2008 Woodie Awards
Ambrose at Bat...Again
The real "idiots" in Boston
Kate Ambrose
Issue date: 10/31/04 Section: Sports
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What were you doing on Wednesday October 20, 2004 a little after midnight? More than likely you were celebrating the Red Sox's win over the Yankees. If you were a Yankees fan you may not have been celebrating, but rather cringing at the fact that indeed the "idiots" had done it. Regardless, everyone knows someone who was celebrating in some way on that night.
How that celebration rolled out may have differed based on your love for the Sox and where exactly you watched the game.
If you watched here in Worcester, your celebrations probably went something like this - you jumped off the couch yelling and hugged all in the room, you threw open the door and immediately began running to meet up with other fans. Once the fan base reached 20 or so, you ran around campus hitting the major locations: the football field and President Plough's front yard. Chants ensued and photos were snapped.
If you watched in Boston, your celebration was a little different. You probably exited the Cask & Flagon, a dorm room, Jillian's, or even Fenway itself, as did hundreds and hundreds of other people. However, you were not greeted by public safety officers who mostly stood silently on the sidelines making sure no one was injured. Instead you were greeted by cops with riot gear and potential pepper-spray balls. Along with fans who took it to a different level.
Was what happened in Boston necessary? Why bring pepper-spray bullets into a crowd of people and begin firing at people who supposedly are celebrating? Were the celebrations really celebrations or simply acts of stupidity?
The celebrations of the Red Sox players after game 7 included high-fives, hugs, and cheers. The celebrations of the Red Sox fans included fights, setting cars on fire, and injury. The last time I checked, I didn't know that punching a fellow Red Sox fan was a congratulatory action. Nor did I know that setting a car on fire showed support for the hometown boys. I was unaware that Boston's fan base could be shot at, pepper-spray balls or not.