Grown-Up Sports Fan

I love sports. I really always have. There's always been some magnetism about the competition.  Having grown up mostly in a small Nebraska town, population 220, you could say I didn't have many kids to play games with.  But I loved the games I played by myself just the same. And being a Nebraskan, most often those one-man games were football games.

I was a quarterback, running back, wide receiver. I threw passes to myself. I scored all the touchdowns. And I never, ever lost. Just like my beloved Cornhuskers.

Until those Cornhuskers did lose.

I was devastated by the beatings at the hands of Miami and Florida State. That '94 Orange Bowl still counts as a win in my fragile, childish memories.  I loved everything about the Big Red. They could do no wrong. They were the best. Memorial Stadium was my Mecca, Tom Osborne my prophet, Kent Pavelka my pastor. And a loss could ruin a weekend, if not a week.

And then, sometime in my 20's, I grew up. Not just physically, nor mentally, but as a sports fan I gained a level of maturity. Nebraska football was no longer my perfect ideal.

You might point at the fact that they began losing more often and I perhaps got used to the idea. You might point at the fact that I left the state and removed myself from the immersion and inundation that Nebraska offers. You might find a number of reasons why I no longer worshipped at the altar of the Big Red N. But those would really only be mitigating factors.

I just grew up.  My perspective changed. Not every Husker was the best to ever play the game. The coaches were not infallible figures of complete purity. I had lived a little bit of life and grown to understand the nature of humanity a little better. And the nature of sports.

I grew to understand that my deep, emotional investment in a sporting contest that I could not control would eventually lead to frustration, anger, or depression.  And so, I stopped investing that emotion.

But so many have not. So many are stuck in the adolescent stages of their fan hood. And it's far from being just a Nebraska thing. This is everywhere. So many still live and die by the outcome of something that, ultimately, doesn't matter all that much. They take offense to criticism of their team to such a degree that they're willing to fight -- actually throw punches -- anyone who does.  They spew hate and vitriol toward opponents. They verbally assault officials who, in a bizarre twist of irony, make genuine mistakes, as any human might. They will defend the most ridiculous of actions through muddled logic.  They seek to blame failures on anyone or anything, as long as it isn't their team.

So, now I've called out the fans.  Do I just hate sports fans now? Definitely not. Without fans, the games don't exist as they currently do. And I still love the games. But I don't love everything about fans, just the same as I don't love everything about Nebraska football.

I still want to see my team win. I still identify with that Big Red N. It still sucks when they lose. All that is the same. But, removed is the extremism of my fan hood. And I enjoy the games even more than I used to, because the fear of a bad result is also gone.

Be a fan. But be a grown-up at the same time. It is possible.

Blind Loyalty Is Still Blind

I'm sick of this now.  Really.

We need to dispel some myths about being a "real fan."

First, there's no such thing as a "real fan."  Everyone who is a fan is a fan on his or her own terms.  To say that a person's terms of fanhood are invalid is absurd.  There are no rules for being a fan. Nobody is owed anything.

If you think that being a "real fan" means never questioning anything that happens with your team, you probably think that being a "real American" means never criticizing policy.  This is backward logic.

If your team goes out and gets beaten 45-0 and you're still rah-rah and ranting about how big a fan you are, you're just blind. You've buried your head in the sand. And if that's the way you want it, fine. But know this:  fans allowed to be displeased. It doesn't make one less of a fan if one isn't happy with the way things go.

If you unquestioningly support your team, regardless of what happens, of what, exactly, are you a fan? The uniform? The logo? I'd say you'd be completely justified in complaining about poor performance.

This is your chosen team. For many of you there's an emotional investment. When your expectations or hopes are dashed, you should probably be a little upset.

The term "fair-weather fan" gets tossed around a lot. It's used on those who boo. It's used on those who leave games early.  It's used on those who criticize performance. But again, nobody is owed anything. The team is not owed unfailing loyalty. The team is not owed the attendance of the crowd. The team is not owed the continued support of anyone in the face of poor performance.

And it goes both ways.

Fans are owed only what they pay for: a seat. They are not owed a certain number of wins. They are not owed championships. They are not owed the adoration of a frustrated coach.

But to say that they shouldn't be unhappy or critical is silly.

Yes, most of this is in reference to the recent events surrounding the comments from one Bo Pelini. He said some off-color things about the fans of the Nebraska Cornhuskers. But, you know, he's allowed that. He's allowed to have the opinion that fans shouldn't boo or leave at halftime. But those same fans are allowed to do exactly those things.

Everybody just needs to grow up and accept that the actions of others are their own. And fans will choose to support or criticize those actions. That's the nature of the fan.

My Take On Pelini

Stop.

Stop saying the Bo audio is some Omaha World Herald conspiracy/agenda. The OWH did not release this. Deadspin broke the story.  But, even if they had. Stop.  The job of the media is to report and investigate. The job of media is NOT to help win football games, recruit, protect Bo Pelini, or anything else.

So, stop being offended for the wrong reason. If you're a fan, remember that the only person who said "Fuck You" was the man you so staunchly defend.  Saying things like, "Stick by the team through thick and thin," and "Real fans support the team/coach, no matter what." means fans shouldn't have the right to dislike anything that happens with the team. It means don't question the regime. Ever. No matter what.  It means Bo's right and you're wrong. And when Bo's wrong, you're wrong for realizing it. If you don't love it, leave it.

 How ridiculous did all those Penn St. fans rioting in the streets seem? Weren't they just "being real fans?"  No. They were being stupid and ignorant. They weren't acting as rational-thinking human beings. As my father says, "Use your head for something other than a hat rack."  In this case, slip your gelatinous head out of that obviously constricting Husker cap and allow some blood flow to your brain.

This is what happens when you don' t know who to blame.  You suck down the Kool-Aid and bash anyone who doesn't. And you look ridiculous to the outside world.

However,

After some thinking about it, I don't think he should be fired.  Those were words. Not racist, not sexist, not directly abusive, and not bigoted words. They were petulant and childish words, but ultimately just words.  But I'm glad it came out.  He needed a little humility. We all do from time to time.  I think he'll be a better coach for it. At least, I hope so.