After watching "Catching Hell"...
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The guy that threw all the beer on him should be castrated with a chainsaw. Think about the restraint it took for Steve to just wipe it off and ignore it. The real criminal in all of this, to me, was always Alou. If he just taps his glove and walks back out to left, nobody thinks anything about it. Instead, he pitches a hissy and, well........you know the rest.
Those people acted like a bunch of psychos. Yeah Bartman was the reason they gave up 8 runs. Had absolutely nothing to do with the pitching staff melting down, and Gonzalez booting that double play ball to get them out of the inning
someone should never have to go into hiding because they tried to catch a foul ball. Everyone else around him was trying to do the same thing.
Just rewatched that clip, there were five people around him reaching for that ball just as much, including a couple kids. They should all thank their lucky stars that they are still anonymous, because they were just a few feet away from being 'steve bartman'. What if one of the kids had knocked it away instead? Would the police have to provide protection at the elementary school? Its a shame bartman catches so much heat for that.
Missed it, but remember it well. I think it's crappy the TV cameras and commentators focused on it so much. Newspapers, too; the media was as much to blame as anyone. I realize that stuff probably hadn't happened that much before then and I doubt they were expecting that kind of response(s), but at the same time.... my gosh. They surely didn't help matters any.
I think that stuff shows a lack of professionalism, honestly. Especially knowing Cubs fans believe they're cursed and are maniacal about their team (not always terrible, but in this case, obviously).
I think that stuff shows a lack of professionalism, honestly. Especially knowing Cubs fans believe they're cursed and are maniacal about their team (not always terrible, but in this case, obviously).
Wasn't it a kid at a Marlins game that caught a similar foul ball.... not sure on the team anymore. Same play, but not in Chicago in the playoffs. They made it a fairly big deal, but nobody just freaked out- it was a kid. And it wasn't in Chicago/Boston. <div>rynodawg said:
</div><div>Fans get caught up in the moment. Not all know the rules, and some that do surely aren't always thinking about that. Unfortunate, but it happens. But nobody should have to go through that kind of junk.</div>
I mean here is a guy that just went to the ballpark to support a team he had been a lifelong fan of and came away with his life ruined. Its just really hard to fathom that something like that could actually happen to someone. The guy essentially still has to keep his identity concealed.
.... said he went down there and tried to start something with Bartman, should be hit in the face with a shovel. What a piece of ****. He was smiling and proud of his actions after 8 years. Bartman should mess with him, now that he has his name.
I was glad to see, again, the prank call into Sportscenter by the Bartman impersonator. I was watching that morning and got a kick of Dan Patrick's reaction. Unfortunately, I had no DVR back then, so I couldn't tell what the guy said, but now I know.
Do you like Howard Stern's butt cheese?
I was glad to see, again, the prank call into Sportscenter by the Bartman impersonator. I was watching that morning and got a kick of Dan Patrick's reaction. Unfortunately, I had no DVR back then, so I couldn't tell what the guy said, but now I know.
Do you like Howard Stern's butt cheese?
Let's say a similar thing would have happened at Omaha with MSU. Let's say a fan would have streaked across the field during a game winning punt return in the SEC championship that would have vaulted us to the NC game.<div>If you were a State a fan within earshot of the incident, I bet most of you would have acted similarly.</div><div>I'm not condoning the venom spewed at Bartman, but don't act like you would have done much differently. I do feel bad for Bartman though.</div>
Yep, what those fans and the media did to Bartman is ridiculous. I don't have a favorite baseball team, but like the Red Sox (before ESPN decided to promote them relentlessly), I always sort of pulled for the Cubs to break their "curse". After that fiasco, I stopped pulling for the Cubs to break their streak; they deserve their "curse" for a while longer.
It's just a stupid game. In the end, how would anyone's life (outside of anyone coaching the team who would get raises) honestly change if MSU won a BCS Championship or CWS? Yeah, I'm a Cubs fan, and it would be awesome to end 103 years of frustration, but it really would change nothing. Nothing that matters anyway. As the film said, the fans went to a very, very dark place after that play. And for what? Why? To find something or someone to place the blameon for their sad existence that apparently hangs in the balance of a baseball team? It boiled down to nothing but bullying. The guy looked dorky and did something a bunch of losers could latch onto and somehowfind justification inacting like a bunch of a-holes.
Another thing in the film that was ridiculous was the shot of the banner some fans were holding in Fenway that said "We Forgive Bill Buckner." Really? You forgive him? For what exactly? He missed a ground ball. He did nothing to you personally. You're the ones that should be apologizing to him for forgetting what normal people act like.
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Another thing in the film that was ridiculous was the shot of the banner some fans were holding in Fenway that said "We Forgive Bill Buckner." Really? You forgive him? For what exactly? He missed a ground ball. He did nothing to you personally. You're the ones that should be apologizing to him for forgetting what normal people act like.
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Bartman has not handled it well. There was a great article on ESPN about the other guy that went for the ball, and he said if he had been the one to touch it, he would've gone a totally different direction than Bartman. He would've opened a themed restaurant called "Foul Ball", done commercials and totally embraced it. So the fact that Bartman is a total recluse is a decision that he has made.
Also, does any remember a late-80's, early 90's Mayor's Cup at Smith-Wills, when the kid picked up the live ball? We had runners on base and the Ole Miss pitcher threw a pickoff past the 1st baseman. I think we had a runner on 2nd who was rounding his way home when the ball rolled down by the right-field stands and a kid reached down and picked it up. The ump called it a dead ball and send the runner back to 3rd and no runs scored. We eventually lost the game and that missed run loomed large. I remember the kid was a State fan and he started crying.
Also, does any remember a late-80's, early 90's Mayor's Cup at Smith-Wills, when the kid picked up the live ball? We had runners on base and the Ole Miss pitcher threw a pickoff past the 1st baseman. I think we had a runner on 2nd who was rounding his way home when the ball rolled down by the right-field stands and a kid reached down and picked it up. The ump called it a dead ball and send the runner back to 3rd and no runs scored. We eventually lost the game and that missed run loomed large. I remember the kid was a State fan and he started crying.
People actually wanted to kill the guy and he should have opened a theme restaurant? 40,000 people chanted "a-hole" at him, and he should have embraced it and made a buck off it?
And don't even try to say that he made a decision to become a recluse. He was forced into that buy a bunch of ignorant pricks.
And don't even try to say that he made a decision to become a recluse. He was forced into that buy a bunch of ignorant pricks.
to a bunch of fans trying to catch a foul ball at a baseball game? Anybody that streaks across a football field is an idiot. Anybody that tries to catch a foul ball is normal.
has made it infinetly worse by trying to hide from it. He has turned down hundreds of thousands of dollars and still to this day is one of the most hated people in Chicago. If he embracces it and talks to the mediaetc...this would have beensquashed a long time ago.If you'regoing to be hated by the city of Chicago you might as well become rich off it. He's stupid for not acting on his more than 15 minutes. I'd trade places with him anyday. Make millions than move to Miami and become the biggestMarlins fan ever. Hell he could make millions in Chicago and thenmove to Florida and make millions more there. He is an idiot for notseizing the opportunity presented to him.Seshomoru said:
watching that documentary last night. Those "fans" nauseated me. Mob mentality at its worst. Bartman is saintly in his stance of not making one dime off this. He has turned down a fortune and can look himself in the mirror. He is the true fan in all of this.
It's admirable that he hasn't sought fame or money, yes. Bill Simmons made a great point and said that he is really the greatest Cubs fan in that he knows what type of negative emotions he would conjure in Cubs fans by appearing publicly. Would it have been good for him personally to give an interview for a documentary eight years later? Maybe not. But I don't think he's under risk of death or physical injury. Nor do I think he's been under risk of serious injury since at least a year after the incident. There is no threat that keeps him in hiding; that is his choice.
however you wanna call it I think he should try to make the best of it. The guy that actually picked up the ball made $100,000 just for having the ball. Bartman would make 100X that if he'd stop feeling sorry for himself. The Florida Marlins won the World Series that year. He'd be a hero in that state. Why choose to continue the hate when all he has to do is move to Miami and be embraced by an entire fanbase as a hero? Sorry I don't feel bad for Bartman. He's an idiot in my eyes.
One day I came home and saw this box sitting on top of the tv. When I turned it on I found this channel going by the name WGN. And low and behold, they had baseball on that afternoon... and every afternoon from then on.
So every day after school (until Octoer) I'd watch the Cubs and listen to some guy with big glasses and slurred speech. Learned the names and batting averages of every player. Santa brought me a fitted blue hat with a C on it. Hell I even whined enough that a couple of summers later my dad drove my *** all the way to Chicago to go to 2 games.
30 years later Cubs fans have made me hate the franchise because of the Bartman thing. I now view Cub Fan no different than Raider Fan. And I want no part of it.
So every day after school (until Octoer) I'd watch the Cubs and listen to some guy with big glasses and slurred speech. Learned the names and batting averages of every player. Santa brought me a fitted blue hat with a C on it. Hell I even whined enough that a couple of summers later my dad drove my *** all the way to Chicago to go to 2 games.
30 years later Cubs fans have made me hate the franchise because of the Bartman thing. I now view Cub Fan no different than Raider Fan. And I want no part of it.
to interfere in football as a fan you would have to get your *** over the wall, past the sideline and intentionally run on to the field and disrupt a play. in baseball the play comes to you. there is no separation of field and fan in baseball. to say they are equivalent is stupid as ****.
What I am saying is that if a State fan screwed us in a clutch situation,chancesare, you'd be pissed like those Cubs fans. <div>Some people are making it out like this would only happen in Chicago and never in Starkville. The reaction to Bartman would have been echoed in any "hard luck" sports town.<div>Sorry Icouldn'tcome up with a better example in football.</div> </div>
because to you, money and fame are the number one priorities. Clearly, Steve's priorities do not lie in money. Perhaps they lie in character, humility, privacy, whatever. And for that, you call him an idiot.
it's a hell of a lot easier to be pissed at some dumbass streaking on the field during the game winning TD than it is to be pissed at a guy in the first row of a baseball stadium touching a foul ball that would have landed within a foot of him with a decent chance the OF wouldn't have even gotten tot he ball anyway.<div>
</div><div>there's just absolutely not comparison. a streaker makes a conscious decision to be a dumbass. bartman had a second or 2 of a ball coming at him to stick his hands up instead of just sitting there and letting the ball possible hit him or bounce off the rail and hit him. completely different situations and elements and mindsets involved.</div>
</div><div>there's just absolutely not comparison. a streaker makes a conscious decision to be a dumbass. bartman had a second or 2 of a ball coming at him to stick his hands up instead of just sitting there and letting the ball possible hit him or bounce off the rail and hit him. completely different situations and elements and mindsets involved.</div>
There isn't?Coolbone said:
It only took21 years andtwo World Series Championships for Buckner to even get close to Boston. So sure, after 40,000 people called you an a-hole and you had to be snuck out of aStadium it should all be fine. There's probably not a single soul in Chicago that would kick his ***, or find where he lives and do something to his house. None at all.
We live in a world where people getbeaten to within an inch of their life leaving a baseball stadiumbecausethey are fans of another team. Where people poison trees because it means something to another fan base.Where cars get keyed, property gets defaced, and people say things to each other (andto their own fans, coaches, and players) thatdon't exactly follow the golden rule.So yeah, Bartman is choosing to stay in hiding, but it's not for lack of a good reason. There are stupid, stupid people out there, and theydon't carehow long it's been. And moving to Florida or St. Louis isn't the answer. There areCubs fans and idiots in every city in America. Oh yeah, and idiots can get in cars and planes and travel as well.
The truth is that no one knows what the best course of action is after being called an a-holepublicly by 40,000 people and having your life threatened over a stupid game. More power to Bartman for whatever he chooses to do with the rest of his life, because a bunch of idiotscrushed the one he had.
is coming almost right at you your eyes are going to be on the ball not on where a fielder may be. Also, Alou was running up to try and catch the ball down below where Bartman's view was blocked by the brick wall. I don't think Bartman had a clue that Moises Alou was even around to try to make a play on the ball until he jumped for the catch at the last second. By then it was too late.
I don't know you, DAWG61, but I can't fathom how you come to the conclusion that he's feeling sorry for himself and thus is an idiot. Did you see/hear the reaction of those fans? This guy sat stone still while some rotten bag of rectal seepage threw an entire beer on him. 40,000 people were calling him a vulgar name in unison. The franchise that he revered since childhood and it's fans, both present and watching, burned his image into their minds as FOX looped the play over and over and over and over........ His response, to me, is one of the single most admirable acts I've ever seen in my life. The guy wanted a freakin foul ball.....along with everybody else within arm's reach.DAWG61 said:
the guy just wants to be left alone? <div>Coolbone said:
</div><div>How do you know what he's at risk for? You have no idea what he's been through, and probably still goes through. He won't say- obviously, all the money in the world isn't worth it to him.</div><div>
</div><div>And who are you to tell him how he should process that experience? Would you tell someone how to handle someone's death? No. We all handle that stuff differently. And that's fine. He doesn't want the attention and never did.</div><div>
</div><div>Personally, I think he handled that night with a WHOLE lot more dignity than I would have.</div>