In Defense Of The Fair-Weather Fan

So-called 'true' sports fans spend lots of time being angry at fair-weather fans. As if, somehow, having been silly enough to sit through ten straight losing seasons, or staying until the end of the game, even when you're down by 30, and it's 45 degrees and raining, somehow makes you a better person, a bigger fan.

The fact is, and Bill Simmons will be the first to admit this, your fanship only really matters to yourself. The team doesn't really matter how long you've been cheering, or paying attention, or whatever. All they care about now is whether you're here, now. Buying tickets, and beer, and cheering enough to help the home team win, so they can keep playing, and sell more tickets, and souvenir programs, and so on and so forth. And certainly, those fair-weather fans don't think more of you. If anything, they think you're ridiculous for going to losing games all those years.

Now, that's not to deny the experience of the true fan. For better or worse (usually the latter), I am an Eagles fan for life. I am steeped in the legends of Jaws, and Carmichael, and Buddy Ball and Randall Cunningham and 4th-and-freaking-26. For 3 and a half hours each week, I live and die with those ugly-ass green jerseys.

But, when the Eagles were doing well, and when they went to the Super Bowl, and suddenly our weekly watching sessions went from 3 diehards to 5 diehards and 6 more 'who the hell are you, and can you even name 10 people on the squad?'s, I did not protest. Instead, I revelled in the larger crew, the rowdier shouts, the way I had to suddenly slap hands with 12 strangers every time a big play went our way. My joy in my team's performance is mine, and mine alone, to experience. I can share it, in a sort of perhipheral way, with the fans around me, but inherently my experience has so much to do with my personal history, in a way that they could never understand.

So don't belittle the fair-weather fan. So what if he can't tell you who the third starting pitcher is, or when the last time a team had ever done anything like that before? Not everyone has the time, or the interest, to care so much all the time. If your team is doing well, and suddenly you have 100 times as many fans as before, love it for what that means for your team, and your experience, rather than try to degrade those Johnny-come-lately's who were probably wearing Red Sox caps 3 years ago.

Which is all an extended introduction to the fact that Daisy scored two tickets for the Rockies game tonight in Denver. So, grace willing, I may be there to watch the Rockies, a team who I can honestly say I only cared about enough to make the occasional 'boy, these guys really do suck!' joke until about 4 weeks ago, sew up a spot in their franchise-first World Series. And you better believe I'm going to be cheering my head off, if only to keep warm, as it's supposed to be 48 degrees at first pitch.

But, no, I will be cheering like I've been there all along. And while my joy will not be so pure as someone who has been watching, and cheering, all these years, it will be my joy, and frankly, I'm excited as hell about it.