In which water freezes over in the South

Did you guys know that Nashville has a hockey team? They are called the "Predators," which apparently is this:

Which looks like a cross between a saber-toothed tiger and a wolf, if you blunted its teeth so it wouldn't bust free and kill everyone in the crowd.

Anyway, I went to my first Predators game last night (vs. the Wild, of course), and Nashville fans are... what is the nice word?... obnoxious. Now, I've been to Chicago Cubs games, and so I know that the logical opposite extreme to obnoxiousness is flirting and not paying attention to the game, and I absolutely prefer the obnoxious end of that spectrum. And also, attending hockey in the South I kind of expected that the stadium would be empty and the few people attending would laze about and not really understand what was going on. So, the first time there was a seemingly spontaneous cheer of "You suck!" (after the Predators' first goal), I kind of smiled. Then, when they chanted "Theeeeeodore*... Theeeeodore.... Theeeeeeodore! You suck! It's all your fault!" I was a little put off. And when they did the identical chants after every one of the Predators' five goals, I got a little ticked.

Here's my thing about booing. I get that these folks are paid millions of dollars, and they probably should be able to just deal with you chanting their name and yelling mean things at you. Certainly they can handle it better than I would, but I feel like that's not a license to be an asshole. Also, I hear people argue that it's "all part of the game," which I think is just not true.

We cheer and yell and scream when great things happen because we have been entertained, and because it's a visceral response of joy that we share, and that is what is beautiful about sports. And a loud, disappointed noise invariably goes up when the away team scores a goal, or someone misses a catch, or the ball is just short of fair, and that's beautiful too, because it is thousands of people all experiencing disappointment together and letting out a collective sigh for all the beauty they just missed and all the hope that they just lost. But when you take up chants, positive or negative, you're now consciously expressing your emotions and communicating them to your team and to the other fans and to everyone in the stadium. And maybe this is just irretrievably Midwestern of me, but I think you should keep your negative emotions to yourself. I'm sorry that you're upset about your team losing, but you don't have to be a dick about it. Even worse, don't be a sore winner.

---

* The Wild's backup goalie: Jose Theodore. He did not have a good game.