Thread by @fake_dante, When @Pr0ducerKev asked me to do a commentary for #HeyNext on Bridich [...]

When @Pr0ducerKev asked me to do a commentary for #HeyNext on Bridich leaving the Rockies, my first though was ‘Absolutely!’

My second thought was ‘How can I sum up my thoughts without getting fired?’

(LONG thread warning)

I think I covered the important bases, but the reality of TV is that I had to fit everything into a limited amount of time (although Kevin was very nice about giving me an extra 10 seconds so I didn’t need to cut any more!)

Twitter, however, has no such limits, so lucky you!

I was a Rockies fan from the start. I went to the second ever home game at Old Mile High (a 9-5 win over the Montreal Expos). Eric Young stole two bases and became my favorite player. At least until a few weeks later when I saw Vinny Castilla smash a monster home run.

I still have an autographed Castilla photo in my bedroom today. The man was a great player and a better person. If you ever want a sports hero who won’t let you down, he’s my recommendation.

My parents weren’t huge sports people, so I didn’t get to too many games growing up, but that changed in college. Attending @msudenver, Coors Field was just up the street, and we took full advantage.

I can’t even guess how many games I saw with @romejohn5, @mattgunn, and @WalterAllenTV. Our spring semester classes were always at risk because who could resist a random evening game?

Opening Day was a holiday for us. We burned vacation time (and maybe sick days...) to be sure we didn’t miss out. There was nothing like listening to the first national anthem of the season.

Eventually we all got jobs in random corners of the country, but whenever someone was back to visit, the assumption was always that we’d get together for a Rockies game. No mater what else, that had to happen.

I particularly remember one evening game that @romejohn5 and I attended. A heavy rain storm moved in during the top of the 7th inning. We had nowhere to be, and we hadn’t hit the 7th inning stretch closure of the concession stands, so we decided to wait it out.

The officials refused to cancel the game, and so the delay stretched on for almost three hours. By the time the players jogged back out onto the soggy diamond, there were maybe 100 fans left. Stadium staff walked around giving us all “Loyal Fan” pins.

We loved this team. Through 98-loss seasons and trips to the World Series. I’ll never be able to properly thank @melanylynn for getting us tickets to see the decisive Game 4 of the 2007 NLCS. History was made and tears were shed.

I thought I would support this team through anything.

I was wrong.

The last few years weren’t about bad baseball, they were about a front office that didn’t CARE that it was bad baseball. They had created an experience that was separate from the game.

As long as that made money, why bother with a good team?

That attitude led to the departure of some of our best players, headlined by Nolan Arenado. He got sick of the total apathy towards building a competitive team, and so he asked for an out.

True to form, we didn’t just trade him, we paid cash for another team to take one of the best players in the game. That was the last straw for me. I couldn’t support management that didn’t seem to care.

I wasn’t going to complain on Twitter about it. It wasn’t the fault of the teams social media department (those folks are fantastic, and the @Rockies account has been endlessly entertaining even through all of this).

It certainly wasn’t the players fault either. I hope all these guys have amazing careers.

I just couldn’t justify giving money to the team and in doing so offer implied support to how it was being run.

I stopped wearing my Rockies gear. I didn’t watch games. I cut the team off.

It hurt. I hate not rooting for the team I’ve always cheered for. Not looking ahead to going to a home game, now that I’m almost done with my vaccines, was tough. It felt like an ugly breakup, only one that one side had no idea was happening.

Then the news broke today of Bridich stepping down.

I hate to celebrate someone losing their job, especially someone who spent almost 20 years there. Today has to be terrible for him and his family.

But today also had to happen. And it should have happened long before this.

I don’t know if things will change with new management, or if ownership has been the larger issue. Maybe things will be even worse.

Maybe we’ll find out that Bridich was the only thing standing in the way of total collapse.

But this is still My Team, and I can’t help but see change as a chance to improve. Like I have for most of my life, I’m back to rooting for them to fight through and find a way to win.

I’m just happy to be able to believe in this team again.

This was a long thread. Let me cap it off by sharing one last anecdote:

I went to games for 20+ years and never got on the Jumbotron. A group of us took then-new reporter @SteveStaeger to his first ever game and he got on twice.

Dancing like a madman seems to work.

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