Buccaneers Round Table: Chris Baker Apologizes to Fans
David Harrison
When the Buccaneers lost their fifth game in a row to fall to 2-6, it was pretty deflating. Honestly, I was struck with a migraine on Sunday, and had to go lay down at halftime so I didn’t even see the full game until Monday evening.
By then I had seen many of your tweets and Facebook posts. Frustration, sadness, anger. I read the team had quit, that they gave up and let their division rivals walk all over them in the second half. Then came the suspension, the finger poking, and even some finger pointing from the fan base.
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I’m not going to lie here. At one-point Monday morning I said to myself, “It’s going to be a long second half”.
We have eight games to go still, and no bye week. No break. For writer’s, the bye week is a down time too. Some of it is stressful because we want to bring you content without falling into click bait territory. At the same time though, it’s a bit of a breather.
There is no breather. This team, the fan base, and even those of us who write about them, are suffocating in a dense cloud of substandard performance. Believe me, it’s no fun to write about bad things.
When there’s no bye week, we have to reach out for refreshment where we can. Brent Grimes’ hopeful return to the field might spark some life into the defense. Patrick Murray making all most of his kicks. Talking to Browns fans who wish they could be as frustrated as the Buccaneers fan base is. And, getting an apology from a player.
Fan is short for fanatic. This isn’t a soft word. It isn’t light and fluffy like supporter, or athletic booster. It’s rabid. It’s standing for four hours straight and leaving yourself hoarse….while watching in your living room.
It’s buying clothes with other grown men’s names on them, and having the one special one that guarantees a win because it was blessed by magical wing sauce once ten years ago, and even though there’s a hole in the armpit and smells like 10-year old mustard (even though you don’t eat mustard), you refuse to get rid of it.
Being a fan also means getting overly hyped, and overwhelmingly sad during the offseason depending on the actions of your favorite team. It also means having whatever expectations you had getting smashed as fast as they came to you.
Think the Patriots fans expected a loss in Week 1? Or Jets fans thought they’d be celebrating a four win team halfway through the season? By the way, the Jets are in last place in the AFC East. Still, they celebrate. Why? Expectations.
So, we as fans expect things. But what most of us never expect is an apology. We hear, ‘I have to be better’. Or, ‘We just didn’t execute’. So on, and so on.
Rarely do we hear, “sorry BUC FANS YOU DESERVE BETTER”, yet here we are.
So the Buccaneers fan fully accepts Chris Baker’s apology. Because it wasn’t necessary, because it wasn’t owed to us, because it wasn’t provoked by comment or question, and because it gives all fans of the team just a little sliver of hope. Mostly, because it’s the only refreshing thing to come out of One Buc since Week 4, and man do we need it.
Next: Week 10 Fantasy Football
This wraps up The Pewter Plank’s round table on Chris Baker’s postgame apology to Buccaneers fans in Week 9.
What are your thoughts? Which writer’s opinion do you agree with, and which one do you hate the most?
Also, put yourself in this arena, and let us know what you think!
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