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Thread: Calling All Reds Fans Under Age 25

  1. #1
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    Calling All Reds Fans Under Age 25

    I've been thinking along these lines for quite some time, but finally have gotten around to sharing it with others.

    I'd like to take a few minutes to encourage my fellow young Reds fans. I don't think it takes a genious to deduce that the last 10 years (give or take) have been very rough in term of relation to the rest of club history. Since we're looking at us fans under the age of 25 however, lets take a look at things from 1981 up until today:

    13 losing seasons, including two 90 loss campaigns and one 100 loss season.

    14 of the last 25 seasons have ended with the Reds trailing the division leader by 10+ games, seven times they've finished 20+ games back and once they've finished 30 games back.

    Most, if not all of the positive situations of the last 25 years in Reds history happened before many of us were old enough to understand what was going on. Most of us probably don't remember anything at all about the 1990 World Championship simply because we were too young. Some might remember the 1995 playoff appearance, but most probably not.

    Let's face it, many of our Reds memories are formed over the past 10 years of action and that time period has been one of the worst in franchise history. In that time span, we have witnessed exactly two winning seasons (not counting the 144 game 1995 schedule). Many of these losing seasons have been so much more than just losing seasons. Most of them were flat out painful to watch. I believe (and there are pleanty of threads around here covering this) that this recent run of futile Reds pitching is the worst in franchise history. Think about that folks....in all of franchise history. That's bad.

    Now we have had a few memorable occasions over the past 10 years or so. We've been witness to the birth of potentially one of the greatest power hitters this team has ever known. We were all taken on that magic carpet ride that was the 1999 season. Even though things haven't worked out as we probably would have liked, February 10, 2000 was a day most of us as Reds fans will remember for the rest of our lives. That day eventually led to another one of our positive memories when Ken Griffey, Jr. joined one of the most elite groups ever in this great game of baseball when he hit his 500th career homerun. I'm sure others will have positive memories of thier own, these are just the ones that jumped into my mind.

    I, myself, just turned 21 years old. I can speak from personal experience that many people our age just root for winners. I know more Yankees and Patriots "fans" than I'd care to know. It's easy to root for a winning team, but it takes character to root for struggling teams.

    Don't ever be ashamed to be a fan of the Cincinnati Reds. I'm sure many of you at some point or another have been made fun of or ridiculed for being a fan of such a percieved awful team. I am no different in the slightest. It was almost a daily occurance in high school for someone (teacher or student) to say something along the lines of how bad the Reds were. But every single time someone would say something to me about it, I'd just smile and say "someday..." I hope you all do/did the same. It's much like having a disabled family member. People are going to stare and possibly even snicker, but you love that family member more than anything else in the world and are proud to say you are related to him/her. If the Reds hold as big a place in your hearts as they do mine, don't ever be ashamed to be proud to be a Reds fan...thick or thin.

    All this ramble leads me to the point of this thread. Our best years as young Reds fans are undoubtedly in front of us. Us under 25 years old have a ton of baseball left to watch in our lives. It's been rough for us over most of our lives of being Reds fans.

    Take heart in the fact that eventually things will get better for this franchise and we'll be right there to cheer it on.

    Stay true to your team. Stay true to your love of the game of baseball. We will all be better baseball fans for having gone through this rough stretch and it will make the glory of victory that much better. To get to the good, many times you have to go through the bad but the bad makes the good feel so much better.

    Losing doesn't feel good. I'm not telling people to accept losing and not be mad about it. Just trying to convey the opinion that you should never give up on something that means so much to you just because it might be the fashionable thing to do.

    In closing (and I know I could have just said this at the very beginnging and been done with it), our best years are ahead of us!!!
    "Strickland Propane... Taste the meat, not the heat." - Hank Hill


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  3. #2
    Danger is my business! oneupper's Avatar
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    Re: Calling All Reds Fans Under Age 25

    I guess I should feel lucky for being old?
    "A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals and you know it."

    http://dalmady.blogspot.com

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    A Pleasure to Burn Joseph's Avatar
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    Re: Calling All Reds Fans Under Age 25

    I'm in the in between group here apparently, 32....too young to remember the BRM, too old to count with the people who have no good memories at all.

    Your hearts certainly in the right place though RF30

    Championships for MY teams in my lifetime:
    Cincinnati Reds - 75, 76, 90
    Chicago Blackhawks - 10, 13, 15
    University of Kentucky - 78, 96, 98, 12
    Chicago Bulls - 91, 92, 93, 96, 97, 98


    “Everything that happens before Death is what counts.”
    ― Ray Bradbury, Something Wicked This Way Comes

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    Yay! dabvu2498's Avatar
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    Re: Calling All Reds Fans Under Age 25

    Quote Originally Posted by oneupper
    I guess I should feel lucky for being old?
    I was going to say... I'm doubly lucky because I actually remember the 1990 World Series.

    I can't say the same about 75 or 76, but I was born right in the middle of the 1975 NLCS. Dad still tells me he named me for two members of the BRM and not the two guys from the Bible.

    Take heart young discontented Reds fans... most of us are not JUST Reds fans, but BASEBALL fans. And yes, there is a difference, and that is a good difference.
    When all is said and done more is said than done.

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    Re: Calling All Reds Fans Under Age 25

    Ill second that one redsfan

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    Re: Calling All Reds Fans Under Age 25

    Just when I had accepted the fact that I am a codger because I can remember the '75 and '76 Series now I have to accept that I'm a codger because I rememeber the '90 series too.

    I know more Yankees and Patriots "fans" than I'd care to know. It's easy to root for a winning team, but it takes character to root for struggling teams.
    Excellent post redsfan30!

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    Member cumberlandreds's Avatar
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    Re: Calling All Reds Fans Under Age 25

    I guess I'm really old. I go back to 1971. I can remember most of the BRM days and the 1990 championship team. Hand me my cane now. I should add that I feel fortunate to have those memories of truly great Reds teams. I feel bad for the younger fans but also admire them for sticking by the Reds during these down years.
    Reds Fan Since 1971

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    Posting from Southwest VA redsfaninbsg's Avatar
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    Re: Calling All Reds Fans Under Age 25

    19 years old here, I know of three Reds fans on my entire campus and Cincinnati is the closest MLB city to our school. With that being said at my high school I was the only Reds fans and my high school is 30 miles from my college. I was three when the Reds won the world series and eight when the 95 playoff run occurred. I'm to the point were I expect the Reds to lose and was to the same point with my Redskins until last season. I love the game of baseball more than any other sport but deep down inside it's hard for me to imagine the Reds winning the World Series. The odds are so heavily stacked against them that it's hard to get real excited if you sit and think logically at Major League Baseball. However, every April I'm as ready as anyone to watch the Reds and with this hot start like any other diehard fan I believe that the Reds can make the playoffs. Sadly, I do believe the Reds will fall this month but inside I want to believe that they can win knowing in the grand schemes of thing the odds aren't in their favor.
    This is the ol Left Hander rounding third and heading for home.

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    Re: Calling All Reds Fans Under Age 25

    I'm 24 and I remember the 1990 World Series very well, my birthday is in October and I got an Eric Davis jersey that year. And I still have my wire to wire shirt. And I watched every game wearing it. I was at one of Johnny Bench's last games, I am told, I don't really remember that, although whether you believe me or not I do remember some parts of it.

    As far as the lately I have no problem telling people I'm a Reds fan, I think if you worry about people making fun of you because of your sports team you've got other issues that might be a touch more serious. So I wouldn't compare it to having a disabled family member, because I do and there's really nothing similar between the two. No I'm not offended be you saying that I'm just saying they're not the same.

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    Re: Calling All Reds Fans Under Age 25

    I can remember the 1919 World Series. My Dad took me to it in fact.

  12. #11
    We are the angry mob cincyinco's Avatar
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    Re: Calling All Reds Fans Under Age 25

    I'm just turned 26 on the 18th of May this year, so I just fall out of your 25 and under guidline, but your post echoes my feelings exactly.

    I've lived in Denver, CO all my life. Born and raised here. My father is from a small town outside Dayton called Piqua(I'm sure some of you know it). He moved out here back in I dont even know when... but some of my first memories are watching Reds games on the tube with him. I will always love the Reds, becuase for me it signifies a special bond between father and son.

    That said, its tough sometimes being a Reds fan here in Colorado. Most folks ask me "why the heck are you a Reds fan?" And I have to remind them that MLB didn't exist in these parts until 1993 - i was 13 by then - and I had already long ago pledged my loyalty to the Reds.

    I remember 90, the sweep. Eric Davis making a diving catch and not getting up... i think larkin went out to get the ball... Eric the Red.. What a ball player. Watching the WS games during dinner - probably the only time in my life that my father let me watch TV during meal time(of course, he too was wrapped up around the tube then). I remember 95, I was CERTAIN we were going to go all the way under Davey. I took a lot of heat in highschool being 15 - becuase the rockies made it that year too, so everyone around here was on the rocky bandwagon. I saw the braves beat the rockies - even got a ball from John Smoltz that year - only to be dissapointed that we lost a real tough series to the Braves. I remember the Schott debacle... ugh.

    I remember the strike and falling out of favor with MLB. I remember "the chase" sort of grabbing my attention my first year in college. And I remember 99 getting me right back into the game I loved because the improbable reds were doing just that, the improbable. I remember the day Griffey came to the Reds, and I rejoiced - I figured 2000 was for sure the year.

    Its only been heartache ever since. But I still count myself fortunate to have seen the better parts of this franchise over the last 25/26 years. I wasn't born when the BRM was around. But I relived stories told to me by my father. When I was a youngster, my two favorite teams were the Reds and Yankees, due to their legendary statuses in baseball history. I have since grown to hate the new era of yankees and stienbrenner, but I still love the legends of Ruth, DiMaggio, Gehrig, and Mantle(who doesn't DREAM of owning a mantle rookie card when they're kids?!?)... I'm happy to have focused my efforts on the Reds(thanks georgie), dispite their struggles. I've been happy to stick through the crap knowing that one day we might see october again.

    Simply put, I can't imagine myself being a truer fan of any other team in baseball. And when I get down, I just take solace that I'm not a Royals fan.

    Great post rf30.
    "I hate to advocate chemicals, alcohol, violence or insanity to anyone... But they've always worked for me."

    -Hunter S. Thompson

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    Member kbrake's Avatar
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    Re: Calling All Reds Fans Under Age 25

    I'm 20 and have always taken plenty of crap for being a Reds fan, but most of that is my fault because every year I tell people this will be the year. Then when we get off to a hot start I talk as much smack as possible. Then when we collapse I say we are getting close wait until next year.

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    Re: Calling All Reds Fans Under Age 25

    I just recently turned 24 and my Cincinnati Reds fandom has been a core part of my identity growing up. Born in Columbus, I lived in Dublin and Dayton before moving to State College, PA in July of 1990. Now that was a rough summer.

    You learn to love your team when as an 8 year old starting 3rd grade in the core of Pirates country, you wear a Reds t-shirt to your new school everyday for a month. Everybody around me was talking Killer B's (Bonds, Bonilla, Bream), Andy Van Slyke, and Doug Drabek. Meanwhile, I was telling them that Barry Larkin was the best shortstop ever and that Chris Sabo could kick Van Slyke's butt.

    I ended up moving from PA to MN for high school and got to witness a truly bad team in the mid-late 90's twins. I learned to read at 4 years old pouring over Reds box scores. I still had Barry Larkin and Eric Davis posters on my bedroom walls in high school and I have Larkin and Kearns bobbleheads & a Paul O'Neil autographed pennant (3 hours in line at the Dayton mall) decorating my cube.

    Now I live in Chicago and have to put up with insuffrable Cubs fans who taunt me continuously as I try to avoid getting run over by the overflowing White Sox bandwagon. But I'll go to my grave with a red cap bearing a wishbone C.
    Games are won on run differential -- scoring more than your opponent. Runs are runs, scored or prevented they all count the same. Worry about scoring more and allowing fewer, not which positions contribute to which side of the equation or how "consistent" you are at your current level of performance.

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    Redsmetz redsmetz's Avatar
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    Re: Calling All Reds Fans Under Age 25

    Quote Originally Posted by dabvu2498
    Dad still tells me he named me for two members of the BRM and not the two guys from the Bible.
    Your name is Pedro Morgan?

  16. #15
    Mon chou Choo vaticanplum's Avatar
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    Re: Calling All Reds Fans Under Age 25

    Quote Originally Posted by redsfan30
    I, myself, just turned 21 years old. I can speak from personal experience that many people our age just root for winners. I know more Yankees and Patriots "fans" than I'd care to know. It's easy to root for a winning team, but it takes character to root for struggling teams.
    I love your post, but of course I can't just let this one slide. There are plenty of reasons to hate the Yankees and their fans, but a lot of the ones pulled out by people often are kind of fallacious. I can't speak for Patriots fandom, but how many fair-weather Yankee fans do any of you really know? Let me tell you something. It is incredibly difficult to be a Yankees fan anywhere outside of New York. The assumptions made about Yankees fans and the amount of things held against them before they're even given a chance to speak are staggering. It it not, in my experience, a team for whom people root casually, simply because there's too much grief involved to do so.

    This is not to say that there isn't something wonderful to be said for people who follow a losing team. That takes a lot of faith and heart and often a dang good sense of humor. And I absolutely agree with you that a Reds victory will be that much sweeter to you given all the crap you've had to go through to get there. But why are you a Reds fan? Family, geography, team members that you love? You did not choose to follow them because they were a losing team, did you? I doubt it, and anyone who chooses a team for such a reason (paging certain Cubs fans) is no different in my mind than someone who "chooses" to follow a winning team, ie. a win/lose record should never be a reason to follow a team either way, because a record will inevitably change. Were there fair-weather Yankee fans in the heydey of recent years? sure, just as I guarantee you there will be when the Reds start to win. If those fans stick around, it's great that a winning team brought them around. That's the nature of sports and of people. If they don't stick around, they won't bother you and the tickets they buy will help our team for a little while. It's all ok.

    The fact that you are a Reds fan through this time in their history speaks very highly of your love of them and, in a way, of you yourself. But the converse is not necessarily true; the love that people may have for a largely winning team is not any less. Every loss hurts, and sometimes I really do think that what I am able to enjoy in the way of Yankees' wins is almost negated by the ridicule and hate I have to deal with (seriously). I'm not whining; I love the team and stupid people aren't going to drive me away from it, but it's exhausting, and I guess my point is that if you really know a lot of Yankees "fans" as you call them, that's one thing, but on the other hand no one should discount Yankees fans for rooting for a winning team any more than people should ridicule you for rooting for a losting team.
    There is no such thing as a pitching prospect.


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