One thing about sports fans I find amusing

[wolverine]

Why is it that some sports fans seem to somehow delude themselves into believing that they are actually members of their favorite teams?

I sometimes read the post-game messages on the TSN website and some of these guys write hilarious shit like "Keep it rolling boys, we have some very winnable games this week that we have capitalize on".

What's with the "we"? Do these fatass armchair coaches out there actually believe that they are out there skating with the players, or standing behind the benches with the coaches? Or are their own lives so empty and miserable that they feel a need to live through their sports teams?

Listen, super-fan: I hate to break it to ya like this, but you are not a member of the team. You are just a spectactor. Your only contribution to the team is the money you offer to the gods you worship, and your audience participation as you yell and scream and flap your painted beer belly all over the place. Period.

 

[planetsmurf]

but that is why sports is so good because you do feel as you are apart of something bigger then what you are

 

[dexi]

Had an old girlfriend who was a total puck bunny. After every Canucks win she'd say "We won!" and I'd always ask her her many goals she scored.

That used to piss her off.

but that is why sports is so good because you do feel as you are apart of something bigger then what you are

It's also part of what makes sports harmful. One team wins, all the others lose. Every year, one team's fans get to bask in a few days/weeks/months of euphoria, but for the other 29 (or whatever), it's just another one of life's disappointments.

I remember reading an article around the time the Blue Jays won their first World Series. Studies were done in a number of European cities regarding people's overall happiness and how it related to the success of local professional soccer/football teams. I can't remember details (it was almost 15 years ago), but one conclusion that they all drew was that negative emotions resulting from a losing team last far longer than the positive emotional impact of a winner. In other words, to use an American example, the pain Bills fans felt from that "wide right" Superbowl loss was probably felt a lot longer than the thrill the Giants fans got from it.

Sometimes life is just fucking cruel.

 

[Hairball]

Your only contribution to the team is the money you offer to the gods you worship, and your audience participation as you yell and scream and flap your painted beer belly all over the place. Period.

Hey, I resemble that remark! In many parts of the world fans are considered part of the team. Soccer clubs are often just a part of a larger sports organization and fans are often members of the sports club from a very young age. They feel like they ARE the team! There are many ways to be part of the success of a team without lacing on the boots or pulling on the jock. Coaches, managers, ballboys, ticket takers, groundskeepers, and even the ladies that make the tea at half-time of an English soccer game, are all part of the team, as are the fans. If you watched the NFL playoffs last year, fan noise actually influenced the game in more than one occasion. In Saskatchewan, the football team is owned by the community and everyone feels that they have a stake in it. At the end of the day, no fans, no pro sports!

 

[kafka555]

Here in Vancouver, we just want a good excuse to riot and trash Robson St.

 

[wolverine]

Hey, I resemble that remark! In many parts of the world fans are considered part of the team. Soccer clubs are often just a part of a larger sports organization and fans are often members of the sports club from a very young age. They feel like they ARE the team! There are many ways to be part of the success of a team without lacing on the boots or pulling on the jock. Coaches, managers, ballboys, ticket takers, groundskeepers, and even the ladies that make the tea at half-time of an English soccer game, are all part of the team, as are the fans. If you watched the NFL playoffs last year, fan noise actually influenced the game in more than one occasion. In Saskatchewan, the football team is owned by the community and everyone feels that they have a stake in it. At the end of the day, no fans, no pro sports!

Yeah, I can concede that the fans can influence the momentum of a game or can even a boo a hometown hero out of town (e.g. Mike Comrie). But overall the coaches and GMs don't exactly poll the fans in who to trade for, which free agents to sign, who starts in net, who's the starting lineup, special teams, who does the shootouts, etc.

 

[dexi]

Yeah, I can concede that the fans can influence the momentum of a game or can even a boo a hometown hero out of town (e.g. Mike Comrie). But overall the coaches and GMs don't exactly poll the fans in who to trade for, which free agents to sign, who starts in net, who's the starting lineup, special teams, who does the shootouts, etc.

Good thing too, since most sports fans are willfully moronic.

Although, I suppose you could say that of people in general. The percentage of sports fans who are morons is probably right on par with the rest of society.

A friend of mine and his wife went to the Canucks/Oilers game on Saturday. She's from Edmonton, he's from Vancouver. Coming out of GM place, she was hit in the side of the head with a half full Dasani water bottle. Her crime, as far as anyone can tell, was wearing an Oilers jersey and cheerfully razzing her husband.