I love homers..

Before the invention of the satellite dish I never knew what a "homer" meant. A "homer" could be short for a home run in baseball but today I am using the colloquial meaning of the word. A "homer" is someone who roots for his/her team so blindly and blatantly that it makes you nauseated just listening to them. The interesting part of the is rant to me is how every city has a "homer" but New York. When you listen to the White Sox announcer Ken Harrelson he does not hide who he roots for. He refers to the opposing team as the bad guys and the White Sox as the good guys. He is complimentary to opponents which allows me to listen to him but he does not do the same home run call for visiting players. He may say the same phrase every once in a while but he will not do it with any enthusiasm. It actually sounds like he is at a funeral if the White Sox lose. Contrast that with Gary Cohen who is the voice of the Mets and he seems to give the opponent and Met player the same courtesy. So does Micheal Kay from the Yankees. They speak glowingly of the opponents and don't have a problem interviewing them before or after the games. If you listen to a Red Sox, Patriot, or Celtic announcer you not only hear their passion for their teams but you all feel the pain when something does not go right. Johnny Most, Tommy Heihnson would go way over the top in the calls of the Celtic games. Tommy is great though. He does not hold his tongue for nobody. The late great Johnny Most was the same way. Chick Hearn was that way for the Lakers too. The interesting thing is that Vin Scully is not that way with the Dodgers. He bleeds Dodger blue don't get me wrong but he treats the opposing team with the same respect. He is a New Yorker after all. Johnny Most is from New york too which I find surprising that he became a such a homer for the Celtics.I remember during the Bonds home run chase, him calling several Bonds home runs and being impressed that he did the calls pretty enthusiastically.
There is nothing wrong with a "homer". I think that if you bleed a certain color then bleed it baby. What I don't like are people who are fans of teams from several different states in different sports. For example. Half of my friends are Dallas Cowboy fans, but like the Lakers in basketball and the Yankees in baseball. I have a friend here in L.A. who is a Cowboy fan, Yankee and Celtic fan. What the heck is that? How can you be a fan of Yankees and Celtics? Now I know why half the country is Cowboy fans. They have been forced down our throats since 1974 and the Thanksgiving Day Games and they were always on television when I was a kid. The Raiders were on a lot too, but the style they played forced them off of the mainstream t.v. Detroit is always on Thanksgiving day too but since they haven't been consistently good, very few fans outside of Michigan care.
Now the reason for the rant today is Mack Brown of the University of Texas. A few years ago, Urban Meyer did a press conference and was asked several questions about the B.C.S. title game and he answered by saying that an S.E.C. team will be in the game, I guarantee it. He was right and Florida beat Ohio St. in the big game. Then the next year, L.S.U. did the same thing. Mack Brown is so pro University of Texas, that i want to get him a tissue every time he is on the air. He has been interviewed by ESPN every week since the season has started. He talks only about his team and even if they win by a fluke play and someone else loses by a bad call or fluke he only talks about Texas. He wont comment about any other team no matter how many times he is asked. He reminds me of George Bush. He talks like and even looks like him. He is funny. He is a walking sound bite about his team. He does not even talk about preparing hi players for life, or for the NFL. He wants that championship. He beat USC in 2005 and wants to end Tim Tebows' legacy in Florida. And you know what, I love IT!!!
I wish more coaches would come out and say that their program is the best in the world and if you don't like it tough. I would love for Pete Carroll or Urban Meyer to stand at the podium and say we are better than you and we expect to be playing for it all at the end. I am still waiting for Mack Brown to say "don't mess with Texas". I will wet my pants if he does it. By the way the worse "homer" fans in the world are from the lovely state of Massachusetts. They will literally fight you over their teams. It does not matter what sport either. They know everything about their players. Remember that movie Celtic Pride? that was no embellishment... I have never seen anything like them.