Now, why would a bunch of ex-Met players sign on to this letter is unclear. But the tone of the email got several writers, including a New York Post columnist in an angry mood. He reminded the team that the team has been horrible for the last several years. That the team did little to change the steady decline since its last playoff appearance. The franchise had been rocked by ownership scandal (the Madoff case) and fans were asked to pay more and more for a lesser product on the field.
The Mets may have misread the fans anger against ownership and management as losing interest in the team. But, in some circles, an angry fan base shows their passion for their team. They don't like losing, and neither should the team.
The takeaway from this controversy was anger is good; apathy is death.
There are several stages to a fan's appreciation of their team. First is basic joy to watch and experience their team play the sport at a high level. But if the team starts to lose regularly, or starts to look like the players are not hustling (or just going through the motions), then indifference sets in. Indifference is the "take it or leave it" attitude on whether to go or watch a game. A fan becomes a neutral observer (at best) rather than an interested spectator. The next stage is anger. When a fan gets angry, he knows what is wrong with his team. He knows how to solve the problems he sees with his team. But he is angry that the team is not correcting those mistakes or making any effort to change for the better. Anger is a high energy state of mind which can easily drain a fan's passion so he turns to apathy for his team.
Apathy is lack of interest, enthusiasm, or concern. Apathy is the kiss of death for a professional sports franchise. If a fan lacks interest, enthusiasm or concern for the daily ups and downs of his team, then the team loses someone who has in the past spend his or her time, money and resources to support the franchise. Apathy means lower attendance. Apathy means lower concession and licensing sales of merchandise. Apathy means lower television and broadcast ratings. All of those things are happening to the Cubs.
Since the second year of Ricketts ownership, the Cubs have gone from a contending team to a pretender. Even the anger that the Cubs have been tanking their last two seasons in order to get highly regarded draft prospects as part of the rebuilding plan has started to wane as those touted prospects have never reached the majors.
When die-hard Cub fans become indifferent, it is a quick and slippery slope to apathy.
