FALCON POINTS
Yes, fans have the right to boo the Astros. You have the right to ignore it
As we prepare for the start of baseball and the restart of the NBA, Houston sports fans will get to revisit some old story lines. Can James Harden and Rona Westbrook pull it together long enough for one surprising playoff run? If the Dynamo fall in the bubble, does anyone hear it? And most common, will the national media ever get over the Astros scandal?
To quote Letterkenny: That's a hard no.
It's already started, of course. ESPN.com had an article on how fans are being cheated from booing the Astros. While he is correct in that other team's fans would have been merciless (and still will when they finally get the chance), speculating that the Astros own fans would boo is kind of silly. Using a spring training game as an example is a fail. Spring training draws fans from all teams.
That aside, you can expect more sanctimonious, holier-than-thou diatribes in the coming weeks on the subject. The main question is why? It's pretty simple. The Astros cheated. They got caught. They got punished. End of story.
At least it should be the end of the story. But we live in a media culture where everything is overanalyzed, over reported, and hot takes rule the day.
The reason is simple: Media members want to be part of the story. There is an entire cottage industry based on what members of the media say. Websites publish stories daily detailing hot takes. And the Astros are an easy target. It's nothing new. The Saints Bountygate case was endlessly and pointlessly debated. Deflategate led to lengthy debates on PSI. Everyone had a take, screaming into the microphones, using pejorative phrases and inflaming the subject, context be damned.
It's not just sports. Wear a mask. Don't wear a mask. Everyone has a take, and their take has to be heard, because it is the most important. What gets lost is reason and context, because that does not contribute to the noise. Takes are designed to get a reaction, to get a response, and build upon themselves.
So how do we change it? Stop retweeting takes. Ignore the noise. It can't grow without being fed. The Astros will be the obvious topic again over the next few months. Rather than get enraged, just move on. Comment on real topics with context and depth; avoid the either/or mentality.
Is that realistic? Probably not. We live in a "gotcha" society. If someone messes up, they are to be canceled. That will include the Astros. All of the takes that dominated earlier in the year will be back. This is just the first of many stories to deal with the issue.
Hey, Fred, isn't this whole column just responding to a hot take? Gotcha!
Perhaps. But the point is bigger. The hot take response would be "Waaah. You don't get to boo. Poor you." The reality is the writer uses the Astros as a way to make booing acceptable, which is fine. There is not a lot to dispute there. But it also uses the scandal of the day as an entrance point. There will be a lot more of this moving forward and the best thing Astros fan can do is ignore the noise, enjoy the ride as the team rolls to another World Series title in 2020.
Then the noise will be louder than ever.
