Dwight Howard’s Complaints – Only the Beginning
April 28, 2010While We’re Waiting… Calming Cleveland, LeBron’s Assists, and Redrafting the 2007 NFL Class
April 29, 2010
In an age where multimedia is flooded with the penchant for big-city bias, a recent study that was published by the Wall Street Journal lists the Cleveland Indians as the most-hated team in Major League Baseball.
Using an algorithm provided by Nielsen Co. – the same firm responsible for various ratings throughout the mediasphere – that gauges personal feelings towards teams a ranks them on what is called a “sentiment scale.” And while most fans of baseball would assume that the ever-hated New York Yankees would be on the Mt. Everest of sports hate, the Pinstripes came in fifth behind the Indians, Red Sox, Reds and Astros.
Judging by the teams that top the list, the algorithm appears to weed out jealousy-based hate, opting to focus more on the displeasure with overall results; fans villifying their own team. If this is in fact the case, it comes as no surprise that the Indians would be among those with the most negative sentiment. There are fewer teams in all of baseball with a passionate fan base that has had to endure such futility for the most part of the last decade.
All the Wahoo Bucks in the world will not mean a thing to Indians fans until the team regularly competes, plain and simple. Trotting out players like Jason Michaels and David Dellucci while your competition opts for guys like Carlos Quentin and Miguel Cabrera is not going to get it done.
With that said… Congratulations, Dolans. Your team has finally won something.
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Are the Yankess Truly the Most-Dispised Ballclub? [WSJ]
(AP Photo/Joseph Darwal)
66 Comments
I would be curious to know where Wall Street would rank on the list of most hated places in America.
Go Tribe.
We should put rocks in the Dolan’s gas tanks. I don’t have a problem with Shapiro, even though he is the Dolan’s puppet. But what can you do?
“There are fewer teams in all of baseball with a passionate fan base that has had to endure such futility for the most part of the last decade”
Seriously???!!!!!! There were 7 teams in the league who did not even make one postseason appearance. The Indians were there twice (once being a win away from the WS), were close a few more times, had 2 Cy Young award winners, among numerous outstanding player seasons from Hafner, Sizemore, and Martinez among others. There has been a lot to cheer for over the past decade. The ’90s spoiled us fans, but people need to realize that will likely never happen again. Would you rather be a Pirates fan, or an Orioles fan? They are passionate as well and had horrifying decades. I think you should think twice before writing such a comment.
Also, is there a link to this article to read it?
Hey bro it’s right at the bottom of the article, in a different color and with brackets by it.
Thanks, missed that. I thought it was a reference to another article. Some blogs have “similar posts” at the end of articles.
Also, this article never mentions the algorithm is based on “positive and negative reactions on the Internet”, which if you ask me is a bit misleading. If a fan who likes the team writes a negative comment on a message board, an algorithm will see that as “hate”, as described by this study. When the person actually likes the team. They are just passionate and voicing an opinion. So this study is ridiculous if you ask me. Of the non-big market teams in the top-10, the rest are losing teams right now that would have dissent among the fans. The Orioles, Nationals, Reds, Indians, and Astros. Surprisingly though, the Pirates are not there. THis to me is a study about passion, mixed with some NY hatred in there.
Apologies if I don’t feel that two postseason appearances in ten years is ‘success.’ Other teams are worse, so obviously we should not have a right to be unhappy with the results.
I need me some Haters!
The Buckos probably did well because everybody loves pirates. Except for ninjas, who have Real Ultimate Power.
Thats not what I’m saying at all, sure we should not be happy with the losing record the past season and a month, but to make this sound as if the Indians are the worst team/organization in the world is not right. The Indians actually had a winning record during the ’00s with some successes, so I am a fan who does not understand where so much dissent comes from when there are other teams in town that are much worse off, yet everybody loves them. The Indians I guess are just a flavor of the week to the casual Cleveland fan when they are good, but doormats to step on when they are not. I’ll just stick to the blogs that are committed to the Indians and stay out of here.
@ Michael T – pretty sure Scott wasn’t solely addressing you. Chill out, stay a while. We gots plenty of articles on the Tribe, and also sometimes there are jokes.
@Michael T – you’re not going to find a better northcoast sports blog out there. don’t give up on it just because the writer of one hot-button item disagrees with you. heck, that’s part of what makes it fun. as in:
@Scott – being unhappy with the results is a far cry from enduring futility. i would like to see your argument on how the Indians didn’t have ‘any’ chance or gave us ‘any’ hope in the past decade.
@mgbode – I agree this is a solid site, but a lot of the material here is just rehashed from media outlets with a touch of opinion. WHile there is no problem with that, I just wish there was more insightful analysis on topics such as this rather than just retelling a story already out there to create a discussion forum. How about adding a hint of originality to the post and maybe say why the study was fairly reported or not (which we now know was a false report). Anyone should have been able to see right through this studies reporting by the WSJ. I mean, why are they doing sports in the first place? Stick to what they know!
@Scott I do not mean to take this so serious and imply anything personally towards your craft. I enjoy this site, but I did not appreciate the smart response to a legit conversation. That is just a way out of discussing something. I challenge you in the future to do what mgbode has asked and give a legit analysis of why the Indians last decade was so futile when they actually has a winning record over the 10 years. Please do not just perpetuate the negativity of this sports town, use your influence to challenge thought.
Key point Michael: sometimes people use things called jokes. Other times, in this venue known as Internet, people use “snark”. I’ve used it before, and it is neat.
And thanks for saying we rehash tons of stuff. I mean, it’s not like the LBJ MVP story broke here or anything. Or Rick’s opinion pieces are original. Or Andrew’s numbers and words posts. Or Craig’s Browns pieces. It’s not as if Jon Steiner’s weekly stats posts are original. Or DP’s weekly columns are original. Or Scott’s quotes from Cavs interviews. Or TD’s Tribe recaps. Or Jacob’s stats roundups. Or anything I put together in photoshop. Or the things that Brendan does. Look around at all the major outlets – everybody rehashes things.
I can assure you that people work their asses off for this site, and get no monetary compensation for it. We’ve started getting access at Cavs games and are putting that to good use.
I know how hard you guys work. I’ve done what you do, it is tough. Part of the reason I stopped writing was because the site I was on wanted me to do daily updates on news that was going on, and to me it was not right. I was basically doing what a kid does in school, use google to search and then re-write what they find in a paper for whatever topic it is. If people want to read a game update they go to the beat writers, or watch the game, what I desire is more than the average fan I guess – a little extra something to bring me back for more. And there is some of that going on here, I am a stat-buff, so the new SABR stat articles are up my alley.
I guess this certain topic is a hot-button issue with me because I love the Indians so much and I do not understand the negativity. Yes, they have had their failures the past couple seasons, but its not like the Dolans haven’t spent some cash over their limited budget in the past to win, its just that the FAs that they do sign have been bums….looking at you Dellichaels platoon in LF. That is more of an issue with GM not gauging FAs better. Plus poor management by Wedgie and untimely injuries have led to this underachievement since ’07.
Anyway, I will hang around still. I just lost myself a bit here with such a silly “study” by the Nielson company that was then miseported by the WSJ. Go Tribe!
My fiance told me about this and I was absolutely livid. How in God’s middle name did the Indians end up at the top of this list and not the New York Freaking Yankees? Geography, that’s how. Where is Wall Street? New York, NY. Any self-respecting baseball fan who loves an American League team, hates the Yankees AND probably the Red Sox. I’m glad they didn’t poll actual fans for this also, to determine who the FANS hate most! This annoys me to no end! Just another reason never to open the WSJ. I just hope they go belly-up soon also, but no bailout for you!