THE National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) season has begun. The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) has just tipped off the semifinals for its Governors’ Cup. In September the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) will unveil its 78th Season. In October the National Basketball Association (NBA) will begin its 2015-2016 Tournament.
Sports fans nowadays are as active as molecules in a soda-pop bottle. Their degree of involvement, pre-occupation, interest and participation reaches fever pitch every time their favorite league or team revs up for action.
Fans select their favorite team based on various factors. One is affiliation. (Do you work for the team? Do you study in the school? Are you friends with the athletes or the team owners? Or, are you sold on the team’s image and traditions?)
Maybe the team character resonates with your own personality or values. Maybe you like the team’s history and past achievements. It could be the team’s journey in the league or any one season absolutely fascinates you. Maybe one of the athletes or the coaches is family.
There are more shallow reasons, to be sure. You’re not really a sports fan, but you like the team colors. You find one or several of the players so darned attractive. Or, your best friend or significant other roots for that team and you always share the same horizons.
Sports fans come in all shapes and sizes, come from a wide range of ages and root for a broad spectrum of teams across various sports, leagues, tournaments and seasons. What they have in common is a devotion—for some, almost a religion—that is front and center in their lives.
So what kind of sports fan are you? Try to fit yourself in one or more of the following categories.
- The Team Fan. You’re the guy or doll who likes the team and all the players—not just one or two of the best players. You like the team for its accomplishments and you still root for the team even if your favorite player is traded or transfers to another team. Wherever your team goes, you go.
- The Player Lover. You root for a team because your favorite player plays there. You’re a diehard for your “idol” and you love him/her, right or wrong. You probably get aggressive when the ref or the ump does a bad call on your guy or gal. When your fave transfers teams, you transfer loyalties, as well.
- The Expressive Fan. You’re loud and active. You do fist pumps and dance about when your team is winning. You sit back and sulk like it’s Good Friday when your team is behind by 10, or worse, 24. Maybe you even paint your face, wear the team colors to every game and, heaven forbid, even wave a banner with your fave player’s name and number on it every time he/she scores.
- The Timid Fan. You can’t take the pressure. You can’t look at the action in crucial moments. If you’re a smoker, crunch time is your smokiest moment. When your team is leading or behind by just one and there are only seconds left, you’re praying with your eyes closed and you’re doing a lot of hand wrenching in your seat. You’re happy just to watch the action from afar. You would never ever approach the athletes to ask for an autograph, or beg for him to give you his sweat-drenched jersey.
- The Fair Weather Fan. Your team lost and is constantly losing and you are disgraced. You don’t attend games anymore. You don’t want to wear their colors, don their tees or have anything to do with the team logo. You even call your team bad names if and because they aren’t performing to your expectations. But when they win, you’re there, cheering them on like you were the team owner. Your identification with the team rises and falls with the box scores.
- The Bandwagon Fan. Let’s face it. You don’t have a real affiliation with any team. You weren’t part of the ups and downs of the teams you root for, but you’re their fan because they’re the flavor of the month and the “best player in the universe” is on their roster. Heck, you can’t even name the players of the team you say you root for five or 10 years back—what more in the 1950’s or 1960s. You’re just there because this is the strongest team of the tournament and, yes, you always like to win.
- The True and Loyal Fan. You’re with your team, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, till death do you part. You don the jerseys, wear the hats, show off the logo, cheer till you turn red in the face, no matter how poorly your team performs. You may feel dejected when your team loses, but your heroes remain your heroes, even if they lose the game. Your reward (of a victory or a championship) may come soon, or it may not come at all, but you’re still there, waving the team banner with your heart on your sleeve. Bless you. You deserve the trophy just as much as the athletes when that championship season comes.
So which sports fan are you? Let’s hope you’re not just watching the games because you have a bet. Then you’re no sports fan at all.
1 comment
I consider myself a true and loyal sports fan. I have remained loyal through thick and thin with the Boston Celtics while growing up in the sixties. I have not changed teams since then up to the present. My team is the greatest franchise in the NBA winning 17 world championships since its inception. I still follow the developments in my team with passion.