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Jack Harrison calls out NYCFC fans for booing Frank Lampard. Hey, welcome to New York!

I wouldn't want to hear my own fans booing a teammate I idolized, either. But not everyone in the Five Boroughs looks at Dank Frank the same way.

By Sam Dunn
/ new
Battlin' Jack.
Battlin' Jack.
Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

In the late hours of May 29th, following New York City FC's bizarrely heartbreaking stoppage-time letdown against Orlando City, Blues scion Jack Harrison tweeted a thing.

I have two responses to this:

  1. Harrison is right to defend his guy, someone he looked up to growing up in England.
  2. Welcome to New York!
Are you glad or not glad we didn't use the Taylor Swift version?

This week, we're knee-deep in the debate over recent uses of a certain rather Bronx-y Cheer in, well, the Bronx. We began by addressing Frank Lampard's utter misunderstanding of the very nature of the boo-birds that jeered him upon his season debut against the Red Bulls. On Tuesday, our Ninety-Plus of Blue series returned to address the risks of booing your own players at your own stadium. Rest assured, we're fascinated by these recent developments, and I've personally had a terrific time on Twitter and Facebook listening to the varied opinions of the fans on this issue. Broadly speaking, they're basically split between two camps:

To put it succinctly, this is an ongoing conversation that has needed to happen, and now it is. Your body overheats and feels like crap while it's fighting an ailment; but it is fighting. That's what's happening in NYCFC Land right now.

For his part, Harrison posted on Instagram following widespread coverage of the tweet that opens this article. As the Bolton-born youngster wrote:

Preparation for Thursday starts now ⚽ ️Btw never meant to offend anyone on Twitter I just want to succeed as one and the fans play a big part We all want the same thing and know that we are working....

I really like this. The kid is 19, and clearly still adjusting to the particular (and seemingly unfair) demands of the New York sports market. He wasn't transgressing in standing up for a guy in Frank Lampard that has a nigh-untouchable list of career accomplishments. If Jack is as bright as the NYCFC organization thinks he is, there's no legitimate reason to worry about any ill will or alienation here (or, if we're keeping with our T-Swift theme, bad blood). I'd expect quite the opposite of bad blood in the long term, in fact.

Now, the next order of business: making sure Jack's self-proclaimed 'favorite restaurant in New York' doesn't stay Chipotle for long. I mean, have you WITNESSED the full-on spicy-fabulous epicurean majesty of the Koreano sandwich at Fuku on 1st Avenue?

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