Quote:
Originally Posted by esquire
There is a very popular edgelord mindset I've noticed where players are praised for taking every cent they can get and that any fan who thinks there is more to the equation are derided as suckers and patsies. A lot of sportswatchers think this way, including some people here.
While I don't think that we should go back to the days of players being chattel there to earn money for wealthy owners, the amount of control that owners and now increasingly, players have does make me wonder if fans (or the paying ones, at least) aren't the ones getting the shaft these days. Fans are asked to make a major emotional and financial investment in their teams, and there is effectively zero loyalty in return.
There are probably a lot of rousseaus out there who feel shafted by this turn of events in Toronto. The good news for the NBA is that it doesn't matter right now given the levels of fan mania out there. But in the long run it could hurt them.
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So far the cases of fans actually sticking it to teams or owners for their blatant disloyalty and ingratitude are rare. The one example that comes to mind (and is close to home) is the giant middle finger that Montreal and Quebec gave to MLB and the Expos after the cancelled season in 1994 and the subsequent fire sale of most of the team's star players.