How did this get published?

[Giants_GM]

www.observer-reporter.com/or/steigstory/04-10-2011-Steigerwald

Downright disrespectful article about Brian Stow. I have no idea how this got published, but I'm excited to potentially hear his defense of the article on a local bay area radio station. Deserves to be fired and banned from journalism.

How can you blame someone for being beat because they wear a team jersey???

[Indians_GM]

Good question. I remember wearing my Rockies hat to a Rockies-Giants game in SF (my wife was also wearing a Rockies hat while my mother-in-law was wearing SF gear) and I got some dirty looks and the people in front of me said "Oh, we're gonna have a problem" when they saw how my wife and I were dressed.

I also try to respect a team's home turf, I don't cheer too loudly for my team, I don't rub it in, I golf clap and keep my praises at a normal volume level. However, at the end of the game (the final game of the series which resulted in a Rockies sweep) we had Giants fan's throwing themselves against the fencing on the ramps and nearly smacking us in the face with brooms shouting "SWEEP!" at the top of their lungs.

Not only did I find that sort of behavior contemptible (I myself have cheered sweep but not in the faces of opposing fans at Coors Field), but I was a little afraid and I merely wore a baseball hat! Is this author also against wearing anything team related? That was quite possibly the most ignorant pieces of writing I've ever come across, but even before the reports of the beating came out, I remember seeing Giants fans in the stands in their jerseys and thinking "I would be terrified to wear that to Dodger stadium...".

That rivalry is too big for me to go into wearing anything Giant related (or into AT&T wearing anything Dodger related), especially at the home opener. There does need to be a level of common sense used, but no one should feel threatened to wear their team's colors to an away game. No one should be intimidated in their own stadium by away fans either (During the Rockies-Red Sox series I was actually afraid every time I left my seat that one particular Boston fan would follow me out to the concourse). That Stow was so severely beaten is a serious black mark against the Dodgers and if I were the Giants, I might just pressure MLB to swap leagues with Oakland in the name of security for the team and the fans.

People just need to remember that it's a game, conduct yourselves with dignity and respect, and if you're an away fan? Don't get too crazy with the cheering, it's just rude.