Big Lead Sports Bar

4/17/2010

THE BRONX CHEER FOR FLEURY: WRONG?



As we all know, Marc-Andre Fleury had a rather rough Game One, and was promptly beaten by Ottawa's Peter Regin for a goal just 18 seconds into Friday's contest. After his first save, the Mellon Arena faithful gave last year's Stanley Cup-winning goalie a sarcastic "Bronx Cheer", and that hasn't gone over well with some.

From Rob Rossi:
— G MARC-ANDRE FLEURY deserves a lot better than a sellout crowd at Mellon Arena sent his way early in Game 2 after his first save. Yes, Fleury started the series stopping just 16-of-22 shots. However, he also has made 19 straight saves to close an oft-pivotal Game 2 — teams that win it are well over 70 percent in series victories. D BROOKS ORPIK said he “didn’t understand” the mock-cheering from Fleury’s home fans. Neither do I. Performances like from Penguins fans are the reason I often wonder how the Penguins’ once called them “the best fans in hockey.”
While I still think the Penguin fans are the best in hockey, I'm siding with Rossi  and Orpik on this one. I think our fans can do better than that. I'm sure some of you will disagree with me, but I'm curious to hear your thoughts, given that seems to be a hot topic on the message boards and airwaves today.



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19 comments:

Ev said...

I think there is a big difference between regular season fans and playoff fans.

Koz said...

and that difference is...?

AML35 said...

It's obnoxious. The fleury "haters" need to get over themselves. That is embarrassing.

Someone Somewhere said...

I don't know, I seem to recall Fleury getting run from game 5 of the finals last year and coming back to play pretty well in the final two games. Being a fan of this team, I know that he's going to throw a clunker or two out there...luckily he always bounces back from those bad games with better performances.

I still can't believe they won game 2 because the reaction here after game 1 was akin to a team hoping to win the draft lottery...here I was thinking that Fleury sucks, LeTang was the most overrated defenseman in the history of the NHL and Ray Shero was going to be fired for his horrendous personnel moves.

Sooska said...

I have long believed that there should be a Penguins history and hockey knowledge test for all ticket holders at the gate. Fail and you don't get in. Bandwagoners would be relegated to the parking lots.

The Mad Bubbler said...

Give me a break Rossi. I was there last year for game 6 against Detroit, just 3 days after Fleury turned in an awful performance in game 5, and the whole arena opened the game with chants of "FLEURY, FLEURY". You're not gonna see that from many other fans in any sport.

the nigerian nightmare said...

Seriously.......fans are allowed to be frustrated. Please, he's a big boy. If he can't handle a little razzing like that then he shouldn't be a pro athlete. To play devil's advocate, how do we know that little Bronx cheer didn't fire him up for the rest of the game?

Chip said...

Pittsburgh "sports fans" are the biggest bunch of front-running phonies. You win and you're the greatest ever. You lose and you suck. That's why all these Pens fans vs Steelers fans debates are silly. As soon as the Pens miss the playoffs two years in a row, the Consol Energy Center will be 2/3 empty just like the Igloo was before Sid.

And it's why the Pirates don't have to worry about their "fan base." If they ever manage to cobble together a halfway competitive team, PNC will be the new bandwagon to jump on. It's really quite an embarrassment and I have no problem with Rob Rossi calling out the meathead yinzers.

I mean, really, people in this city turning against a player who has done nothing but played his heart out and brought their team a tremendous amount of success?

Kordell Stewart, Bill Cowher, Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonilla, and Jaromir Jagr are utterly shocked!

SantoGold said...

Get rid of the bandwagon fans and you'll be back to pre-Sid crowds of only 10,000 fans. Casual fans are necessary and come with the territory. No bandwagon fans = Hello Kansas City Pens.

A little Bronx cheer never hurt anyone. Plus, he deserved it. He's not a whipping boy at all. Just a 1-time thing to let him know we care. Like the Nightmare said, he can take it.

As for Rob Rossi, maybe when he has to pay to watch a Pens game I'll take his opinion of the fans more to heart. Until then, just eat up on the comp. buffet pretty boy and use spell check more often.

Unknown said...

Rossi is a tool......hey, I am by no means a Fleury hater.....he lets in some soft goals, but usually when the chips are down he delivers in a big way......but the fans are allowed to be frustrated at times...lets not forget that the game started with a very load chant to show support for Fleury....after a pitiful performance in Game One, to let in that softee over the shoulder was frustrating to watch....a momentary lapes there does not change the fact that Pens fans show up everywhere in force and support this team and its players....Rossi wrote an article that skewered Geno about a month ago in a pretty ugly manner......does that mean he does not qualify as a fan of the Pens anymore...the fans here love Fleury, and the Bronx cheer may not have been necessary but too much is being made of it...

Unknown said...

Rossi is a tool......hey, I am by no means a Fleury hater.....he lets in some soft goals, but usually when the chips are down he delivers in a big way......but the fans are allowed to be frustrated at times...lets not forget that the game started with a very load chant to show support for Fleury....after a pitiful performance in Game One, to let in that softee over the shoulder was frustrating to watch....a momentary lapes there does not change the fact that Pens fans show up everywhere in force and support this team and its players....Rossi wrote an article that skewered Geno about a month ago in a pretty ugly manner......does that mean he does not qualify as a fan of the Pens anymore...the fans here love Fleury, and the Bronx cheer may not have been necessary but too much is being made of it...

Unknown said...

i heard the mean old Pens fans have been picking on the sad sack Pirates too. Bullies...

BURGH08 said...

Rossi is a jackass that writes for a second rate newspaper, and sniffs more jock than Dan Potash. It's obvious Chip was also educated at WVU. Or somewhere worse, if that's even possible.

Bottom line: If you pay for the ticket, you can 'bronx cheer' all you like.

Love MAF, but the he helped set the bar, and Game 1 wasn't it.

End of story.

Dom Errico said...

If you guys ever frequent the Penguins message boards at the official website, you'll see just how much immaturity runs rampant there.

Pens fans snipe at each other like little children. It's disgusting to watch.

So should we be shocked when they treat the players the same way?

The Taxidermist said...

I got a problem with your statement Chip. There are a ton of Pirate fans in Pittsburgh but they have been pitiful for 18 years. Can you blame people for being frustrated and stop going to the games? I can guarantee you if they put a halfway decent team on the field, they will have great attendance numbers. Does that mean that all the people that go at that point are bandwagoners? No, it just means they finally have something to cheer for. The fact that they get the crowds they do still, despite their total suckiness, completely amazes me.

Chip said...

"I can guarantee you if they put a halfway decent team on the field, they will have great attendance numbers. Does that mean that all the people that go at that point are bandwagoners?"

Yes, it does. In fact, that's the DEFINITION of a bandwagon fan.

The Maple Leafs haven't won a Stanley Cup since 1967. And they've sucked for most of this decade. Yet they still pretty much sell out every game. Remember that BlackBerry idiot who wanted to buy the Pens? He was going to move them to Hamilton (which is near Toronto) because that area has real hockey fans.

The Cubs haven't won a World Series in 100 years. ONE HUNDRED YEARS. And they had a bad season last year but they still play to 95% full attendance. The Red Sox, even before their recent success, always had loyal fans, too.

Yes, if the Pirates had a good team PNC would all of a sudden be full. And all the people who tell Mondesi "Don't post any Pirate stories!" would suddenly be commenting "Alvarez RULES!" in those threads like they've been fans all along. And the 8,000 diehards who stuck with them these past 17 years will resent those yinzers just like those of us who watched Aleksey Morozov with 7,000 other people at the Igloo resent the bandwagon fans who boo the Flower.

Look, I love Pittsburgh. Unlike all the Burger King managers who went to Pitt, I went to CMU so I had many chances to leave this city. But I stay here because this is where I was born and raised and I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. But let's be honest about things. The "sports fans" in this area are phony bandwagon jumpers who only care about teams (and by extension, players) when they WIN.

BURGH08 said...

Defining a 'fan' is subjective, and always will be.

Much as Chip seems to butchered the definition in my opinion, I respect his view more than the dulled lisp of Rossi, who thankfully for him gets in for free.

If Rossi wrote an article on how to look like an extra from Austin Powers, that I would take stock in. How a fan should behave? None.

NickDawg said...

Hey Chipper buddy great shot at Pitt academics but I can guarantee you we only manage half the burger kings around here. Your just salty bc all CMU has to root for is the chess team..go back to picking your nose and building robots...

and ps Roethlisberger is awesome and Pittsburgh sports fans are great..maybe you do need to move somewhere else to realize that ,I sure did!

BURGH08 said...

I believe he went to CMU if it was Central Michigan.