Dictator Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 wilbon is the journalistic equivalent of jesse jackson or al sharpton. as far as DC being a 'front running' town, i would respond 'no less than any other town'. how many towns show up when the team is losing? Bingo. Where were all the Phillies fans a decade ago (http://espn.go.com/mlb/attendance/_/year/2001) 24th in MLB? Where are the 76ers fans now? (http://espn.go.com/nba/attendance/_/year/2011) <<25th in the league 2010-2011. Back in 2004, the Celtics were the 24th team in the league in attendance. But noooo...Boston is such a great sports town. Right? People in LA don't go to Lakers games to watch ball. They go to see and be seen. Winning cures everything in sports. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan T. Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 only reason why we support the redskins after 20 years is because of the superbowls. if this team doesn't win any or have gibbs in the 80s, there would be 0 fans Tell that to the fans who packed DC (renamed RFK) Stadium week after week in the 60s to watch Sonny Jurgensen and Co. lose football games. Before Vince Lombardi arrived in 1969, the Redskins were bad. Very bad. Exciting to watch offensively with Sonny, Charley Taylor, Bobby Mitchell, Jerry Smith, et. al.... but bad because of no running game and no defense. Their playoff appearance in 1971 under George Allen was the first sniff of the postseason since the end of World War II. Think about that... 26 years of futility. Yet fans packed DC/RFK Stadium. Support like that, in the face of decades-long failure, DEFINES what a sports town is. And as Redskins fans we can all be proud of the fact that in the face of similar futility in recent years, support for the team stays strong. Wilbon's mildly condescending tone toward this town's sports scene grew old long ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pjfootballer Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 only reason why we support the redskins after 20 years is because of the superbowls. if this team doesn't win any or have gibbs in the 80s, there would be 0 fans Bull-Spit. This town has always supported the Redskins. I was there every Sunday as a little boy in the late 70s watching the games with my mom on TV. A team doesn't survive in a city for 75 years without support. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clutch03 Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 I don't know what makes me more upset. What Wilbon said or that some of you defend it. From what I understand for the piece that was written in ESPN magazine the contributors were able to speak about anything regarding DC sports. So the first thing Wilbon decided to do was list all of the cities that are better sports towns than DC? Really? For a city that helped get me where I'm at today the first words out of my mouth would be how supportive they've been to me. It would be an opportunity for him to shine a light nationally on a city that very often gets misunderstood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birdlives Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 I don't care how long Wilbon lived here, he doesn't know this city, or have an objective view of it's population and their passions. Wilbon's POV is that of a transplant who knows his own street corner and his commute and that's about it. To pretend that Wilbon is an authority of D.C. is absurd to begin with. He should have been talking about Chicago, not D.C. He doesn't really know D.C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 I've defended Wilbon many times over the years. I don't think I'm going to today. That was not cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattFancy Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 Looks like Deadspin just ripped him a new lol http://deadspin.com/5949239/michael-wilbon-is-a-gutless-star****ing-crybaby-troll Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EersSkins05 Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 His tough-guy schtick got old a long, long, LONG time ago. The best days on PTI are when Kornheiser is there and Wilbon is not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AsiaticSkinsFan Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 People in LA don't go to Lakers games to watch ball. They go to see and be seen. I agree with everything else, but you are wrong here. the celebs do, but they have some very passionate fans in Lakers fans. They are just priced out of getting on camera. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destino Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 He's getting killed by coworkers at ESPN, writers at the post, sports talk radio, social media, and now random sites like Deadspin. I hope Tony K jumps on the band wagon and kills him for it on pardon the interruption while giving him a big troll smile the entire time. ---------- Post added October-5th-2012 at 12:14 PM ---------- Looks like Deadspin just ripped him a new lol http://deadspin.com/5949239/michael-wilbon-is-a-gutless-star****ing-crybaby-troll That was great. Wilbon just won't put down the shovel will he? Though Chicago guys are just so tough! lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DjTj Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 Wilbon has gone way too far off the deep end on this one. He should have backed off on his "terrible" statement without taking shots at Weinstein and Steinberg, and he definitely shouldn't have doubled down on his attacks. This is spiraling out of control now. Anyways, I'll accept that DC is not as great of a sports town as New York, Philly, Boston, or Chicago because other than the Redskins, we have expansion/relocated teams in the major sports. The Bullets and Capitals didn't arrive until the 70s, and the Nationals have only been here for ten years. I'll put Redskins fanhood up against any major team in the country, but we don't have deep roots in all of the other sports like they do in other cities. I'll fight for DC over LA though. The Lakers in LA are like the Redskins in DC. Everyone is a fan, and there are die-hards among them - Laker flags fly like Redskins flags. But LA can't hold on to an NFL team, the support for the Dodgers is only mediocre, and the Kings have a worse bandwagon than the Capitals. USC and UCLA are bigger than pro teams in the same way that Maryland and Georgetown can be bigger than pro teams here. People show up to every game late as they are stuck in traffic in SoCal. There is no way that LA is a better sports town than DC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warhead36 Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 Bingo. Where were all the Phillies fans a decade ago (http://espn.go.com/mlb/attendance/_/year/2001) 24th in MLB? Where are the 76ers fans now? (http://espn.go.com/nba/attendance/_/year/2011) <<25th in the league 2010-2011. Back in 2004, the Celtics were the 24th team in the league in attendance. But noooo...Boston is such a great sports town. Right? People in LA don't go to Lakers games to watch ball. They go to see and be seen. Winning cures everything in sports. That's a great point. The fact is, our franchises just haven't been very successful in history. The Redskins are the one team that's had sustained success, so no shocker they've been able to build and maintain a fan base. Nobody went to Bullets/Wizards games, but I remember that home playoff game in 05 against the Bulls and the Phone Booth was absolutely rocking. Same with when the Caps finally made it back to the playoffs. And I bet you anything Nats Park is gonna be absolutely rocking this week when we play some NLDS games there. I think the next few years you're gonna see D.C. shoot way up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destino Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 I agree with everything else, but you are wrong here.http://www.extremeskins.com/# the celebs do, but they have some very passionate fans in Lakers fans. They are just priced out of getting on camera. I agree with you. It just seems that they are harder to see behind the legions of "fans" they share with the Yankees and, of course, the celebrities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dictator Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 I agree with everything else, but you are wrong here.the celebs do, but they have some very passionate fans in Lakers fans. They are just priced out of getting on camera. I don't doubt for a second there are tons of die-hard lakers fans. But much like at fedex field on a sunday, a large number of people are there for more than a sporting event. Frankly, I won't piss on LA. There is a crapload of other things to do than focus on sports. What is there to do in Detroit in February? however, I wil knock LA down a few notches for losing two NFL teams in a decade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattFancy Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 And Wilbon apologizes again: http://www.thebiglead.com/index.php/2012/10/05/mike-wilbon-apologizes-concedes-defeat-that-washington-dc-isnt-the-worst-sports-town/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artmonkforHOF Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 I am missing the point. what does it matter if someone has the opinion that you have a great or not so great sports town? how does that affect anything in your daily lives? If Washington is not a great sports town, do your taxes go up? Or do you get free parking at FedEx if it is considered a great sports town? What is a great sports town anyways? what does a great sports town have that Wilbon claims DC doesnt have that makes people so upset? Rather pointless, if you hate Wilbon then I guess you come here to vent, hope that makes you feel better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrypticVillain Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 I am missing the point. what does it matter if someone has the opinion that you have a great or not so great sports town? how does that affect anything in your daily lives? If Washington is not a great sports town, do your taxes go up? Or do you get free parking at FedEx if it is considered a great sports town?What is a great sports town anyways? what does a great sports town have that Wilbon claims DC doesnt have that makes people so upset? Rather pointless, if you hate Wilbon then I guess you come here to vent, hope that makes you feel better. It's all about respect. What he said was blatantly disrespectful. We all are having a good time and he pissed in all of our cornflakes... What makes it worst is that he has always bagged on us and WE MADE HIM!!! You're right, it doesn't matter when it all boils down to it. If some trashes something you care for, you are going to back it up. But I am waiting for the answer of what makes a great sports town? I don't know. I only know DC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grego Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 i took a few minutes to look up attendance figures for chicagos football, baseball and basketball teams over the past 10 years or so. in the mid 2000's the bears were actually one of the lowest drawing teams as a percentage of max capacity, despite soldier field being remodeled in 03. the bulls and the cubs and white sox are up and down as well. guess it all depends on how you define 'great sports city', but if attendance is any measure, chicago is every bit the bandwagoning town DC is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dictator Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 Tickets to sporting events are so expensive now, you must have a constant winner to make the price worth it. back in the 90s I went to caps game fro $12. A caps PLAYOFF game. You can't get tickets to a regular season game less than $83 according to ticketmaster. Gone are the days of just going to a game. Give this town, hell, give any town a constant winner, they will be supported. I'd argue KC is a better sports town than Chicago. They can still manage to get fans to show up for Royals games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedskinsNation Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 Let me preface this by saying I DESPISE WILBON. Period. I am a 2nd generational Skins season ticket holder since 1994 and a partial Nats season ticket holder and lifelong DC resident but I will say this....I think I agree with him. If you say DC is a good sports town because a lot of people here follow sports in general then yea sure its great. If you say its good because people of DC/DC area are really into the HOME TOWN TEAMS then no, its a joke of a sports town. Being a Caps, Skins, Wiz and Nats fan would be the norm if this were Philly, Pittsburgh, Boston etc..... But I am in the minority in following all of the local teams. I'd say for every 1 of me there are 3 people who will be Caps yet Cowboys fans...Skins yet Yankees fans.....Nats yet Lakers fans.....etc....you get my drift. Perhaps all the losing by most every team recently has just killed the passion, and it is what it is....but whatever the reason....I am fine with what Wilbon said even though he died to me the day he crapped on Sean Taylor after he was murdered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattFancy Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 Tickets to sporting events are so expensive now, you must have a constant winner to make the price worth it. back in the 90s I went to caps game fro $12. A caps PLAYOFF game. You can't get tickets to a regular season game less than $83 according to ticketmaster. Gone are the days of just going to a game. Good point. I mean you have to plan out in advance to go to games anymore. For a family of 4 to see a game anymore, its almost the price of a small vacation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dictator Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 Good point. I mean you have to plan out in advance to go to games anymore. For a family of 4 to see a game anymore, its almost the price of a small vacation. I looked at taking my family, wife and 2 girls to an O's game. $70 at least for tickets after service charges, plus roughly $15-20 parking. Plus food, beer to keep me in good spirits, some kind of souvineer for a kid. I just couldn't justify it. I chose instead to take them to see the Aberdeen Ironbirds and spent 1/4 of the money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattFancy Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 I looked at taking my family, wife and 2 girls to an O's game. $70 at least for tickets after service charges, plus roughly $15-20 parking. Plus food, beer to keep me in good spirits, some kind of souvineer for a kid. I just couldn't justify it. I chose instead to take them to see the Aberdeen Ironbirds and spent 1/4 of the money. Seriously, next time you want to go to a game let me know. My wife and I go to games for $20 plus $8 to park in between OPACY and M&T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dictator Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 Seriously, next time you want to go to a game let me know. My wife and I go to games for $20 plus $8 to park in between OPACY and M&T. I will. Next time I go, I'm taking light rail though. I use it for the first time to go to the liverpool/tottenham soccer match in july. quick and easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattFancy Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 I will. Next time I go, I'm taking light rail though. I use it for the first time to go to the liverpool/tottenham soccer match in july. quick and easy. Yeah lightrail isn't bad. Just don't use it on a Friday when its all college kids. You'll be backed like sardines in there. Most of the time, at least until they started getting good, you could just by the LF Upper Reserve seats and just sit wherever. That's what I did all year. Much cheaper and especially with kids, the ushers will make sure you get good views and won't hassle you for not seating in your seats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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