Give me a break

For crying out loud:

Boston Red Sox fans think their team operates under a curse?

HA! SOMEONE SHOULD TELL THEM to try the life of a Pirates fan. While the Sawx might live under the Curse of the Bambino, Pittsburgh baseball has a multitude of more tangible, authentic curses placed on it. They just don't have catchy names.

The Curse of Front-Office Ineptitude? No? How about The Curse of the Barren Farm System? Doesn't roll off the tongue, does it? OK, try The Curse of Talent Deficiency? Or The Curse of the Torn Elbow Ligament? (this one particularly seems to affect every single friggin' pitching prospect the organization has ever had).

I think I found a winner: The Curse of Having Really, Really Bad Players.

Click here to read the rest of Chris Adamski's juvenile screed. I don't know how he gets work writing about the Pirates for MLB.com when his specialty appears to be rooting for the Yankees and rubbing salt into the wounds of Pirates fans.

FWIW, I shit on the notion that the Pirates are a "cursed" franchise. I don't think Pirate fans are so irrational or superstitious. And more, I am annoyed by writers who peddle petty jollies by holding up the Pirates to ridicule.

Of course there's some truth to what he's saying, but the evidence does not support the conclusion and I object to the tone of the whole.

In a related story, the Bucs' president of marketing and sales, Mike Berry, resigned. I don't know anything about the circumstances of the resignation, but it can't be easy to sell tickets to the locals. It's unfortunate that so many fans are put in the position of defending the team when exaggerated or ill-informed interpretations of their progress are so commonplace in the newspapers, magazines, and television shows. Writers who would prefer, all things being equal, to do some good for the storied but struggling franchise, might consider the fact that the Pirates are dealing with a demoralized fan base when they frame their arguments and color their conclusions.

I'm not saying that it is some kind of crime to be critical of the team or to see the glass as half-empty: I don't complain when someone writes the truth. And it's not the duty of all baseball writers to encourage ticket sales. I know that. If someone wants to slam the Bucs, more power to him. But if those slams are exaggerated, childish, or just plain inaccurate, then the crowd will kindly part when I come forward to reprobate such criticism.