Remember Mark Bechtel?

[southsider2k5]

Mark Bechtel doesn't regret calling the White Sox the worst team in sports to root for. But now he knows the Sox have at least one thing going for them: passionate fans.

 

After Bechtel ranked the five worst teams to root for in a blog for SI.com, Sports Illustrated's Web site, he received about 400 e-mails.

 

"And probably 395 were about the White Sox," he said. "There were two camps: One was, you're an idiot and clearly don't know what you're talking about. The other people came to their team's defense. It's admirable. They were willing to stand up and fight for a team that hasn't given them much to go with over the years."

 

Bechtel, a 33-year-old Cleveland native who still considers himself an Indians fan, ranked the Los Angeles Clippers as the fifth-worst team to root for, ahead of the Atlanta Hawks, Tampa Bay Devil Rays and his hometown Browns.

 

Of the Sox, he wrote: "Though they haven't won the World Series since 1917, the Sox can't win for losing. The Cubs, who have been titleless almost as long (actually 1908), are lovable, the Sox are overlooked. The Cubs have Wrigley, the Sox have a characterless barn."

 

Bechtel last attended a Sox home game in 2002, so he concedes U.S. Cellular Field might be improved by its substantial renovations. But that's a relatively small part of the equation.

 

"The White Sox haven't won in nine decades, and unlike the Cubs, they just don't get love from anybody," he said. "Ask any casual baseball fan about the White Sox and they'll say: 'They almost burned down their stadium [on Disco Demolition Night] and they threw the [1919] World Series.'"

 

Come on, you can't forget the White Flag trade.

 

Bechtel went on to rip broadcaster Ken "Hawk" Harrelson and write that manager "Ozzie Guillen looks like he needs to take a deep breath."

 

Said Bechtel: "Some people thought I was writing Sox fans were the worst in the world. My point was that it has to be tough to be a Sox fan. I have a lot of respect for people who support them."

 

But Bechtel might not want to express that support in person. Asked if he had any plans to come to Chicago, he said he did.

 

"But I can't reveal the details," he added.

 

Wise move.

[SnB]

way to back down.

[EvilJester99]

Back pedalling quick as s*** on that one eh?

[WhiteSox311]

way to back down.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

ya because you were gonna do something about it huh

[witesoxfan]

ya because you were gonna do something about it huh 

 

I almost hate to ask this, because I know what I am going to get, but whatever...

 

Why are you always such an asshole? Seriously.

 

Soxn never said he was going to...he was just commenting on how Bechtel went from being very assertive to being very passive in the blink of an eye. He proved he is bark than bite.

[qwerty]

I almost hate to ask this, because I know what I am going to get, but whatever...

 

Why are you always such an asshole?  Seriously.

 

Soxn never said he was going to...he was just commenting on how Bechtel went from being very assertive to being very passive in the blink of an eye.  He proved he is bark than bite.

 

At least he hasn't bumped a thread for a week or two i believe.

[witesoxfan]

Mark Bechtel doesn't regret calling the White Sox the worst team in sports to root for. But now he knows the Sox have at least one thing going for them: passionate fans.

 

After Bechtel ranked the five worst teams to root for in a blog for SI.com, Sports Illustrated's Web site, he received about 400 e-mails.

 

"And probably 395 were about the White Sox," he said. "There were two camps: One was, you're an idiot and clearly don't know what you're talking about. The other people came to their team's defense. It's admirable. They were willing to stand up and fight for a team that hasn't given them much to go with over the years."

 

Bechtel, a 33-year-old Cleveland native who still considers himself an Indians fan, ranked the Los Angeles Clippers as the fifth-worst team to root for, ahead of the Atlanta Hawks, Tampa Bay Devil Rays and his hometown Browns.

 

Of the Sox, he wrote: "Though they haven't won the World Series since 1917, the Sox can't win for losing. The Cubs, who have been titleless almost as long (actually 1908), are lovable, the Sox are overlooked. The Cubs have Wrigley, the Sox have a characterless barn."

 

Bechtel last attended a Sox home game in 2002, so he concedes U.S. Cellular Field might be improved by its substantial renovations. But that's a relatively small part of the equation.

 

"The White Sox haven't won in nine decades, and unlike the Cubs, they just don't get love from anybody," he said. "Ask any casual baseball fan about the White Sox and they'll say: 'They almost burned down their stadium [on Disco Demolition Night] and they threw the [1919] World Series.'"

 

Come on, you can't forget the White Flag trade.

 

Bechtel went on to rip broadcaster Ken "Hawk" Harrelson and write that manager "Ozzie Guillen looks like he needs to take a deep breath."

 

Said Bechtel: "Some people thought I was writing Sox fans were the worst in the world. My point was that it has to be tough to be a Sox fan. I have a lot of respect for people who support them."

 

But Bechtel might not want to express that support in person. Asked if he had any plans to come to Chicago, he said he did.

 

"But I can't reveal the details," he added.

 

Wise move.

 

I have no idea where to start.

 

First of all, when I see worst teams to root for, I am not going to think of how tough it is to root for a team, I am going to think the team is a bad team to root for. He didn't initially mean that at all. If he did, he would have said toughest teams to root for, or hardest teams to write for. He just wanted his chance at taking a pot-shot at the White Sox in the media; he wanted to join the crowd and do what was popular. Him saying that alone threw this entire article out the window.

 

Secondly, he mentions how the Sox have not won in 9 decades as a reason why it is hard to root for them, yet he roots for the Indians, who have not won one since 48, and while that is not nearly as long ago as 17, he has still never seen them win in his lifetime. What makes that WORSE is that the Sox did not win 6 of 7 division titles in the late 90s and early 00's. They did not make it to the World Series. They did not make it to game 7's like the Indians did. So to me, that makes it worse, personally.

 

He also mentions how the White Sox don't get love from anyone like the Cubs...PERHAPS ONE OF THE REASONS IS BECAUSE OF ARTICLES LIKE YOURS?

 

And if I am understanding him correctly, he mentions how the Sox are a "tough" team to root for because of Hawk and because "manager 'Ozzie Guillen looks like he needs to take a deep breath.'"? How does that make them "tough" to root for? Hawk is passionate about his team - that is something baseball is MISSING...Hawk should not be ripped for being passionate about the team he is broadcasting for. And if Ozzie always looks like he needs to take a deep breath, he must not watch much baseball, because from what I can, Ozzie is a real laid back manager who likes to have fun and talk a lot, and he rarely argues at all - only when he feels necessary.

 

He then twists his words beautifully and manages to try and cover his ass.

 

"Some people thought I was writing Sox fans were the worst in the world. My point was that it has to be tough to be a Sox fan. I have a lot of respect for people who support them."

 

Of course he was not saying that Sox fans are the worst in the world. He is saying the TEAM is the worst TEAM to root for. Duh.

 

This guy is still clueless. I hope he likes the Indians way the f*** down in the standings, and I hope he'll enjoy seeing the Indians two biggest rivals both in the playoffs.

[flippedoutpunk]

I know I emailed the bastard.  

 

Me too, i hope he liked the pic i attached to the email.. Right Tmar??

[witesoxfan]

Me too, i hope he liked the pic i attached to the email.. Right Tmar?? 

 

[UofIChiSox]

One could spin this to make us look like even better more dedicated fans. We still love this team, even though they haven't had the success. It sucks to have our team be the WORST at anything, but you could spin it into saying we are pretty bad ass for rooting for such a hard team to root for.

[Goober]

Me too, i hope he liked the pic i attached to the email.. Right Tmar?? 

woo, lucky i caught this. WHY I OUGHTA...

[WHarris1]

woo, lucky i caught this. WHY I OUGHTA...

Remember who it was that got you with that pic?

[Goober]

Remember who it was that got you with that pic? 

i take it from this post that it was you who got me

[WHarris1]

i take it from this post that it was you who got me

[SoxFan1]

This guy is such a dumb-dick. What a f***ing asswhole. s***, we have fans and passinonate ones! The Cell a "Characterless Barn"? Are you f***ing serious? More character than the 100 year old urinal! f*** BECHTEL!

[SnB]

This guy is such a dumb-dick. What a f***ing asswhole. s***, we have fans and passinonate ones! The Cell a "Characterless Barn"? Are you f***ing serious? More character than the 100 year old urinal! f*** BECHTEL!

 

ritalin.

[SoxFan1]

ritalin.

I'm cool. It just pisses me off that he was totally ignorant in what he wrote.

[southsider2k5]

This guy is such a dumb-dick. What a f***ing asswhole. s***, we have fans and passinonate ones! The Cell a "Characterless Barn"? Are you f***ing serious? More character than the 100 year old urinal! f*** BECHTEL!

 

Especially coming from an Indians fan

 

2005 USCF>2005 Jacobs Field.

[Controlled Chaos]

I emailed him and I kept it rather tame to maybe get a response....I would have added a few 'f*** yous' if he was gonna run, hide and spin his story. He definitely should stick to Nascar...

 

 

My email to Bechtel...

 

If your ultimate point is that it's frustrating to be a White Sox fan...I have to agree with you. It ain't easy. We dont settle for losing like cubs fans do. So when we lose year after year it sucks...it eats away at you. It pisses us off, ruins our day, but we dont quit. We count the days till spring training. We don't say ah who cares. We want better. We keep coming back with new found optimism so when it does happen we can say "I was there back when..." The Sox are a hard working team that makes the best of what they have and that epitomizes the makeup of a lot of us fans.

 

We have had a total of 6 things to be happy about in the last 87 years...

A World Series title: 1917

Pennants: 1919, 1959 and

Division titles: 1983, 1993, 2000

 

6 things!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hell yeah it's frustrating

 

If those things make the sox hard to root for then I agree, but all you listed were some jackass comments...about our stadium, our announcer and our coach.

 

I got news for ya pal...I don't want to win for losing...I don't want to be lovable losers. Not caring about winning games doesn't make a team better to root for. I don't want a broken down urinal for a ballpark. I want the state of the art facility we have. I like a biased announcer that roots like a fan and I like a fiery coach that is just one of the guys.

 

If those are really your reasons for the White Sox being the worst team to root for, then you should stick to writing about NASCAR. Flat tire here, bad pit crew there...that's clearly more your speed...cause you don't know s*** about the Sox.