MLB: Who’s To Blame For This (Insert Expletive) Lockout?
The Fans
This is actually where the blame goes. I love baseball, and because I do, I enable baseball to do these things. I’m to blame. I easily spend well over a thousand dollars a year on baseball; some people spend a lot more. Going to games, buying swag, baseball magazine subscriptions, MLB TV and Radio packages, etc. Then there’s the time investment, watching games live in person or on TV, and when I can’t watch, I listen to them.
They say the first step of any addiction is moving beyond denial. Hi, I’m Joe, and I’m a baseball addict. This addiction to numbers, the nuance, the romance, and the chess match that is baseball, is kind of extreme. I’m an enabler. Because I and millions of fans like me spend more money and time than we should on baseball, we are enabling the owners and baseball players to do what they’re doing to us right now.
Both sides know that some fans will leave, but not the true diehards. They will be there when the lockout ends and ready to tap some veins and inject a little baseball back into our souls. They know and for that reason, they abuse us when it comes to CBA negotiations, lockouts, and strikes. Why? Because we’re going to come back frothing at the mouth for more baseball. Fans want more moments. More did you see what happened? More stories and more memories.
You know what, although we hate it, and we need someone to blame, and some of us pick the owner’s side, and some of us pick the player’s side. We’re the ones that get hurt, but we take it and when this lockout ends. We’ll be there.
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Joe Swenson – Lifelong Baseball Fan.