Always remember that the word “fan” has its roots in the word “fanatic”.
And this is exemplified by the behaviour of Allan Carlson, a Los Angeles resident who is an avid fan of Philadelphia’s baseball team, the Philadelphia Phillies.
Apparently Carlson had issues with the way that the Phillies’ management was handling, or perhaps not handling, the team. Ok, so they aren’t taking any firsts this year. But still, everyone’s a critic.
Well, actually, that, apparently, was the problem. Not everybody was a critic, or at least not being critical enough. That was Carlson’s big beef.
Carlson felt that the sportswriters back in Philadelphia, and specifically those working for the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News, weren’t inquiring enough – and weren’t being critical enough of the Phillies management.
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So he took it upon himself to send out lots and lots of email criticizing the Phillies management.
Using the names and email addresses of the sportswriters for the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News.
Oops.
And he sent the vitriolic email, blasting the Phillies and their management, to email addresses he had harvested from Phillies fan chat rooms and message boards, and alumni clubs for Philadelphia high schools.
Oops again.
Carlson hit a foul ball, and slid right into Federal court.
Said assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Levy during his prosecution of Carlson , “Like a lot of people, he was not happy about the fact that the Phillies were not winning. But Mr. Carlson… decided to do something more. He launched an electronic attack against the Philadelphia Phillies and Philadelphia Newspapers Inc.”
Carlson, who represented himself (3 oops and you’re out), said that he didn’t know it was a crime. But as we all know, ignorance (and there can be no doubting Carlson’s ignorance) is no excuse for the law.
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