Top 11 fan mistakes

Douglas Charles Managing Editor

by DMtShooter, Five Tool Tool.com

sing+it Top 11 fan mistakesAs a Philly guy, I’ve seen my home town fans make any number of mistakes in their fandom… and well, I’d like to see us move on, really. Let’s make some new mistakes, OK?

11) Caring too much about the off-season. Look, there’s a reason why sports leagues don’t go for 12 months, and that reason is simple; you can’t miss them if they never go the hell away. Any number of guys seem to want to be general managers now, and to work the salary cap like accountants, because you can’t lose a game in the off-season. It’s unseemly. Stop it.

10) Over-ranking stars. The arrival of a single hero has powerful mythological parallels, and seems almost hard-wired into our monkey minds. It’s also not the real story. Take, for instance, the Joe Montana 49ers, probably the finest NFL dynasty of the ’80s… Or should the credit go to Jerry Rice, or Ronnie Lott, or Bill Walsh? Even in the case of what might have been the best QB in NFL history, there’s more to the turnaround.

9) Under-rating consistency. Perhaps the least satisfying thing your team can do, assuming they aren’t defending a championship, is to stand pat with the same team… but in many cases, especially pro hoop, that might be your best move. Ask Pistons Fan how much better life was last year without Chauncey Billups.

8) We’re just one player away. Um, really? Because one player, unless that game is basketball and that one player is one of the top 10 to 15 players in the league, rarely makes that much of a difference. What usually happens is that you get that One Guy, and he turns out to be not all that… while also undermining the salary structure. If you take the shot and miss, it has a cost. (See Sixers, Elton Brand. I need a drink.)

7) Historic parallels. Just because someone wears the laundry doesn’t mean they are cut from the same mold as everyone else who has been there before. The Bears QB doesn’t have to be a helpless game manager. The Mets’ third baseman doesn’t have to be a revolving door (and it was, until David Wright). The Yankees’ big free agent starting pitcher doesn’t have to be a bust. Change does happen.

6) Civic exceptionalism. Oh, it’s tough to play in Your Town. The fans, the media, the pressure! It’s unrelenting and negative and gosh, people boo and get upset when you don’t do well. It’s not like, un… just about every other town, really, at least the ones that actually have enough people in the stands to be heard. And if you are not in one of those places, gosh, it’s tough to play without having fans, isn’t it?

5) Home field advantage. With the wave of new stadiums with Quiet Corporate Guy in the close seats, plus the growth of Road Fan and Fantasy Sports Guy, this is more or less a thing of the past. Sure, maybe it shows up in a road playoff game or big rivalry, but for ordinary games, it just doesn’t matter the way it used to. Especially when it comes to shrugging off the taunts of fans.

4) The “power” of booing. With security teams, the ability to cyber-snitch on abusive fans, and similar points to #5, I’m also sticking a fork into the idea that you can intimidate anyone now. Short of acutally connecting with your battery chucking, I’m not seeing today’s athlete as getting too shaken up by it.

3) Taking sports radio, Blogfrica, and the local fishrap seriously. The athletes don’t listen. The owners don’t care. The people doing the agitating are simply trying to get ratings and readers from cheap heat. Unless you can actually prove fewer merch or ticket sales from the continued employment of your scapegoat, there’s no real incentive for the team to walk away from a distressed asset. So let’s stop pretending these people have any kind of power, OK?

2) Thinking they know the real numbers. We think we know contract amounts, salary caps, television and stadium revenue, franchise valuations, etc., etc. But since most teams are not exactly publishing their numbers in quarterly stock market reports, and people keep paying more and more for these teams… well, color me dubious. Every league has a union for a reason, and that reason is that the management deserves it from previously being able to hide the money.

1) Becoming smarts. Is your best sports fan experience one where you are behind the curtain, as it were, knowing everything there is to know on a scouting and contractual level? Or is it more fun, and a better use of time, really, to just be like a little kid? There’s a reason why the forbidden fruit is of knowledge, my children…

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