My name is Riki, and I am a sports fan.
Not a casual, oh-the-game-is-on-in-the-other-room-while-I-cook-dinner type of supporter, but a stop-everything-and-sit-down-to-yell-at-the-officials-and-cheer-on-my-team-no-matter-what devotee. Recently someone who calls themselves a friend attacked me via Facebook post (cowardly if you ask me) and said this: “Some people are too emotional. They are athletes. Paid to play. You have no real connection with them, but being a fan you feel as if you do.”
Well, no shit, mister. Yes, “my boys” are athletes paid to play, but I’m willing to bet that they started out as a child with a big dream and got to be where they are now through hard work and talent. No real connection to them? I’d say that the average 42,000 folks who show up to each game have a very real connection that you could only dream of having with some of your closest friends. It is my pleasure and I am honored to support my state and the economy is supporting someone who has followed their dreams by utilizing hard work and discipline.
The whole exchange got me to thinking, what is a “sports fan” really? Wikipedia (yes, I understand this is not an authorized academic source, but this is a blog, not a term paper) states, “A sports fan can be an enthusiast for a particular athlete, team, sport, or all of organized sports as a whole.” They go on to say, “The mentality of the sports fan is often such that they will experience a game or event while living vicariously through players or teams whom the fan favors.” I like that definition; living vicariously. Yes, that is what I am doing.
I am definitely one of those enthusiasts who follow their teams with fervor. Once on a first date I excused myself to the ladies room to watch the end of a game that meant nothing in the long run of the season on my smart phone in the bathroom and ended up being in there so long I had to blame “stomach problems.” On another occasion I contemplated pushing my date out the door of my moving vehicle when he asked me to turn off the scratchy AM coverage of the World Series on the radio. I mean, seriously. There would be no second date after that bullshit. (Note to self: Must start dating men who enjoy sports).
Today I would like to share with you things I believe true sports fans do; things they are proud to do. Feel free to add to this list as you like.
Real fans buy team jerseys and wear them in public, even in the offseason. I am a fan year-round and am proud to show it. I wear my team logos and jerseys out in public, and not just to a game. Since when is fandom limited to the confines of the stadium?
Real fans cheer for their team- all of the time. Win or lose, you will find me cheering on my teams and living each moment as if we might pull that game out. A real fan cheers for their team, especially when they are stinking it up out there. Does your team have a 100-year (or more) drought for a championship? Then you ought to be the more avid of fans and cheer them on even more! (Just think how much sweeter your next one will be when you’ve supported them all along). It’s easy to be a fan when your team is on top; it is real to be a fan no matter what.
Real fans know that trash-talk should be good-natured. Do you hate my favorite team? Great! Tell me all about how much you hate them and all of the reasons why we are going to lose against your own team. However, leave my mother and my dangling body parts out of it. I belong to a fantasy football league in which the men are constantly berating the mother or penis of the others and I’m finding it to be ineffectual. The best conversations and smack-talk exchanges leave moms and dangling bits out.
Real fans do not boo their own team- ever. I cannot think of a reason why I would ever boo my own home team, and I dare you to change my mind with a reason why it would be constructive to do so.
So, there you have it. My name is Riki, and I am a true sports fan.
missriki 