Yet another incident involving a Boston based sports team. Back in December, the New England Patriots were caught filming the Cincinnati Bengals a week prior to their matchup. They have been fined over a million dollars and lost a 3rd round draft pick for next year. It adds another black eye to the franchise over its last 20 years of controversial moments. One of the brighter spots was signing former Carolina Panther Cam Newton for a year and a decent sized salary.
But that pales to the negativity surrounding the city of Boston and their sports teams. Particularly, the Red Sox. With racism a hot button topic over the last month, it came to light of incidents involving opponents and even actual Red Sox players. From their own fans saying nasty things to the players of the team they root for. I guess it started with Twins legend Torii Hunter. Not too long ago, he talked to a Boston radio station about not wanting to ever traded to Fenway. Not because he didn't want to go there. Because of fans shouting slurs. While I would say it probably happens in all stadiums, it probably happens more there. This isn't new either. Oriole outfielder Adam Jones went through rough moments in 2017 with slurs thrown at him. To the point where the Red Sox apologized.
Not too long ago either, Red Sox legend Kevin Youkilis talked about the fans going after his own teammates. It's one thing to berate a player on the team you like because of their struggles. But the slurs. It adds more to how bad Boston can be as far as their fanbase goes. Inside the locker rooms, many experience the same stuff. Pats tight end Ben Watson discussed earlier this month about racism with the teams he was with. It does go beyond Boston. Can't be any different than New York, Los Angeles, Miami. Just to name a few of some of the big sports cities. Whether stories get made public or not, who knows.
I don't know how fans can keep dealing with these kind of incidents. Too much controversy over the last 20 years.
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