I admit it: I'm a fair-weather fan. I usually only like a sports team when they're doing well. As soon as they stop doing well, I have no problem abandoning them. I feel ok doing this because my team has never been a great team. I wasn't a fan of the Dallas Cowboys or Atlanta Braves or New York Yankees or New England Patriots. I was always a fan of the loser team. The last place team. The Philadelphia Phillies. The Philadelphia Eagles. Etc., etc.
So when the Eagles made it to the Super Bowl last year, I was proud to be an Eagles fan. People respected me because I liked a good team (as if I had something to do with it). But this year, when they stunk, I was the first person to criticize them and acknowledge that they wouldn't make it anywhere. Why believe a lie? Why hope for a certain player to come back and be the savior of the team? Why should I root for a loser? It's like throwing your money out the window or digging a whole to the center of the earth: It's pointless; it's a waste of time and effort.
But at least I don't claim to be a lifelong fan as soon as my team is doing well. Well, actually, that's kind of what I did. But not exactly. I think it's interesting that right around championship games like the Super Bowl and the World Series, a bunch of fans will suddenly pop up out of nowhere and claim they've been fans for life. Like the Seattle Seahawks. No one ever liked the Seattle Seahawks. They were that team from out west that always sucked. But all of a sudden, they're in the Super Bowl and a bunch of people like them. Or the New England Patriots before them. No one liked the Patriots until superman Tom Brady stepped in and won a few Super Bowls. Until you've been a fan during your team's down years, you're not a real fan.
I'm not a real fan. But at least I admit it. #sports |