Ken Rosenthal calls Philly soft for Trea Turner’s standing ovation in ridiculous piece
MLB reporter and mega-nerd Ken Rosenthal had some interesting thoughts on Trea Turner’s standing ovation. He didn’t have a problem with it but still managed to make a comment to draw the ire of Phillies fans: He called them soft.
Ken Rosenthal quickly made an enemy of the city of Philadelphia with this excerpt:
I wasn’t quite as enraged by this comment as a lot of others were, but I was admittedly slightly annoyed. Anybody not from Philadelphia talking about Philadelphia irks me, even if they’re saying something positive.
Of course, if we continued booing Turner, we’d still be seen as the same old terrible fans. Calling us soft for supporting a guy that’ll be here for a decade is downright lame.
We’re damned if we boo, damned if we don’t.
It’s especially unsettling that he said a “soft Philly pretzel” instead of a “Philly soft pretzel.” One is a delicious local treat, while the other is just a pretzel that’s soft located in Philadelphia.
The two phrases have totally different meanings. I expect better diction from a renowned sports journalist. That might be the most egregious part of the whole situation.
Also, the people who care or are genuinely (or fake) mad about his comments are the same ones yelling at our fearless Editor-in-Chief for saying Turner didn’t deserve an ovation, so maybe Ken Rosenthal is right to a degree.
I still do loathe that he posits this “kinder, gentler Philadelphia” is “getting results.” The idea that Phillies fans fixed Trea Turner by cheering extra loud is such a masturbatory way to look at the situation
But hey, it’s true. Philly fans have changed a bit but so has society as a whole. While the softness spectrum in this country has shifted, Philly fans still exist far from anything acceptable in polite society.
Flipping a double bird immediately after a Phillies win doesn’t seem too soft to me. How about you, Ken?
Don’t get me wrong, I have tremendous respect for Ken Rosenthal, largely in part because he’s a massive nerd. But going from nerd to dork is a dangerous game with few winners to speak of.
And by the way, get this guy and everybody else out of the fucking dugout during playoff broadcasts. It’s the second-worst gimmick in sports broadcasting and it has to stop immediately.
