Told by City Paper’s David McKenna his rampant homerism during MASN’s Nationals telecast had inspired a dangerous drinking game (“you have to take one drink whenever Dibble says ‘we,’ ‘our’ or ‘us,’ two drinks if he ‘complains about pitchers throwing too many off-speed pitches,’ and three drinks if he ‘complains about balls and strikes'”) former Reds fireballer Rob Dibble replies, ‘œobviously there™s people in this town and throughout baseball that don™t care for me much,  but I plan on staying around here a long time.  In that case, let’s hope the producers of “All Things Considered” have a plan B.

œIt™s hard not to root for (the Nationals), Dibble says. œI™m with them every day. I was competitive as a player, and I™m even more competitive as a broadcaster, because you™re helpless. You can™t go out there and do it for them. When they™re losing, it™s almost like you don™t want to be critical of them. It™s a split thing, I™m loyal to the fans, and I™ll get on [the players]. But I™m also loyal to the players, because I know how hard it is.

œI looked at one of his old baseball cards recently, turned it over and saw what he did in one season: ˜Holy shit! The guy struck out like 140 batters in 90 innings! Incredible!™ says Jamie Mottram, editor of MisterIrrelevant.com and a creator of the drinking game that mocks Dibble the broadcaster. œBut, even though he played it, I don™t think he understands anything analytic about the game.

Chris Needham, who proposed a œFire Rob Dibble movement early in the 2010 season on his Nationals blog, Capital Punishment, concurs with Mottram. œWe all like a certain level of homer, but he takes it too far, says Needham, who is also a contributor to the sports website SB Nation DC. œHe™s a fan in the booth, and he™s not educating fans.

Of all the complaints he™s heard, Dibble says there™s only one that bothers him. œThe notion that I don™t know the game is laughable, he says.