Saturday, December 18, 2004
The Making of an Evil Sports Fan
A very funny and interesting blog A Small Victory claims evil sports fans are not born but rather made after years of senseless rivalry.
She starts out "I've discovered that a sports rivalry can be more divisive than any left/right politics" and I would definitely agree with that.
She then goes on to explain that for most of her life she has cheered for teams that never win. She was a Jets fan before they abandoned everyone and moved to a different city and is still upset about some Mets game in 1986. She is also a big Islander fan and it seems they don't win very often at all. She talks of all the mean things and "crap" she has taken from other sports fans over the years because of undying loyalty to these losing teams.
She admits all that punishment has finally driven her over the edge into fanaticism.
"I've been a good sport. But those days are gone and you've all played a part in it. So now I've joined the dark side and become on of them; the sports fan that you hate. The one who gloats when your team sucks. The one who lords it over you when your team is so error prone they make the Bad News Bears look like a gold glove all star team. The one who cuts pictures of your favorite players out of the newspaper and mails them to you, defaced and disgraced. I am a bitter, war-torn sports fan and even though I will never, ever be the one who wears face paint or starts a stupid chant, I will be the one grinning like an evil bastard at you when your team goes down hard. I hate myself for it sometimes, but it can't be helped. I'm not spoiled. I'm just filled with a bitter poison that's been fed to me from years of rivarly abuse."
At least she recognizes this attitude as an evil poison and points out how silly and barbaric these rivalries can become.
We already have politics, race, religion, sex, clothing, hair, music and a million other things to fight over, do we really need any more reasons to separate ourselves into these little competitive groups that harass, insult and demean each other in the name of fun and good times? It's not my kind of fun and never a good time. Unfortunately sports fans are driven over the edge of fanaticism into the dark side everyday and the cycle continues.
It's a cycle that must be broken, just like the cycle of alcoholism or child abuse. We must let fanatics know their behavior is destructive and unacceptable and help them to find more important things to spend their time worrying about. It's not alright to constantly harass people because their team is doing badly or keep up the stupid humiliating jokes and slights. It's not their fault the quarterback didn't throw the ball right. But most sports fans have the same problem: they love to dish it out but can rarely take it with the same sense of humor when their team starts sucking.
At least this girl knows she has a problem. I wonder if there is a 12 step program for fanatical sports fans?
She starts out "I've discovered that a sports rivalry can be more divisive than any left/right politics" and I would definitely agree with that.
She then goes on to explain that for most of her life she has cheered for teams that never win. She was a Jets fan before they abandoned everyone and moved to a different city and is still upset about some Mets game in 1986. She is also a big Islander fan and it seems they don't win very often at all. She talks of all the mean things and "crap" she has taken from other sports fans over the years because of undying loyalty to these losing teams.
She admits all that punishment has finally driven her over the edge into fanaticism.
"I've been a good sport. But those days are gone and you've all played a part in it. So now I've joined the dark side and become on of them; the sports fan that you hate. The one who gloats when your team sucks. The one who lords it over you when your team is so error prone they make the Bad News Bears look like a gold glove all star team. The one who cuts pictures of your favorite players out of the newspaper and mails them to you, defaced and disgraced. I am a bitter, war-torn sports fan and even though I will never, ever be the one who wears face paint or starts a stupid chant, I will be the one grinning like an evil bastard at you when your team goes down hard. I hate myself for it sometimes, but it can't be helped. I'm not spoiled. I'm just filled with a bitter poison that's been fed to me from years of rivarly abuse."
At least she recognizes this attitude as an evil poison and points out how silly and barbaric these rivalries can become.
We already have politics, race, religion, sex, clothing, hair, music and a million other things to fight over, do we really need any more reasons to separate ourselves into these little competitive groups that harass, insult and demean each other in the name of fun and good times? It's not my kind of fun and never a good time. Unfortunately sports fans are driven over the edge of fanaticism into the dark side everyday and the cycle continues.
It's a cycle that must be broken, just like the cycle of alcoholism or child abuse. We must let fanatics know their behavior is destructive and unacceptable and help them to find more important things to spend their time worrying about. It's not alright to constantly harass people because their team is doing badly or keep up the stupid humiliating jokes and slights. It's not their fault the quarterback didn't throw the ball right. But most sports fans have the same problem: they love to dish it out but can rarely take it with the same sense of humor when their team starts sucking.
At least this girl knows she has a problem. I wonder if there is a 12 step program for fanatical sports fans?
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