Reds Round Table: The Reds…Part I

As far as the fans go I have to split them up into 3 different groups with 3 different grades. The first group, local fans, gets a D. They get this grade because they continue to follow the same path with every sport in this city. They come into the season with the absolute highest of expectations without taking a look at the reality of the team. As soon as one thing goes wrong they freak out! You start hearing statements like “The season’s over,” “Fire the coach/manager,” “This team is awful! Let’s get ready for next year.” This is the most frustrating thing in the world to me. Now this doesn’t apply to everyone in the city, just the majority.

Then you have our national fans (outside of Cincy). These fans get an A for the mere fact that they are the realist fan. They don’t over react, they don’t freak out and they are still following this team even though they don’t play in the city in which they live.

The final fan is the bandwagon fan. These fans get an F. They weren’t around before last year, which is in no way a bad thing! I will welcome new fans every day of the year and I do my best to make every person I meet a Reds fan. The grade for this group is based on the fact that they tend to act like they know everything there is about this team and they are the expert.

So is this an overall C-? That’s what I take away from it…

BRM’s John takes a similar approach but delivers just one grade.

Reds fans are far too critical of a team that is vastly superior to the team of two or three years ago. We are three games behind the Pirates now but for the past month Pirates fans are doing cartwheels in the streets of Pittsburgh while fans of the Reds on Twitter tend to complain a lot and micromanage. I know because I am guilty of the same crimes. I too wanted to jump through the screen and strangle Cordero after the third blown save. But consider this: Cordero’s collapse came after he felt he had performed well this season and was snubbed for the ASG. I firmly believe his attitude set the table for his collapse.

I brought John’s POV in here because he’s in Pittsburgh and a Reds fan.

But there was one last impression I got among comments regarding the fan base. Since Chad had so little to say before, we’ll give him the floor on this, too.

the Reds fans: I don’t know how to grade this one. There’s a lot of passion, and too much impatience.

Again, short and to the point. I will also note that Chad did not assign a grade.

Well, the first half is down. The second and final installment of the Reds Round Table will be tomorrow.