Zero2Cool
2 years ago

AMERICAN SPORTS NEEDS MORE FAIR-WEATHER FANS

When i was 10 years old, I was brainwashed. It was a perfectly legal maneuver. My uncle, who lived in New York City, observed that I liked to play baseball and took great care to impress upon me the superiority of the Yankees. This was the mid-1990s, an auspicious time to be hypnotized by pinstripes. Led by a telegenic talent who shared my first name, the team achieved dynastic dominance before the end of the decade.

I grew up in McLean, Virginia, some 300 miles from the Bronx, but my parents stood by and allowed the indoctrination. My mom regarded sports the way a vegan looks at a porterhouse steak, while my dad’s appraisal of the Washington, D.C., sports scene was straightforward: The Redskins were sinfully bad, the Bullets were worse, and hockey was too boring to merit an opinion. Lacking an appealing hometown team, I became a kind of free-agent fan, seeking out teams—the Yankees, the Miami Heat, the Indianapolis Colts—with likable stars. A winning percentage north of .500 didn’t hurt, either.

And so, without intending to adopt any sort of triumphalist attitude toward sports, I became that most despised of figures in the eyes of the diehard: a fair-weather fan. For most of my life, this has been a heavy shame. I have muttered shy apologies to friends for not standing by the hometown teams, even as most of them failed to escape the vortex of mediocrity.

But I’m done apologizing. In fact, I’m pretty sure that I’m right and everybody else is wrong. Rooting for winners is more than acceptable—it’s commendable. Fans shouldn’t put up with awfully managed teams for decades just because their parents liked those teams, as if sports were governed by the same rules and customs as medieval inheritance. Fans should feel free to shop for teams the way they do for any other product.

What I’m proposing here is a theory of fluid fandom that would encourage, as opposed to stigmatize, promiscuous sports allegiances. By permanently anchoring themselves to teams from their hometown or even an adopted town, sports fans consign themselves to needless misery. They also distort the marketplace by sending a signal to team owners that winning is orthogonal to fans’ long-term interests. Fluid fandom, I submit, is the emotionally, civically, and maybe even morally superior way to consume sports.

Fair-weather fan is a slur I have long endured but never understood. (Only in a country with tens of millions of citizens rooting for regular losers based north of the 40th parallel—in such climes as Buffalo, Milwaukee, and Minneapolis—could one sneer at the idea of “fair weather.”) The accusation is typically leveled by members of the many wretched tribes of sports addicts whose allegiances are dictated by geography or some cruel family curse. When Charles Darwin wrote of man bearing “the indelible stamp of his lowly origins,” he referred to all Homo sapiens, but the phrase might better fit its most sorrowful subspecies: people who still watch the Cleveland Browns.

I can hear the critics now: What of loyalty? What of the ecstatic, once-in-a-lifetime feeling of having endured decades of failure only to be present at the championship moment?

When I hear “once in a lifetime,” I think: Only once? Why is fleeting happiness a worthwhile trade-off for decades of agony? The belief that eventual victory will bring lasting happiness is a classic delusion; behavioral psychologists chalk it up to the “durability bias.” People assume that all sorts of positive events—a promotion, a wedding, a championship—will punch a ticket to permanent happiness. But no such ticket exists. All life is suffering, as Buddhists and Buffalo Bills fans will attest, and the suffering of sports fans is a biological fact. Studies led by researchers at the University of Utah and Indiana University have found that self-esteem, mood, and even testosterone levels plummet in male fans after a loss. Why relegate yourself to such misery?

One of the stronger arguments for unconditionally supporting even bad local teams is that doing so fosters a civic union that transcends class, politics, and other divisions, making small talk possible across otherwise unbridgeable divides. But this serves more aptly as an argument for the unifying power of sports than for any particular allegiance—many of my most entertaining sports conversations have been colorful exchanges with Red Sox fans. If anything, being a Yankees fan is a boon to sports banter; try getting somebody outside of Maryland to talk with you about the 2018 Baltimore Orioles.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/05/in-praise-of-fair-weather-fandom/556841/ 

Derek Thompson wrote:


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nerdmann
2 years ago
Every body's weeping and gnashing their teeth. Take it like a man!

And btw, we're not that far off.
“Winning is not a sometime thing, it is an all the time thing. You don't do things right once in a while…you do them right all the time.”
Zero2Cool
2 years ago
I've seen things like this being said again about the fans of the Packers.

I've shared the moment I remember my fanhood started. November 5th, 1989 vs Chicago Bears. That moment got me hooked. I watched games before that, but after that game football was now "me".

I have been fortunate as heck to live through mostly Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers as my QB. I do remember guys like Mike Tomzcak, Blair Kiel, Anthony Dilweg and of course Don Majkowski. Majk was my favorite. I even had the mullet to match him.

I don't think I've missed a game since then, other than a hospital visit for family. I could have still watched the game, but chose to be with family instead.

I was talking to my dad about this the other day. I said it's going to be interesting to see how fans are when we are in QB carousel like so many other teams. I was specifically talking about the ones who started being fans around the time I did, or after.

I know, I know, you old people think you're special because you lived through the 70's and 80's. Sorry, but you're not special. It doesn't mean anything other than you're old. You're not better than younger fans. You're not worse either. You're just misguided in your pedestal you put yourself on.

The game has changed. If you watched in the 70's and 80's, well, it'll never be that bad again simply because -- the game has changed. Rules favor the offense. Rules put defense in the hole. Colleges are running more "pro" style offenses. We will still have bad QB play. It just won't be as bad as you witnessed in the 70's and 80's.

Yet, fans around my age are going to bemoan things were never this bad. Go easy on them.

Does this mean you're a better fan than them? Nope.

Does this mean they care less than you? Nope.

It just means they "fan" differently than you and that is OK. If it's not OK, that's on you.

Myself, personally, I lost a lot of passion after 2014. I used to get really ramped up for games and then I got spoiled with that 2nd Super Bowl win back in 2010. The regular season just didn't matter much to me anymore. I still want them to win. It just didn't affect me negatively as much as it used to when they lose.

I used to wake up, do some house chores, play with the girls for few hours, then catch pregame at 11am (now you can start at 10am with pre-pregame) and watch football through 11pm and then catch Cover 2 on ABC.

The way the games are officiated and the changes in rules has soured me on the game itself. The "Fail Mary" game really impacted me. I felt like the officials put a tiger in front of me and told me it was a snake and I was stupid for thinking it was a tiger. It felt like my intelligence was being undermined.

The rules change as often as the weather. Pass Interference changed outcome? Let's review them! Overtime "robbed" us of some football, let's change the rules! There's no tradition anymore. Isolated issues shouldn't necessitate rule changes.

We now have gambling legalized and constantly being shoved down our throats. I couldn't give a rip about what the betting lines are more than a cursory look one time for the match up. I don't need to hear about covers or overs or whatever during the game. STFU. Talk football or player backgrounds or STFU.

My passion has dropped for football. It's not just the Packers. I still root for them. I still watch them. I still pay to keep this place running. I still fix all the stupid shit that breaks in the background. And I will continue.

I just have zero desire to listen to people rag on the one last good thing about football because they don't know how to channel their feelings or emotions constructively. I won't watch the Packers in the bar for that very reason. Oh, I also dislike bars which is a whole different topic.

The amount of changes in rules. The way games are officiated. The way players are constantly worried about their "brand" more than the team. The insane prices for apparel (seriously, $85 for a damn hoodie?) and this coming from someone who spend hundreds on a piece of paper!!

I don't catch pregame anymore. I stopped watching other games other than to put it on for background noise. I still love the Green Bay Packers, I just don't know that I love the NFL anymore. I see NFL and the London games and everything else -- I just see greed. Expecting us to go broke so they can have a 5th mansion with 12 bathrooms.

If that makes me a fair-weather fan, so be it.
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Nonstopdrivel
2 years ago
The world needs more fairweather fans. Professional sports teams have one job, and one job only -- to entertain. If they fail to entertain, they are not doing their job. In what other field are customers expected to pay insane amounts of money for a product and simply suck it up when it regularly sucks? In what other field are customers praised for tolerating a shitty product, instead of being considered idiots for letting themselves be doormats? Teams should be expected to excel on a regular basis, and fans should hold them accountable when they don't. Fans should go on strike when teams put out shitty product. If that makes the players feel bad, so be it. They are far too richly rewarded to be playing like amateurs. Hell, I watch plenty of youth baseball that's more entertaining than most football games these days. That's sad.
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Zero2Cool
2 years ago

Hell, I watch plenty of youth baseball that's more entertaining than most football games these days. That's sad.

Originally Posted by: Nonstopdrivel 


And that is fine because that is what appeals to you. It's not everyone's cup of tea to watch paint dry like you seem to be entertained with.

I've found Hockey to be more entertaining than the average event of Baseball, Football and Basketball. Although, watching Giannis is one helluva treat!
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Cheesey
2 years ago
I respect fans that stick with THEIR team, whether they are great or lousy.
To jump from team to team to stick with whoever is winning is easy.
To me, that's easy. That doesn't make you a fan of a team, it makes you a fan of winners only.
That's my opinion.
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Zero2Cool
2 years ago

I respect fans that stick with THEIR team, whether they are great or lousy.
To jump from team to team to stick with whoever is winning is easy.
To me, that's easy. That doesn't make you a fan of a team, it makes you a fan of winners only.
That's my opinion.

Originally Posted by: Cheesey 



Reminds me of my cousin Kelly. He jumps from team to team. I swear he has like eight favorite teams. When he posts "hope we win Sunday" I always joke with him about which conference he's pulling for as his favorite "team" this week. But that is OK by me. There's no award for sticking to a team or jumping to a team. If people want to belittle those who do, that says a lot about them, not the person who just roots for the winning team.
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Cheesey
2 years ago
I don't belittle those that jump from team to team. I just think of them as fair weather fans.
Changing jerseys just so when you walk outside you can brag about how great your (insert team name) is, in my opinion, bandwagon jumpers. Not real "fans".
Not that I'm saying they aren't allowed to do so, it's just weak if you ask me. Look at the fans of teams that have never won a Super Bowl, yet show up season after season to cheer for THEIR team. Those, to me at least, are true fans.
An old saying I have heard is, "You don't love them because they are good, you love them because they are YOUR team". to me, that says it all. Anyone can cheer on a winner.
Again, these are my opinions ONLY. If someone wants to disagree, they can if they want.

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Zero2Cool
2 years ago

I don't belittle those that jump from team to team. I just think of them as fair weather fans.
Changing jerseys just so when you walk outside you can brag about how great your (insert team name) is, in my opinion, bandwagon jumpers. Not real "fans".
Not that I'm saying they aren't allowed to do so, it's just weak if you ask me. Look at the fans of teams that have never won a Super Bowl, yet show up season after season to cheer for THEIR team. Those, to me at least, are true fans.
An old saying I have heard is, "You don't love them because they are good, you love them because they are YOUR team". to me, that says it all. Anyone can cheer on a winner.
Again, these are my opinions ONLY. If someone wants to disagree, they can if they want.

Originally Posted by: Cheesey 



Oops, sorry, Alan. I wasn't inferring you were belittling. I was saying that just in general. I should have split that off and put it before your quote, my apologies.

I agree what you said here. Changing jersey for sole purpose to talk smack to other fans -- weak sauce magoo. If they are just changing their team to follow a winner, I have no issue with that. But yeah, if it's just so they can put down other fan bases? Sit yo punk booty down.
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Cheesey
2 years ago

Oops, sorry, Alan. I wasn't inferring you were belittling. I was saying that just in general. I should have split that off and put it before your quote, my apologies.

I agree what you said here. Changing jersey for sole purpose to talk smack to other fans -- weak sauce magoo. If they are just changing their team to follow a winner, I have no issue with that. But yeah, if it's just so they can put down other fan bases? Sit yo punk booty down.

Originally Posted by: Zero2Cool 



It's okay Kevin. I didn't think you meant me in the first place.
So NOOO problem 😊
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