A vicious debate is underway in Denver.
It is about a plural pronoun, but it’s also about Rocktober (!).
More specifically it is about the insistence of many fans to use “we” rather than “they” when it comes to the newly beloved Rockies.
A case in point: You’ll often hear, “We are going to the World Series” or “We played some great defense last night.”
If “we” didn’t play and “we” don’t own the team and “we” only watch games when the team is going to the World Series, is it still appropriate to use the word “we”?
KHOW morning radio host Peter Boyles kicked off this controversial discussion on his radio show, and a great many fans took umbrage with his pooh-poohing of the collective description of the Colorado Rockies community.
Though a huge sports fan, I shy away from the “we” description. And since I haven’t been a Rockies fan through the lows, jumping on a bandwagon now feels a little like cheating.
Around here though, few – longtime, short-time, no-time – fans have any compunction about using “we.”
So what?
“I’ve always thought that it was silly,” Boyles tells me. “It was first triggered when the Avalanche came to town years ago. I remember watching the television after they won the Stanley Cup, and there was this 20-year-old drunk kid yelling, ‘We’ve won the cup! We’ve waited for this for a lifetime.’ What are you talking about? We haven’t done anything. They just got here.”
There are those who point out “we” paid for the Rockies stadium. True, to some extent. Or perhaps the fan can point to the fact that “we” pay their salaries. Again, decent point. Then again, we don’t refer to the police or mail carriers as “we.”
What surprised Boyles, he says, was the anger.
Boyles claims that apart from the John Mark Karr/JonBenét fiasco last year, this “we” debate has generated the most volume of angry e-mail he can remember. Somewhere in the area of 480 irate e-mails came his way in one day.
Boyles should not have been surprised. Sports is serious business in this country. But do we, fans, take sports too seriously? Or more seriously than players?
Boyles relates an episode in which he went to a Broncos-Steelers game in Pittsburgh years ago. “These guys on the Broncos were pummeled, and they were laughing coming home on the plane. The people in Denver were ready to jump out of buildings,” Boyles says.
As a Yankees fan, my season ended rather ignominiously – again. A relatively mild depression hovered over me until I read about a Yankees star player and an alleged tryst with two stripper types at a South Beach penthouse. Allegedly, this player wasn’t wallowing in the type of dissatisfaction I expected.
Where’s the “we” now?
Boyles’ take, writes Michael Roberts, media critic for Westword, is often “calculated to outrage.” And business is business.
But Boyles tells me he truly views this whole thing as tribalism. When else do we wear the uniforms of strangers or paint our faces like clannish warriors. “It’s a religion and Coors Field is like the holy shrine,” he says.
Once a large group is invested emotionally, they instinctively become part of a “we.” (Though it must be pointed out that you rarely ever hear fans say, “Man, we’re just awful.” Or “We can’t pitch.” “We” can become “they” in quick order.)
Winning can bring us together. I’m not one to be squishy, but there is nothing quite like sport in this regard.
I mean, have you ever hugged – and by hug I mean a demonstratively hearty embrace – a complete stranger? I have. At a ballgame. Have you seen a grown men tear up after a no-good %&@*#! closer blows Game 7 of a World Series? I have. Do you remember the lineup of every team you loved in your youth, down to the last player on the bench, but occasionally confuse your kid’s names?
Well …
Men have wives and girlfriends to save us from this decline into absurdity. Still, occasionally it’s nice when we can all pull in the same direction for a short time.
As poet Sharon Olds told “This Sporting Life” 20 years ago, “Baseball is reassuring. It makes me feel as if the world is not going to blow up.”
As long as Manny Corpas doesn’t blow up, all will be well.
David Harsanyi’s column appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Reach him at 303-954-1255 or dharsanyi@denverpost.com.
