EDITOR's NOTE: This article originally published in The Advocate on Aug. 31, 2011. To view original post, visit AccentAdvocate.com.
By Brett Abel, brettsabel@gmail.com
People say I talk a lot for a guy who doesn't have a team.
Watching games with friends, I critique players and coaches, but sometimes my friends accuse me of making personal attacks because I have no particular connection to a team for them to criticize.
But what relationship do I have to the San Francisco Giants? Any link is geographical and could be applied to the Oakland Athletics.
I tend to wear a green and gold cap over black and orange because I'm from the East Bay.
But there are fans rooting for the Raiders and simultaneously support the Giants while standing against the Niners and A's.
I don't understand it. I never have been able to "get" fans and probably never will.
They are loyal consumers to a corporation's local affiliate for no reason beyond a favorite player or color.
Fans irrationally invest their emotions into a team while the franchise only cares about ticket prices and hat and jersey sales.
College sports rivalries are somewhat understandable; students spend years of their lives and thousands of dollars on a campus and an attachment grows.
But there is no reason to hate someone because that person decided to go elsewhere.
Furthermore, people throw their lives away for a team to which they have only a limited tie.
Take, for instance, the recent attacks at sporting events.
The assault on Bryan Stow, a 42-year-old Giants' fan beaten into a coma on MLB's Opening Day after an alleged attack by two Los Angeles Dodgers' fans, makes no sense.
Neither does the outbreak of violence at a Battle of the Bay preseason football game between the Oakland Raiders and San Francisco 49ers on Aug. 20 at Candlestick Park, when unbridled fandom resulted in numerous fights and two parking lot shootings.
When these incidents occur, they divert attention from where it should be — the game.
After the shootings, the teams announced the end of the traditional preseason match.
The players and coaches make sports interesting. Seeing the best in the world perform at the highest level is the privilege of watching pro sports.
And, to be candid, the Niners and the Raiders are not world-class organizations these days, making any rationale behind the attacks more unfathomable.
Until these attacks stop, consider me the anti-fan.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment