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PTI: Pardon The Insanity 
Posted Monday/July 22, 2002; 8:20 p.m. PDT
Pardon me, but aren't Bob Ryan and Dan Le Batard two of America's most insightful columnists? Well, on the July 12, 2002 broadcast of PTI, they both (Dan WAY MORE than Bob!) went temporarily insane for 90 seconds and ABSOLUTELY made no sense on the subject of "Fan Activism."
[DING]
LE BATARD: Baseball wasn't listening to what fans were saying at the end of the All-Star Game, so now a group of assorted "Star Wars-like, baseball geeks" are turning up the volume a little bit by organizing oney...one of those fan boycotts. A group of outraged "Internet dorks" stopped playing with their Boba Fett action-figures, just long enough yesterday, to rise up angrily, band together and not watch, attend, or listen to any baseball. Or for that matter, buy any baseball products. The empire is striking back here, Bob. RYAN: [Chuckle] LE BATARD: What do you think of this?
RYAN: Where can I buy one of those Boba Fetts? Alright, you've gotta help me. Ok, I'll tell you who wasn't paying attention to this alleged fan boycott. Let's see...45,882 people who went to see the Dodgers play the Diamondbacks last night. LE BATARD: Right. RYAN: And by the way, this is the great irony of this. I mean, I don't whether they just didn't get the word out well enough to all the "would be consti"...ah...people who are gonna patronize this. But baseball's average attendance this year is, give or take, 27,000 people a game. Last night's average attendance: 26,262. So people aren't getting the message. Look, these fan boycotts are ridiculous. I'm a season ticket...I'm a season ticket holder in Boston, ok? I'll bet...I'm gonna patronize...I'm gonna endorse a fan boycott. I'm gonna show them! LE BATARD: Right. RYAN: Oh, oh...Pedro's pitching tonight...well it can't be tonight. I'M GONNA SHOW THEM! Wait a minute, the Yankees are in town. LE BATARD: Right. RYAN: Naw, it's not gonna work. LE BATARD: Well that's why...that's why I love...they're just trying to draw attention to themselves. But what I enjoy about this, is sort of the idea. The apocalyptic idea that baseball's on the cusp ruination if we have another strike. People talk about it in a way that suggests that Hal McCray's gonna come out for a pitching change and
RYAN: Exactly. LE BATARD: Buh, buh... RYAN: Or snipers! LE BATARD: We're always gonna come back Bob. Because [DING] if we came back after they took it...the World Series from us in 1994, they'll take it from us again and we'll come back. RYAN: In some cities, I'm not sure about all.
WE THE FANS: First of all you guys, as Fans, we would rather attempt to DO SOMETHING great and fail, than to DO NOTHING and succeed! Second, There will never again be an opportunity like this in sports, for the Fans to step in and shake things up. NEVER!! Third, if baseball wasn't listening after the All-Star Game, they ain't NEVER gonna listen and the game is already ruined and not "on the cusp!!!" Where have you been Dan? This season's Fan protests didn't just spring up after the 7-7 tie. Come on! Your recognition of "Internet Fan Activism" (INCONCEIVABLE in 1994), is to call the M.A.H.F.I.A. "Star Wars-like baseball geeks?" WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT MEAN? If we're "Internet dorks," does that make you a "newspaper dork?" Come on, you've GOTTA understand the POWER of the Internet better than that! We don't play with "action figures" (WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT MEAN?), WE ARE ACTION FIGURES! I've taken action for almost four years, by rallying Fans to the right mindset: SPORTS IS A THREE-SIDED EQUATION; FANS ARE THE THIRD PARTY; FANS SHOULD BE REPRESENTED AT THE COLLECTIVE BARGAINING TABLE! You want Tiger Woods to "speak up," but not Fans, huh? C'mon, Dan!
Now we can see Dan talking crazy, but you Bob? If you're a "Boston ticket-holder," then you're a BIG baseball Fan! With the state of the game, a Fan of your caliber should know the ONLY thing left is for Fans to RISE UP and be "Boba Fetts!" [I'm not quite sure what a Boba Fett is, but they look ready for action. In fact, I had never heard of them before Dan said I've been playing with one. INSANE!] Fans are the ONLY entity with a BIG ENOUGH $TAKE and objective viewpoint to "make the save."
Bob, this is NATIONAL TV, not the safe confine of your column at the Boston Globe. You're the kind of guy that should look right into the camera and say, "...baseball's average attendance this year is, give or take, 27,000 people a game. Last night's average attedance: 26,262. The Fan Strike may not have been that effective, but numbers don't lie. SO KEEP UP THE HARD WORK YOU GUYS!" A "non-endorsement-endorsement" like that, from a Power Broker like you, could draw Fans away from the "Dark Side." Instead, your voice is used to spout out, "...ridiculous..." and "...won't work..." Ironically, you ended with saying you're "not sure" Fans will come back after a strike; doing so only in "some cities." That would be an effective "non-ridiculous Fan boycott" right? So which side are you really on Mr. Ryan?
Baseball Fans, the "Insane 90 on PTI" was a HIGHLY CONCENTRATED DOSE of the apathetic-cynical fence sitting-small ball-tiny bat mindset that prevents Fan Activism from being as effective as it has the potetial to be. If a Fan Strike is "ridiculous," what does that make a "player strike" or an "owner lockout?" Hell, the cancellation of the '94 World Series was the MOST RIDICULOUS EVENT IN THE HISTORY OF BASEBALL!!!!!!!! The ONLY thing MORE RIDICULOUS, will be Fans watching (with '94 hindsight) it happen again in 2002, depsite the POWER of the Internet that enables FAST, EFFECTIVE, MOBILIZED ACTION!
The We Love Baseball Ballot is a way for 100,000 Fans in each MLB city to mobilize fast. The players are mobilizing. The owners are mobilizing. 3 MILLION Fans VOTING for the ISSUES of baseball, is a way that baseball Fans, dorks, geeks, freaks and all comers, can utilize the Internet and try to do something, instead of succeeding in doing nothing. Strike Two!
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There will never again be an opportunity like this in sports, for the Fans to step in and shake things up. NEVER!
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