I’ll admit, when reported attendance numbers are below 15,000 at Tropicana Field, I feel kinda guilty. I feel guilty because I think I could make a difference. It’s the same guilt I feel during an election when there is a candidate I support but I don’t bother to get out and vote. And then that candidate doesn’t win. Was it because of me? Or was it because of hundreds of other people like me who figured someone else would carry the burden of voting?

Read the rest here: The Guilt of Not Going

Also check out pics of a recent meeting of baseball-minded twitter-posting folks at Tropicana Field over at FifthWorldArt.com. That included me, of course. I even made a cameo on the Rays television broadcast.

Sorry about that.

Anyway, perhaps you noticed a bit of change around here. This and all the other blog posts are under the illustrious heading of “blog” on the top of the site. That is because as I am now tying this website into my professional networking sites, I want to give visitors a static home page in which to read a little about me and what this site is all about.

Now without further ado, throughout this week I want to share a few of the things I’ve been reading. The links in each days post are hard-working and will serve you well.

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I have been a fan of the work of Professor Henry Jenkins for a few years now, after reading his work in the book Steel Chair to the Head, an academic look at professional wrestling. Over the last few weeks, Prof. Jenkins has surveyed several other academics who study fandom and the phenomenon of following or rooting along with certain outlets.

In his latest entry, Jenkins posted the essays of Profs. Christine Bacareza Balance, Jack Halberstam, and Sarah Banet-Weiser.

I was particularly interested in this quote by Halberstam:

Fandom is full of jeopardy and heartbreak, it is a jagged experience that confirms you and shatters you and often in the same location. It summons a sense of community but also calls forth snobbish and elitist modes of differentiation

I think people like being among people who share their own tastes, but hate when the things they are passionate about become too mainstream. Or if they do become/are mainstream, people tend to attach a unique meaning to the popular thing.

“I root for the Yankees because they were the team my dad rooted for.”

We like thinking we are unique, that we have original thought. Especially in regards to the things we are “fanatical” about – music, art, books, restaurants, a certain afro-clad blogger – we don’t want them to be used and abused by the mainstream, where they become as common as q-tips. We want our community to be small and supportive. We want to tell the art form or business, “don’t worry, we will support you”.

And when the thing we are passionate about grows beyond us, we are disappointed, and we say they “sold-out”. In reality, the fault lies in the fan, who places a bet on the intentions of the performer. Some performers don’t mind keeping their work an art and keeping it local for their small community of fans. Others want to make their work a business and don’t mind incorporating it into the greater media machine.

That’s why I like street performers. They are the hungriest (literally) of all performers, playing their hearts out to make a few bucks. They usually stay in or around the same spot, so their schedule is predictable. They play all day, adding the color of music to a usually urban landscape. And they usually have little chance of being signed to a music deal.

They are a music elitist’s dream.

Halberstam also is absolutely correct in her statement that fandom is differentiating. Of course people will think what they found is the best in the world. It gains value by being from their perspective.

Like this blog for example. I think it is the best in the world. I’m not sure I have any super diehard fans, but if I did, they might think this blog is the greatest site ever.

I like those people. I am going to buy them a cookie.

I hope they like the white macadamia nut cookies at Subway, because I am a fan of those and that is what they are getting.

I forgot to post this earlier, and for certain reasons (the retirement of Manny Ramirez) I feel bad about posting this now. But ’tis tradition around these parts to talk to the Cowbell Kid at the beginning of every Rays season. So here is this year’s interview.

Jordi: It’s that time of year again. Hey Cowbell Kid, are you getting excited about Rays baseball? What about the other Fans of the Cowbell Kid?

Cowbell Kid: I am getting very excited about Rays baseball! I can’t help but feel like this team is going to surprise those who were ridiculing the organization for slashing payroll and making the off-season decision that they have made. I for one think that Manny Ramirez is going to be a huge part of the Rays success this year, BJ Upton is going to put up career numbers as well. team will win at least the wild card and if Boston implodes like I feel its going to, we will win the division because the Yankees are going to be a non-factor this year!

Jordi: Hey Cowbell Kid, what about Kyle Farnsworth? He seems like a character. What do you think of the pitching?

Cowbell Kid: He looks like a character and has very dominant thus far in Spring Training. But I expect Jake McGee to emerge as the closer not too far into the season. I am however concerned about WD-40; Price, Shields, and Neimann will be amazing that’s for sure!

Jordi: Hey Cowbell Kid, I heard you just found out you were in The Extra 2% book. Have you read it yet? Thoughts on the fact that you are mentioned in a national best-seller?

Cowbell Kid: I haven’t read it yet, but it seems to me that they should have mentioned every single hardcore Rays fan, I am only 1 man but the Trop (contrary to what some say) has a legion of Rays fans that actually deserve to be mentioned more than I do! That being said it won’t change how I live my life ;)

Jordi: Hey Cowbell Kid, have you had a chance to meet Manny Ramirez yet? Will you be braiding your hair to look like his?

Cowbell Kid: Planet Manny has not yet collided with Planet Cowbell, but when it does, I would like you to be there with a video camera. That being said I am very excited to have Mr. Manny as a part of the Rays, also I have a light blue jersey sporting his name/number & acquired some giant blue dreadlocks in his honor. I whole-heartedly believe Manny is going to have a career year with the Rays & when he does I would like to extend an invitation to him personally & am hoping to have him over for cake & ice cream at some point during the season. I figure if there’s going to be a circus in town, I may as well be a part of it!

Jordi: Hey Cowbell Kid, will you boo or cheer Carl Crawford when his makes his return in a Boston Red Sox jersey?

Cowbell Kid: I will do neither, Thanks for the memories Carl, but your the past bro, and I hope he does well personally but hope his team implodes. I won’t even think twice about him unless he pays me to do so!

(Ok, I’ll admit, we took one and didn’t think it came out well, so we took a second. And to be perfectly honest, I didn’t mind.)

Anyway, she is one of the final contestants for the 2010 Maxim Hometown Hottie Contest. Since I didn’t have a favorite before, Ashley Ann is now who I am going to vote for.

So here is a lesson for all of you folks aspiring to bigger and better things, if you are running for anything – mayor, congress, president of your class – take a picture with me and I will vote for you.

I’m simple like that.

Hailing from the Bronx, Lou is one of the many New Yorkers who have moved to the Tampa Bay area and brought with them their love of baseball. As much of an old-time baseball fan as a fan of the modern game, Lou and I have talked about some of the greatest pitchers to ever play the game, from Bob Feller and Whitey Ford to Roy Halladay and Felix Hernandez. Since he started going to baseball games in 1944, there isn’t much Lou hasn’t seen in person.

Before Friday night, however, he had never witnessed a no-hitter.

Then Edwin Jackson happened.

I remember talking with Lou about Edwin Jackson in 2008. Back then, Jackson, the mercurial fireballer with a golden right arm, was the Rays fifth starter. He was also an enigma wrapped in a puzzle tucked in a quagmire and soaked in a dilemma. We all saw he had talent – the ability to throw 100 mph, an arm durable enough to go late into games, and pitches that made major league hitters look foolish. We just didn’t know why Jackson couldn’t put it all together consistently. Cork Gaines of Rays Index even compared him to “Nuke Laloosh”, Tim Robbins’ notoriously flaky character in Bull Durham.

On Friday night, Edwin Jackson put it all together.

After the game, the baseball blogosphere and Twitterverse spun like a whirling dervish over the fact that Jackson threw a whopping 149 pitches in no-hitting the Rays. In the era of pitch counts and 100-pitch limits, Jackson’s performance deferred from the mean in a drastic way. An article posted after the no-hitter on Baseball-Reference.com stated Jackson threw more pitches than other pitcher in a no-hit game. As the night progressed, analysts, prognosticators, sooth-seers, forecasters, and others all expressed their opinion.

According to baseball analyst Joe Sheehan’s twitter feed, “No-hitter aside, there’s no way it makes sense to protect a one-run lead in the ninth with a guy approaching 150 pitches.”

Fellow analyst Rany Jazayerli countered Sheehan’s statement with a tweet of his own, “If Jackson played for 29 of 30 teams, you’d have a point. In ARZ, a tired Jackson might still be better than anyone in the pen.” and “In a season where the previous high pitch count was 132, there’s no way to justify 149. But it’s still pretty cool.”

ESPN writer and renowned baseball scribe Rob Neyer wrote that Arizona manager A.J. Hinch “didn’t throw caution to the wind. He grabbed caution by the neck, spit in its face, and then he strangled it.”

The bottom line however, is that Edwin Jackson made history.

Over at Bus Leagues Baseball, blog e-migo and longtime baseball fan Brian Moynahan has written about a “Baseball Bucket List“, a list of game actions and events he would like to see in person. Brian listed things like a triple play, a player hitting for the cycle, and an inside-the-park home run as the things he would like to see.

I don’t know if my friend Lou has a Baseball Bucket List. Maybe he does or maybe he came to the realization that no matter how many games he went to he would never everything baseball had to offer. Maybe he was okay with that and vowed not to be disappointed when his baseball watching days ended. Maybe he resigned to the fact that despite seeing dozens of hall of famers, numerous pennant races, and a bunch of World Series games, he would never see a no-hitter.

Then Edwin Jackson got Jason Bartlett to ground out to shortstop Stephen Drew for the final out of the 267th no-hitter in major league history.

After the game, I knew I had to find Lou and get his reaction. After a game like that, I couldn’t wait until the next time I visited the Trop to talk baseball with him. When I finally found him, Lou was overjoyed, and mentioned a few of the great arms of yesteryear – the Allie Reynoldses and Bob Lemons – and how he never saw them throw a no-hitter. But after 66 years seeing baseball (by comparison, even the oldest Met fan has only waited 48 years), it was Edwin Jackson who finally gave Lou something he had never seen.

A no-hitter.

History.

It seems athletes of today are bigger, stronger, and one might even say better, than those who played professional sports years ago.  If this is true, then why do today’s fans not share a love for their favorite sports team as deep as fans of the past?  Perhaps the answer is that those involved in the business of professional sports have caused today’s fans to become angered and disgruntled.

One of the reasons of this anger is the high cost of attendance to sporting events.  Many fans cannot afford to spend a lot of money for tickets.  If the fans do purchase tickets, they know they will be paying outrageous concession prices.  For example, a soda could cost the fan between $1.50 and $3.00, a hot dog $1.75, and a team yearbook $5.00.  If the fan decides to bring his or her family, the cost could easily surpass $100.  As a result, fewer fans attend professional sports contests.

Even the athletes who play the sports have a profound effect on sports fans.  Professional athletes have always earned more money than ordinary citizens.  In the 1920-1930s professional baseball players made about ten times more money than the common citizen.  In the 1990s that number has increased to about fifty to a hundred times more.  This has caused resentment, even jealousy, towards the athletes.  Fans believe players should perform up to the value in which they are being paid.  When players do not perform up to expectations, they are mercilessly booed and jeered.

Many professional athletes’ attitudes have caused a wave of negativity from fans.  Many athletes are seen as distant and arrogant.  This idea stems from the fact that more and more athletes are turning down the title of  “role model”.  There have also been incidents in which professional athletes have belittled sports fans.  The arrogant attitudes and irresponsibility by professional sports athletes has definitely marred fans’ attitudes towards sports in general.

The owners of professional sports teams have also done their share to anger the common fan.  Many owners of today differ from the owners of the past because today’s owners seem to be concerned only with profit.  Owners of yesteryear concerned themselves with the welfare of the team.  It seems the owners of the past cared more about a winning team than turning a profit.  Today’s owners will do almost anything to earn more of a profit, including relocating a team to another city.  For example, in the National Football League, recent movements have included the Los Angeles Rams to St. Louis, Missouri, and the Cleveland Browns to Baltimore, Maryland.  These actions by the owners have caused many fans to disband their loyalty to sports franchises.

The media also has had a large effect on the disgruntled fan.  Today’s media is more intrusive into athletes’ lives than the media of the past.  The sports fan can easily find out which athlete has abuse problems, family problems, legal conflicts, etc.  This was not the case in the past.  In the old days, the media ignored athletes’ personal lives and instead opted to write about statistics and/or records.  This change in the media has swayed many fans’ views about professional sports athletes.

The result of the aforementioned factors is that less sports fans are truly fanatical about their favorite sports team.  The fan lives with the fear that his or her favorite team’s owner may move the team to another city, trade off the team’s best player, or even increase ticket prices to a level in which the fan can no longer afford to attend.  These fans can only hope for a better tomorrow in the world of sports,  a tomorrow that is more like the past.

A while back, I was watching a DVD of the 1986 NLCS playoffs (Mets versus Astros) and I thought about the same thing. During that game, it was impossible to miss a John 3:16 sign in stands. I think there were roughly 3,412 of them, give or take 3,400. I was even thinking about writing a post over at ye olden site about that very phenomenon.  I had the title and everything. I was going to call it “Where have you gone John 3:16?”. Amazing, I know. It rolls off the tongue.

What I didn’t have, however, was anything more than the notion that you don’t see those signs anymore. In his article, Burke did what I wanted to do, chronicle the rise and fall (and now reemergence) of John 3:16. He found the man who started the trend (a certified nutbar named Rollen Stewart – check out this video on just how loopy he was), then he wrote about how the signs disappeared for years, but have slowly returned thanks to Tim Tebow’s fame and faith.

(Before I go any further, a word of warning: please do not associate me with Rollen Stewart just because he also had afro wig and was a charismatic fan who wore glasses and liked to do the thumbs-up sign. His afro was rainbow colored, ok?)

My one complaint about Burke’s article was that it failed to mention a sharp turn in the life of 3:16 quoting. Soon after Rollen Stewart disappeared from the limelight and was subsequently locked in the clink for three life terms, an emerging pro wrestler named Stone Cold Steve Austin created his own version of 3:16 and used it as one of his main catch phrases on his way to wrestling immortality. See here:

The timeline then goes a little something like this:

• Rollen Stewart uses John 3:16 from 1980 to 1992
• Stone Cold Steve Austin uses Austin 3:16 from 1996 t0 approximately 2004
• Tim Tebow is sparking a John 3:16 revival in 2009

As you can see, it usually takes about four years after a 3:16 fad faded for it to reemerge. The way I see it, Tim Tebow can’t play forever. I’ll give him until 2020, tops. And that’s if he makes the NFL (which I think he will) and has at least a solid career (to be determined).

So therefore, in 2025 or maybe late 2024 I have to be ready. Ready to pounce with a new 3:16 theme. A “Jordi 3:16″. Or maybe an “Afro 3:16″. Or maybe “The Man 3:16″. Then there has to be a phrase that goes with it.

What do you guys think? What phrase should I use? And if I make the signs will you carry them around town in 2025?

We’re talkin’ global.