Generally speaking, I pay next to no attention to professional sports and find people who obsess about the local teams simply unbearable. Yes, it was indeed truly a great moment when the Red Sox finally won the World Series in 2004, and, sure, the Patriots had a helluva season last year, but beyond listening to the sports guy prattle on during the highlight reel I have a hard time maintaining any interest.
That being said, though, I thought the fan reception for Bill Buckner at the Opening Day game at Fenway yesterday was a true class act. Boston sports fans are known around the country for being huge assholes, and Buckner has taken more than his fair share of abuse for all these years from them. So for him to even agree to appear at Opening Day took a great deal of courage and dignity on his part, and it had to be intensely unnerving for him to walk out onto the field not knowing what sort of reception he would receive. Apparently, though, the joy of winning a couple of championships has finally given Red Sox fans a modicum of grace. They did right by a guy who was a decent ballplayer throughout his career and deserves to be remembered for that far more than he does for one fumbled play.
