LA Angels Tuesday News Crash:

Emotional and tribal – that makes sense in the old days when people came from small towns or villages and we were not a global society. What you are saying is more similar to the English Premier League where teams were the center of social life in say Liverpool where there are two teams (Liverpool FC and Everton) within a mile of each other. In that situation, the tribal mentality makes sense, because the other fans literally live all around you and are part of your ‘tribe’. To some extent I could see that being true of the Green Bay Packers as well.

That kind of mentality doesn’t really apply here in So Cal. So many of the Angel fans today are rooting only for Ohtani. They come from all over the place and have no real connection to a local ‘tribe’. Even the team’s name is not local now that it is associated with a city of 20 million plus people.

I used to feel a tribal and local connection to this team when I was younger. That has long since passed, and my connection to the team has become more logic-based rather that irrational blind fanship.

I find it exceedingly difficult to root for a team that is self destructive and run by a dysfunctional Organization. That does not mean that I do not have a deep seated love for the Angels – it just means that I do expect something in return. My expectations are not unreasonable – they are simply that dysfunction be recognized and replaced with a solid baseball Org. If that happens, I really don’t care if they win or lose. I will be rooting for them to win, but I will be proud of the team no matter what.