the penultimate game on Saturday night, the Yankees fans would hoot, cheer, chant, and yell... when their team was on the field. I remember when the locals would do that, to rattle the opposing pitcher. That's kinda Baseball Fan 101. Of course, what topped it off were the New York transplants behind us, who would cheer for so-and-so to "score some runs!" Again, while the Yankees were in the field.

Sigh.

You know, Mr. Angelos and Mr. Snyder, if your teams weren't such shadows of their former selves, perhaps you wouldn't have to sell so many tickets to the opposing fans. And your teams would start enjoying home-field advantage again...

(And I would be remiss to not thank The Girlfriend for being the model that out-of-town fans should emulate: Enthusiastic but polite, a good sport, and a student of the game.)