Dick Monfort agrees to meet angry fan for coffee
Dick Monfort got himself in a little hot water this week by lashing out at a fan from Grand junction via email. Another fan, however, wrote Dick a lengthy letter to which he responded. That fan, Christine Voss (@hurryhurryomaha) on Twitter, recieved a reply from Dick – and a request to meet him for coffee. Christine will be sitting down with the Rockies owner tomorrow. She has kindly allowed us to reproduce her letter here at South Stands Denver. It’s after the jump.
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Dear Dick Monfort,
In any facet of life, I would be astounded by and mortified for a person who is as blissfully and arrogantly clueless as you are. What makes your ignorance an even more gut-wrenching disgrace is that you are the owner of a professional baseball club. A professional baseball club in one of the greatest sports towns in the United States of America. Your inability to face the truth of what is happening with the Colorado Rockies is not only an insult to the great fans of Colorado and to the city of Denver, but a slap in the face to the sport of baseball.
I’m a Colorado native (as are you), and I can attest that being a sports fan in the Rocky Mountains is a privilege. I have friends all across the country who envy the sporting events and fandom that we in Denver have at our fingertips. In Denver, going to a Rockies game is ingrained in our way of life. Since 1993, the Rockies have been the summertime staple in every Coloradoan’s calendar. We embraced the team from the first second of the expansion draft on November 17, 1992 (the day before my 9th birthday). The construction of Coors Field transformed downtown Denver into the beautiful, fun, classy, boisterous city that it is today. For Coloradoans, the Rockies aren’t just a team that we cheer for sometimes, and forget about when wins are few and far between. They are as much a part of Denver as Casa Bonita, Blucifer the satanic horse at DIA, or Dealin’ Doug. We recognize that, why don’t you?
I understand that you’re a business man and that transparency likely isn’t your strong suit. If you think that the situation you’re in right now can be smoothed over with some buzzwords, vague answers to honest questions, and what I can only assume are rose-colored bi-focal lenses, I am sad for you. I’m sad that you have the job that I grew up dreaming of having one day and you can’t give your home state the respect we deserve to tell at least admit that you have done a poor job. That would be a good start, but all we’ve heard so far, and by “we,” I mean the fans who take time out of our daily lives and take money out of our bank accounts to support the team that YOU make money from, is that you don’t know how the team has fallen 15 games below .500, and you’ll “look into some things” in the offseason, and it’s been unfortunate that guys haven’t stayed healthy. Why aren’t you mad, Dick? This is your reputation, your money, and your business at stake. Not to mention your state, the fans that stand behind the team, and also those pesky professional baseball players who are wasting away valuable days of their career on a sinking ship.
I’m not about to tell you that I know how you can fix all of the team’s problems. I probably have the same opinions that every other fan has. We need more consistent pitching, we can’t leave runners in scoring position, we need to be more aggressive offensively on the road. I can tell you all of that without giving you even a shred of insight on how to accomplish any of those things. Why? Because I’m not the owner of a professional baseball club, Dick. You are. When you put financial interest into the Colorado Rockies you should have recognized that things wouldn’t always be perfect and that when the team struggles you need to take responsibility and at least appear to care about the well-being of your team, your fans, and your city. We aren’t getting that from you, Dick, and that’s why people are so mad.
Baseball fans know that losing is a part of the game. A beautiful part of the game, actually, because losing in baseball is necessary. Hell, lose 100 games if you want, but at least talk about what’s going wrong, what could be better, what you’re doing to fix it, what your ideas are to start winning. I’m not saying the Rockies need to win every game from now until the end of September, because I know that won’t happen. I just want to walk into Coors Field, which I lovingly refer to as “my second home,” and feel like the owners of the Rockies love the team as much as I do. Stop treating this team that you own, this team that has an astounding amount of talent, as though they are a thorn in your side.
This is the part of my rant where you’re likely expecting me to say that I’m boycotting the Rockies and will not go to any games until you have done something to repair the hole in the Titanic that is the 2014 season. However, that’s not what I’m going to say. You see, Dick, the thing about being a baseball fan (which I’m not actually convinced that you are) is that I don’t give up on my team. I’m going to continue to go to games and I’m going to continue to cheer for the Rockies.
I will wear purple and black and cheer for the Rockies until the day that I die, because when you commit to being a baseball fan, you commit to some disappointment every now and again. I don’t think you got that memo, Dick. Which is unfortunate, because you’re the owner, also known as the only person on earth who has the power to do something about the Rockies’ situation right now.
Aside from what you are doing to your own life and business, you are single-handedly insulting the state of Colorado and humiliating your players and coaching staff. Your worst offense, though, is that by being blind to your own shortcomings and refusing to do something for your team, you are allowing a baseball club with great talent and potential to fall to pieces in front of our eyes. You’re taking opportunities away from players who deserve to have a chance at winning. You’re snubbing the position and power you have in Major League Baseball, and to those of us who are not only fans but scholars of the game, you are an embarrassment to the sport of baseball.
If you weren’t going to put your heart and soul into baseball, you shouldn’t have put your money into a team. I stand behind the players and coaches 100%. I support them, and every day, pity the fact that you are their boss.
Sincerely,
Christine
