I mean, I guess first you have to define what being a real fan is. Is a real fan someone who knows all the stats, to all the players for the last 20 years? Or is a real fan someone who through thick or thin will root for their team, never wavering for the temptations of any other team. In my opinion, it's more towards the latter.
The first kind of fan is what I like to call a die hard. They'll do research, spend hours crafting the perfect fantasy team, and pick teams or players here and there that exemplify, in their opinion, the "best" attribute. The Best Team; The Best Player. To the die hard, it is this group of teams or players that make the sport worthwhile. Without these pillars of athleticism, the sport becomes hollow, and isn't worth watching or dedicating that much effort to pay attention to.
Personally I'm all for my New England Teams. Sox, Celts, B's, Pats. (Who cares about the Revolution? I haven't heard any U.S. Soccer news on SportsCenter in... 2 years not counting David Beckham.) I've got a few outside loyalties from my Parents home states. Cubs, Bulls, Bears, Dodgers, 49ers. No love for the Lakers. I know some of the stats, most of the big names, and I'm always glad to hear one of my teams dominated.
While I might not watch every game all season, I'm always happy to see one of my teams win. Throughout the season, I'll catch a game here a game there, and always cheer for my team. If I don't catch a game, for the most part I'm not phased. Then it gets to playoff time, and I know it's important, so I'll put a little more effort into watching and rooting. In the eyes of the die hard, that's being a fair weather fan. In my eyes, it's helping my team when I know they need it most. But rain or shine, even if I know my teams aren't the best, I'm never going to say, "Well, the Sox are having an off season, the Yankees are my team now," and I feel that is why I'm a better fan than a die hard.
A die hard will follow players around, and as soon as they start doing bad, they drop'em and pick up that new rookie phenom that's going to be a star a few years down the line. Take Big Papi for example. He used to hit home runs left and right. Now? Not so much. But unlike a die hard, I'm still rooting for him every at bat. Sure I can talk crap about him if he does bad, but it's those couple times he comes in clutch hitting what would normally be a double, while he hobbles to make it a single, but still gets 2 RBI, enough to take the lead, that I really get fired up. It's the little things that make me happy, not the highlight reel, but that still never hurts.
However then you have to differentiate. You can't just hop in at the playoffs, learn a few names and be a real fan. If you can tell me that you watched a game, alone, mid-season, with nothing riding on the outcome, you're a real fan. If you started watching at the end of the season, where they needed to win to get into the playoffs, you're a fake.
What I'm really saying here is to me, a fan doesn't just care about all-stars, or statistics. A fan cares about characters, and history. I'm not saying you can't be a die hard fan for all your favorite teams, but on the scale of things I don't think a real fan should have to care about a player's OBP, IBB, GDP, ABC, FBI or whatever the rest of those weird statistics are. Just whether or not they're gonna play ball.
If I check NESN mid-summer, and the Sox are playing the Tigers, I'll watch for fun. Mid-winter? Bruin's and Sabres? Celtics and Warriors? Why not. So, later, if I'm making a night out of hanging out and watching (most of) the game with the guys during the playoffs, pulling for the Celts all the way, and flipping out when Tony Allen had a nasty one-handed dunk, I think I'm entitled to call myself a real fan. What do you think?
No comments:
Post a Comment