Are We the City of Jerks?

I recently went to Boston for the first time ever. While there, a bunch of us gals attended a Red Sox games versus the Baltimore Orioles (yep, the 17 inning game). Two of the girls have ties to Baltimore and I hate all New England teams, so we were obviously not rooting for the Sox. One of my brave friends proudly sported her O’s hat. The rest of us knew we’d have to back her up when she was confronted.

But she never was. Not even one stink eye!

That got me thinking – is Buffalo the city of jerky sports fans?

I traveled to Miami to watch the Bills a few years ago. I was decked out in my Bills gear and I gave a friendly “boo” to all the Miami fans passing by. They smiled at me and wished me luck in the game. Not the reaction was expecting.

The same thing happened when I traveled to Tampa Bay to see the Sabres take on the Lightning. Their fans were so polite and accepting of us.

Whenever I see an opposing team’s fans in one of our sports venues, I boo. A lot. It’s all in good fun, but I would be remiss if I didn’t heckle. I even heckled a few people who were decked out in Patriots garb at the Sox game. I couldn’t help myself.

But the fans remained polite – across the board. Minus the one large man at Nassau Coliseum who waited for me to get out of the ladies’ room because I was wearing a Sabres jersey.

I know we’re not as bad as the Philadelphia fans, who cheer when players get hurt, but I think we’re closer to them than we’d like to think.