Hostile territory, Billy Bob Thornton and the St. Louis Cardinals
Ben Godar
As a Cardinals fan living in Los Angeles, I'm often forced into unfriendly territory to watch my team. Thankfully, Redbird Nation stretches from coast to coast, so there's always more than a few wearing my colors in Dodger Stadium.
We give each other a smile and a nod as we file past the throngs of mouth-breathing Dodger fans on our way to our seats. Anyone who's worn team apparel into enemy turf knows that it's rarely pleasant. I've had food hurled at me and been greeted more times with "Cardinals suck!" than I can count. Which isn't to say that I've had it so bad. A Giants fan was killed in the parking lot last year.
The point is, it's always a comfort to see another red t-shirt in the sea of beach ball swatting morons. But it's especially comforting when that face is Billy Bob Thornton.
Whenever a celebrity is at the stadium, their face usually winds up on the jumbo tron. Somewhere around the 6th inning of Friday night's game, Billy Bob Thornton appeared on the screen wearing a St. Louis Cardinals cap. The image drew a chorus of boos.
Now folks, that takes balls - and let me tell you why. Nobody, except perhaps our assbag president, is as succeptible to heckling as celebrities. When your typical Dodger fan sees me at the game, all he's got to work with is "Cardinals suck" and maybe "Pujols sucks." But that's only if he's really clever.
Can you imagine the torrent of abuse that could be unleashed on Billy Bob Thornton? He was married to Angelina Jolie and he was in The Alamo. There's about an hour of material right there.
Billy Bob Thornton doesn't need to wear his Cardinals hat to the game. He could just sit quietly and smile and wave when they put him on the big TV. But Billy Bob knows that wearing your team's colors is the RIGHT THING TO DO.
Now compare Billy Bob to Tom Hanks. Sports Weekly reported that Hanks, who calls himself an A's fan and sold concessions at the stadium as a kid, led a Baltimore crowd in a chant of "O-R-I-O-L-E-S" at a recent game ... while they were playing the A's. Nice work, Tom. I'm sure the crowd all loves you and the team all loves you and America all loves you. But where is your heart, sir?
I think we should all resolve to be more like Billy Bob Thornton.
As a Cardinals fan living in Los Angeles, I'm often forced into unfriendly territory to watch my team. Thankfully, Redbird Nation stretches from coast to coast, so there's always more than a few wearing my colors in Dodger Stadium.
We give each other a smile and a nod as we file past the throngs of mouth-breathing Dodger fans on our way to our seats. Anyone who's worn team apparel into enemy turf knows that it's rarely pleasant. I've had food hurled at me and been greeted more times with "Cardinals suck!" than I can count. Which isn't to say that I've had it so bad. A Giants fan was killed in the parking lot last year.
The point is, it's always a comfort to see another red t-shirt in the sea of beach ball swatting morons. But it's especially comforting when that face is Billy Bob Thornton.
Whenever a celebrity is at the stadium, their face usually winds up on the jumbo tron. Somewhere around the 6th inning of Friday night's game, Billy Bob Thornton appeared on the screen wearing a St. Louis Cardinals cap. The image drew a chorus of boos.
Now folks, that takes balls - and let me tell you why. Nobody, except perhaps our assbag president, is as succeptible to heckling as celebrities. When your typical Dodger fan sees me at the game, all he's got to work with is "Cardinals suck" and maybe "Pujols sucks." But that's only if he's really clever.
Can you imagine the torrent of abuse that could be unleashed on Billy Bob Thornton? He was married to Angelina Jolie and he was in The Alamo. There's about an hour of material right there.
Billy Bob Thornton doesn't need to wear his Cardinals hat to the game. He could just sit quietly and smile and wave when they put him on the big TV. But Billy Bob knows that wearing your team's colors is the RIGHT THING TO DO.
Now compare Billy Bob to Tom Hanks. Sports Weekly reported that Hanks, who calls himself an A's fan and sold concessions at the stadium as a kid, led a Baltimore crowd in a chant of "O-R-I-O-L-E-S" at a recent game ... while they were playing the A's. Nice work, Tom. I'm sure the crowd all loves you and the team all loves you and America all loves you. But where is your heart, sir?
I think we should all resolve to be more like Billy Bob Thornton.
posted by Ben Godar at 11:36 AM
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