Oberkfell Stays Local
According to Adam Rubin at ESPN-NY, former Mets bench coach and minor league manager Ken Oberkfell will join the coaching staff of the Newark Bears.
I’m not surprised that Obie didn’t return to the Mets in some capacity, but I am surprised he didn’t catch on with another MLB organization — he seems to be highly respected by most in the game. But who knows, maybe he wanted to stay in the tri-state area and couldn’t figure out another way to do so.
This news suggests another question: if you live in the NY/NJ area, will you be more inclined to go to a Newark Bears game than a Mets game this year? If so, why? Answer in the comments.
Your choice but don’t come back when this team turns good which they will and mark my word, attendance will soar when the quality of play does. That’s the way it works, always has, always will. Put your money where you mouth is, don’t ever go to Mets game again, ever, keep dreaming that the Wilpons are going to sell their controlling interest, keep living that fantasy. There’s always a subset of fair-weather, bandwagon fans, nothing new. There are also people like me who’ve been fans through the ups and downs and understand that’s the way life is, things get rough, healthfully cope.I don’t begrudge the Wilpons’ misfortune and will be at Citi Field supporting the team like I have for 40-something years.
Like I said, stay away from Citi Field, forever, don’t come back when this team turns it around. Show your true colors, anything but orange and blue.
This theme that those Met fans, like Izzy, that choose to avoid providing revenue for the current ownership are lesser fans, fair-weathered, or bandwagon, is not rational. One could just as easily argue that they are better fans. The dislike for this ownership is not soley based on the ups and downs of winning and losing seasons. Moreso it is based on a pattern of statements and behavior that has been and continues to be less than truthful.
And if circumstances were the same but the end results differed in that the Mets were reaching the playoffs the past few seasons, would the response toward ownership, including abandoning team, be the same? I don’t think so.
The vitriol far outweighs the facts, and in my opinion has a lot more to do with a portion of the fan base who think winning is a birthright and can’t handle their internalized shame of comparison between their team and the Yankees and Phillies and now, the improvement of the rest of the division.
When a team such as the Mets is called cheap by the outspoken, over-the-top portion of the fan base who can’t handle a drop to middle of the pack payroll after years of top five, it drives my point home. The very fans who scream cheap are the ones who also call for boycott then have gall to complain about payroll. The worst thing that could happen to this portion of the fan base, is Mets success and I think it good bet, these fans want this team to lose to further their agenda. Fair-weather, bandwagon fans indeed.
And if circumstances were the same but the end results differed in that the Mets were reaching the playoffs the past few seasons, would the response toward ownership, including abandoning team, be the same? I don’t think so.
The vitriol far outweighs the facts, and in my opinion has a lot more to do with a portion of the fan base who think winning is a birthright and can’t handle their internalized shame of comparison between their team and the Yankees and Phillies and now, the improvement of the rest of the division.
When a team such as the Mets is called cheap by the outspoken, over-the-top portion of the fan base who can’t handle a drop to middle of the pack payroll after years of top five, it drives my point home. The very fans who scream cheap are the ones who also call for boycott then have gall to complain about payroll. The worst thing that could happen to this portion of the fan base, is Mets success and I think it good bet, these fans want this team to lose to further their agenda. Fair-weather, bandwagon fans indeed.
If circumstances were the same and the team made the post season, the spending customer that is rational would be satisfied that they got fair value for their money. It is fair to say that the Mets, like all other teams, have fair weather fans, and that the vitriol may be excessive, but I know of many fans that I consider dedicated and level-headed that are fed up with this ownership. In any event, I will root for the Mets to win every game they play, and hope they get their financeial house in order, even if I decide not to patronize the Wilpons.
As for Teuful, he worked his way up through the organization and was part of the ’86 team. Not difficult t to understand at all why he was promoted to big league coach the next logical step in the pecking order having been the AAA manager last season and is now taking over for Hale who left for Oakland. It’s unfortunate that amongst the Wilpon haters every non-related event has to be twisted into anti-Wilpon dig. Teuful was a victim of Madoff just like thousands of others including the Wilpons. Teuful got sued by Picard like so many other victims, do you see Tim begruding the Wilpons for his million dollar lose and legal headaches?