Team fans and Sports fans

Many people consider themselves Sports Fans. I would certainly qualify as one of those people. Then there is the question of what is your favorite team? For me, the three quick answers are and have always been; the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Washington Redskins and the South Carolina Gamecocks.

Why those teams? I can trace all of my fan heritage to my father. He became a Dodger fan, in many ways, to spite his brother and father. They were Reds fans. Thats cool by me. We later moved to Florida, not far from Dodger Spring training. We later moved to Arizona. There was no MLB team there at the time. So Dodger games played all year on local radio. These things all lead to me being a fan, even though I'd never stepped foot in the city of Los Angeles. As for the Redskins, I'm not as sure. South Carolina was "Redskin Country" before the Falcons and Panthers came about. My dad followed them when he was younger, and so did I. The Gamecocks are easy. My dad went to school there. I was born while he and my mom lived there. I went to college there.

I felt no real attachment to the cities of LA or Washington. So my passions have kind of risen and fallen with my interest in that particular sport. When I live in SC in the early 90s, football was much more popular than baseball. So The Redskins were in the forefront. Now, I don't really enjoy the NFL that much anymore and Baseball has become much more important to me. Which it always was in the 80s too. So the Dodgers are a much bigger part of my sports life. Add to that, that I now feel a real attachment to the city of Los Angeles. I feel in some ways that LA is like home, so that has strengthened that bond for me.

Being a college fan is very different. There are people who either didn't go to college and just root for teams, or those that just don't care about their college and root for other teams. However, there are people like me and Stephanie. People who take great pride in where they got there education. And to them, that is the only school there is. I was a Gamecock fan all my life, so I'm glad that I got to make that my home. Stephanie was not. She did not know anything about the Gameocks until she was looking for colleges. But now she thinks of herself that way. It's the truest for of fandom that there is.

I have a problem with sports fans. I have problems with people that like football or basketball or whatever but have no particular team to like. The knock on Gamecock fans has always been that they don't know the game. That they don't care enough to get angry when their team sucks. That they just go for the social event that is football. But I'd rather have those fans. Those are fans that love their team/school. Many of them don't particularly love football. They don't necessarily care who wins the National Championship. They love their team because thats where they are from. Does it mean that they don't care to win? No. It means that they have some perspective. They know that sports is not the most important thing in life and they will live with THEIR team no matter what it does. Their standing amongst the other teams is not the most important thing in life. What is important is the incredible bond that one creates with a silly organization that will take them through their entire life. That is something incredibly human and the fact that these strange bonds can exist is more powerful than and individual game or season.

I am a Gamecock. Its part of my identity. I tattooed our mascot on our arm. It will be a part of me for as long as I'm alive. That is special. I feel sorry for people who don't have that extra relationship. I feel worse for people who are obsessed with a sport. Football Baseball whatever. Sports ARE trivial. But teams and community and fans and affiliation and being a part of something like that is something special. Win or Lose, thick or thin, thats part of who I am.

-T

As I am finishing this post, my phone rang. " Gibson....swings! And a fly ball to deep right field, this is gonna be a home run!! Unbelievable! A Home Run For Gibson! And the Dodgers have won the game 5-4! I don't Believe What I Just Saw! Thats my phone ringer. Magical moments like thats stick with you forever. And the great thing is that I share that moment with thousands of people that I have never met and will never know. Thats powerful.