Angry Fans

We are Angry Fans. We root for bad teams because our fathers root for bad teams. Between us, we live and die for some of the most tragic franchises in sports. Yet, while it may make us angry, it doesn’t stop us from watching Opening Day from our computers in the back of sociology class. It doesn’t stop us from checking scores on our phones in the middle of conversations at parties. It definitely doesn’t stop us from going on and on about sports to anyone who will listen, and once a week from now on, that anyone will be you. For those of you who spent your summer with your fingers off the pulse, soaking up the sun or saving the world, here are the top ten sports stories of the summer as presented by Angry Fans, in no particular order.
The NBA Finals –– Believe it or not, before July’s free agent hoopla there was actually some basketball played this summer, and quite good ball at that. In the end, it all came down to the Lakers and the Celtics for the 12th time after Boston made a surprising run through the East. In a series defined by finesse vs. scrappiness, the scrappy Celtics fought hard with help from a bench full of atypical NBA bodies (read: thugs and misfits), but it was not enough against the savvy LA squad.
A-Rod’s 600th –– This story is noteworthy because of how little attention it got outside of the New York market. Ten years ago this would have been the story of the summer, as Rodriguez became the seventh man in the history of the sport to hit 600 career home runs. Needless to say, PEDs have changed the way fans view the game, particularly how they view the HR stat. With A-Rod being an admitted user, he’s going to have to distinguish his game in other ways to wow the baseball purists. And just for the record, we don’t feel bad for him at all.
Lee and Oswalt Are Traded — The Lee trade from the Mariners to the Rangers is the bigger deal of the two, as it adds a more than formidable arm to a strong line-up. Even if Lee’s WAR (Wins Above Replacement) isn’t that high for the rest of the season, having him in a playoff series is invaluable for Texas. Oswalt to the Phillies makes a little less sense considering they are already so strong with starters and have traded much of the farm in the last year. That’s not to say Oswalt doesn’t improve their rotation, and the money they’re paying for him isn’t that steep considering division rivals Mets and Braves are paying Oliver Perez and Derek Lowe an average of $3.5 million more this year. Also, this is the first time Perez has been mentioned in a newspaper in six months. Mark it down.
USC Sanctions –– Two-year bowl ban, 30 scholarships lost, one Heisman trophy taken and the ’04 title in doubt, and that’s only what was already taken from the Trojan football program. The storied So-Cal team, possibly the best program of the last ten years, could need a decade to recover from this hit. This leads to two questions: first, could this lead to pro football in LA and second, how many former Trojans are taking paycuts in the pros?
The Phenom’s Debut (And What Happened Next) –– Almost exactly one year from the day he was drafted, Stephen Strasburg made his major-league debut as the “most hyped and closely watched pitching prospect in the history of baseball.” While much of the hype was pretty extreme, Strasburg pitched as advertised until, tragically, he tore a ligament in his elbow and will need Tommy John surgery, forcing him to miss all of this and next season. This was everyone’s worst fear and a crushing blow not only to a struggling Nats franchise but to Major League Baseball in general. Let the comparisons to Prior and Wood begin.
The Decision –– Yep, Lebron is taking his talents to South Beach, forming another elite NBA team with Bosh and Wade. The rich get richer, parity in the NBA is dead and Cleveland continues to get screwed. And for the next two years, people will overuse the joke “I’m taking my talents to South Beach.”
NHL Playoffs –– The Blackhawks, an “Original Six” franchise, won their first Stanley Cup since 1961 after beating the Flyers in six games. The playoffs in general were a blast to watch, with upsets (eighth-seeded Canadiens beating the top seeded Capitals and defending champion Penguins), comebacks (the Flyers came back from three games down vs. the Bruins to tie the series at 3-3 and then were down three goals in game seven only to eventually win 4-3) and the San Jose Sharks finally making it past the second round only to get destroyed in the Conference Finals. Oh, San Jose.
The World Cup –– ¡LA FURIA ROJA! INIESTA! Although the final was a bit marred by penalties and missed chances, it was still an amazing finish to an amazing tournament. The vuvuzelas are not as bad as people say...when they’re in the stadium. When someone was letting loose at 3 a.m. outside my window, I was not nearly as forgiving. Also, with two historically underachieving, high-scoring teams in the final, I was in heaven.
Perfect games, No-hitters, and Galarraga...Oh my! –– Dallas Braden threw the 19th perfect game in MLB history, Roy Halladay threw the 20th exactly 20 days later, and Armando Galarraga got absolutely robbed of a perfect game four days later (on my birthday, against my favorite team, the Cleveland Indians...I feel partially responsible) when third base umpire Jim Joyce blew a call at first base on what would have been the final out. This year is the first time two perfect games have been thrown in the same year since 1880. Yes, 1880. And to make matters for batters worse, Ubaldo Jimenez, Edwin Jackson and Matt Garza all threw plain old no-hitters this year.
American Needle Supreme Court Case –– This was the biggest sports story of the year that you haven’t heard about. American Needle is a sports-apparel manufacturer that sued the NFL claiming the NFL’s exclusive deal with Reebok violated antitrust rules. The lower courts ruled that the NFL was a single entity instead of 32 competing corporations, but the Supreme Court ruled in a 9-0 decision ruled that the NFL was indeed violating antitrust laws. This seems boring. And it is. But had the NFL prevailed, its monopoly would have allowed it to kill free agency, set all ticket prices, or even transfer broadcasting rights to its own cable network, all leading to rising prices for fans. Go Supremes.

Brad Becker-Parton ’11 is from Sleepy Hollow, N.Y. and Spencer Wright ’11 is from Burlington, Vt.