Bill Simmons makes an excellent point about the Damon signing

[WilliamPitt]

Fans can be incredibly unrealistic and naive. We expect athletes to maintain an unyielding loyalty to their current cities, even if they have been playing there for only 3-4 years. We expect them to understand the "importance" of something like the Sox-Yanks rivalry, to think exactly like us, to say to themselves, "Wait, I can't switch sides to the Yankees, that's our archrival!" We expect them to feel hatred for the teams that WE don't like, ignoring the fact that rivalries thrive solely because of the fan bases, because we're the ones keeping them alive. And we expect them to turn down Godfather offers out of loyalty to their fans, only we'll turn on them the moment they start struggling.

How is that fair? Last season, Damon watched from afar as some Boston fans turned on Millar, Embree, Bellhorn, Foulke and even Schilling -- five key members of the Greatest Comeback In Sports History -- and probably wondered to himself, "Wait, I'm supposed to remain loyal to them?"

It's a two-way street. We always forget this. When our favorite players struggle and we start grumbling and bitching, the message always remains the same: "Hey, he's making a ton of money, I spend my hard-earned money on tickets, it's my right as a fan to boo." You never hear the word "loyalty" mentioned. Ever. These guys are only as good as their last few games. History rarely matters, which is fine, because that's part of the bargain. Most players seem to understand that. But if that's the case, why should we expect them to remain loyal to us?

Throw in Boston's floundering front office, which pursued Damon this winter with the same enthusiasm of Nicole Richie halfheartedly poking at a Caesar salad, and this seemed like a foregone conclusion. Damon would leave the Red Sox, it was just a question of where.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/051223

[rinsd]

1. You should see the e-mails he published....

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/blog/index?name=simmons

[WilliamPitt]

3. Yeah, saw that

I think it's a bunch of part-time fans who were caught by surprise. I saw this coming six months ago.

[GOPisEvil]

2. Bottom line, I work for Coke for 20 years and Pepsi offers more cash,

I'm suddenly ALL about the Pepsi Generation.

Players are not fans. $52 million spends more than $40 million.

[ticapnews]

6. You got the right one, baby!

Uh-huh!

[tcfrogs]

4. Bill Simmons is a blathering idiot

I've read his stuff at ESPN.com & ESPN the mag for years and rarely find anything funny.

[rinsd]

5. To each his own.....

Personally I think he's hilarious.

[DaveinMD]

7. me too

I think he's great.

[realisticphish]

8. me too nt

[DaveinMD]

9. that's a great cartoon

lol

[realisticphish]

10. that's mr squirril

from the applegeeks web comic. www.applegeeks.com
mr. squirril is a fascinating character...

[DaveinMD]

11. I'll have to check that out

because the comic you have up is really funny.

[tcfrogs]

13. It's okay

Guess I'm in the minority here.

Y'all Northeast folks must stick together. :)

[Redneck Socialist]

12. Tore the head off her JD bobble head doll

One of the women I work with was a huge JD fan. When she heard the news she tore the head off of her JD bobble head doll and gave to our boss (a yankees fan).

Now THAT was pretty freakin' funny.

[H2O Man]

14. It's simple, really.

Every kid who ever showed a bit of talent at baseball in America dreams of being a Yankee.

[MaineDem]

15. Oh I don't think that's true at all. n/t

[H2O Man]

16. Note the statement

has a qualification.