Kevin Durant's Hometown Love

The other day, the Basketball Jones notified the blogosphere of Kevin Durant's tattoos in a picture. He has a bunch, but they are all hidden from view when he dons his Oklahoma City jersey. The Thunder are sometimes lauded for not having visible tattoos, which is an odd plaudit with, like everything in basketball, some racial aspect. Regardless, Kevin Durant is from the DC area. He didn't go to then local powerhouses Georgetown or Maryland, but he still has some love for DC.
Witness:

The first thing I noticed was the Walgreens-esque W of the Washington Nationals. I admit, I gave a little "hell yeah" in the dour confines of my office. Of course, the exclamation was tempered by the knowledge that the Nats would likely lose to the Braves later yesterday evening. Fortunately, probability didn't work out and the Nats crushed the Braves 9-3. Thanks, Kevin Durant.

I think.

Congrats to the Washington Nationals

The Nats won tonight. It was their 15th win in the last 21 games. They currently stand at 37-37, and, were the season to end today, would be five games out of the wild card slot and tied with Pittsburgh and Colorado.

I still haven't figured out what a National is, or what Nationals are... unlike, say, Twins, Pirates, Yankees, Cardinals, Orioles, etc.

Anyways, back to the Nats - they have won ten of eleven and, over the last 10 games, are tied with the Twins for the best record in baseball. Sadly, I was present for that one loss, to the Orioles, who have a much more glorious past but are also attempting to climb to .500. Thanks, Gorzelanny for ruining Fathers' Day.

Soy un perdedor dolorido, bebé

St. Louis Cardinals fans get crazy with the cheese whiz Wednesday night when the Nats met the Cards. Cardinals pitcher Ryan Franklin responds to boos in his own stadium:

"You're either a fan or you're not. You don't boo your own team. I don't care who you are or what you say. Just because you spent your money to come here and watch us play, and somebody happens to make one bad pitch and gives up a homer, you don't start booing them. I've been here for five years, and four years I've been pretty good. You should go write stories about the fans booing. They're supposed to be the best fans in baseball. Yeah right."

I mostly agree with this statement. The only part that is arguable is when he suggests the fans turned on him for giving up a homer on one bad pitch. The quote should read about when, "...somebody happens to get four blown saves out of five attempts, give away a 9th-inning lead here and there, get removed as closer, and allow the Nationals a home run when you're already down by 2, you don't start booing them." It is a more difficult argument when you look at it that way. I will give him that.


I admit, baseball is not my game and the Cardinals are definitely not my team, but I can read a stat sheet. Franklin looks like he's been doing his job for the last couple of years. While I don't think a 38-year old player can rest on his laurels and start to phone it in, I also don't agree with the fans booing their own players. As far as this blogger is concerned, you stick with your team through thick and thin. If you can't stand losing, jump on another bandwagon. There are plenty of places you can voice your frustrations about washed up players and losing games, but the stadium is not where it's done. There is poor sportsmanship on the field and off, and when fans of the home team start to boo their own players, that is a stadium full of sore losers as far as I'm concerned.