Operation Orange

Orioles fans and Redskins backers have become somewhat kindred spirits over the course of the Angelos/Snyder reigns of error. So it was with a note of solidarity that I received the news of the latest campaign by O's supporters to turn their home ballpark into, well, a home ballpark.

A group of enterprising black and orange sufferers have started Operation Orange in hopes of filling Camden Yards with real, live Orioles fans. I wish them luck, but I'm not holding my breath.

Several years ago, a far less kind and gentle me had a bit different take on one of Operation Orange's predecessors in the late, lamented Misery Loves Company. At least the O's fans of yesteryear had some righteous outrage. Now, they're just worn down by the combined weight of the dismal Angelos years. Kinda like a football fan base I know. Here's what those guys at MLC had to say back in 2007:

Orioles blog The Loss Column (aptly named, indeed) is mad as hell, and they aren't gonna take it any more. Fed up with invading "sewer rat" Red Sox and Yankee fans, they're fomenting a mass movement (and by mass in the context of O's fans, I'm guessing 8-10 doofuses hopped up on Natty Bo) to Take Back the Yard when the Sox visit Baltimore on September 8.

I appreciate the effort, honestly. And I get the frustration. I've written several times in this space about my mixed emotions regarding Sox fans and their behavior in visiting parks. The Nation ain't perfect by a long shot. But my admittedly biased worldview informs an opinion that the protest is targeted about as accurately as Dick Cheney's shotgun. There's a reason Sox and Yankee fans overrun Camden Yards, and it sits in the owner's box.

If Peter Angelos hadn't gutted a once-proud franchise to the point where hometown fans stay away in droves, and erstwhile fans from closer to the Beltway completely ignore his team now that they've got another option, tickets wouldn't be available for Sox and Yanks fans. Were I an O's fan, I'd be bitter, too. But I'd probably be smart enough to target that anger appropriately.

And another thing, Loss Column. Before you go tossing rocks at other cities, consider the glass house in which you live. Despite the nickname, Charm City it ain't. Boston accents are funny? How 'bout Nancy the barmaid, hon? Downa shore from Bawlteeeemore. You probably think The Wire is fiction. You may not want to go down that particular path, lest the Sox fans that almost certainly will outnumber those in black and orange take umbrage.