Don't be like Scrooge toward other Cardinals fans this Christmas season

Merry Christmas, St. Louis Cardinals fans!

For as frustrating as 2023 was for fans of the Redbirds, one of the things I love about this community the most is its ability to band together in love for their team. Sure, we all have our quarrels and frustrations with how the team is run at times, some more than others, but the vast majority of Cardinals fans are kind toward one another and enjoy rooting together for the success of this team.

Often times the loudest voices can be the most negative though. Hey, if you're frustrated about how the Cardinals are run or disagree with their moves, you are entitled to that opinion, and you don't need permission from me or anyone else to voice that. It's what fandom is for.

But one thing I do hope to see less of this Christmas season is Cardinals fans embodying the wrong Christmas spirit toward one another: Ebenezer Scrooge.

If you think of Scrooge at the beginning of that famous story, he is a bitter man, full of anger and rage toward those who want to find joy in this season. He's notorious for not wanting to spend money, but it's the way he carries himself that truly rubs us the wrong way.

I can already hear the jokes now about the DeWitts or the Cardinals front office being the true "Scrooges". Again, asking anyone to change their perception of this team, but if you feel hate or deep frustration towards this team while someone else wants to enjoy the Cardinals, why rain on their parade?

What I'm talking about here is not the same as having a different take on how this team will do in 2024. This point has to do with the name-calling and the unending negativity that some Cardinals fans choose to show one another. If someone wants to follow the team, watch their games, or even spend money to go to the stadium or buy some merchandise, there's no need to make them feel bad about it.

The Christmas season is meant to be one of hope in the midst of chaos. Let's be honest, there are plenty of things in this world that already cause us enough pain or anguish, I'm not sure we really need to be ripping into other fans and bringing them down with us.

For the majority of Cardinals fans who, although they may be disappointed in how the last 365 days have gone, are still choosing to recapture that childlike joy that the game of baseball can bring to us, you are what makes this game so fun to be a part of. It's the community that we can find as Cardinals Nation, the memories we can make, and the joy that this game brings that makes the fandom worth it in the end. Most of us hold this team to a very high standard, and I love that about us, but don't loose the fun of the came in the midst of it.

Merry Christmas Cardinals Nation. I am grateful to root for this team alongside you!