Camden Yards Jumbotron Undermines the Team

You know, I think those stupid cheers that get played on the jumbotron and PA system at Camden Yards are beyond lame. "LETS GO O's" has no poetry to it, and "O-eee-O" seems like its ripped off the Braves or something. That said, we could have used those lame cheers on Sunday afternoon as the Orioles were getting blown out 9-3 en route to a sweep by the Red Sox.

I went to the game with my wife, who, despite all her other wonderful qualities, is a Red Sox fan. But as far as Red Sox fans go, she is a good one. She sits quietly through the game, doesn't cheer much for her team, doesn't rub in in when the Orioles get blown out, and brings me snacks. I wish the other Red Sox fans would be so well behaved when they come to Oriole Park.

But no, I have to sit through nine innings of "Lets Go Red Sox" chanted in my ear over and over again, not to mention they way the stadium goes nuts whenever OUR team gets hit up for more runs. My only counter to this onslaught of cheering Massholes is to boo. And I hate having to boo, because then it seems like I'm booing the Orioles, when I am, in fact, booing the Massholes. And while I have been known to boo my own team on occasion, its not something I take lightly and its not something I like to do.

This is where the stupid cheers on the jumbotron should have stepped up. Late in the game, when the team is getting its ass handed to them and the stadium is 3/4 full of gleeful, drunken Red Sox fans, and those Orioles fans who remain are there out of some twisted sense of loyalty to the home - thats the time when the home team could really use some back up. When our guy is up at bat, and the Massholes are chanting "Lets Go Red Sox", would it have killed the jumbotron people to throw up the stupid "LET GO O's" cheer?

Well, not once durring the entire game did they play the "LETS GO O's". Red Sox cheers went unanswered, and our team on the field probably felt like they were in Fenway Park for all the crowd support they were able to muster.  

But the worst part was right before the 8th inning, when the jumbotron decided to show a highlight of the 1978 pennant fight between the Red Sox and the Yankees. They showed the Red Sox winning a game, and the Massholes went nuts.

That's BS. They've handed over the stadium to the Red Sox fans at the expense of the loyal locals. What they should have shown is a clip of some game with the Orioles beating up on the Red Sox, or a clip of Bill Buckner, or something that says "Hey Red Sox fans, this ain't Fenway South. Sit down and be quiet." Us beleaguered O's fans would have appreciated that. As would the team, I'm sure.

Anyway, its pretty pathetic that the Orioles have sold out their home team fans just to cash in some dollars from Massachusetts. Its no longer fun to be an Orioles fan at a Red Sox game - not just because of the losing - but because most of the stadium is rooting for the other team.

It just ain't right. I want my stadium back.