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Rules of fanhood...especially termination of fanhood

akorn22

By akorn22
in The Stadium

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DieselPwr44

DieselPwr44

Posted
Posted

I've been a fan of this team since I was 10-11 years old.

I've lived through the Glory Years and now wander the NFL Wilderness, where this team is at right now.

I can't imagine not ever being a Redskins fan but to be honest with you, they have worn me out.

That happens when the club takes your fanhood, hangs it in a tree and beats the crap out of it with a ball bat. Those bats come in many forms but the biggest have been Cerrato,Spurrier, Zorn,Jeff George..etc.

But for anyone here that posts...to have the audacity to tell someone whether or not they are a fan??

As Stan Marsh would say: Dude, that's ****ed up.

And in the end, I really don't have much use for people like that: fan cops.

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Woofer

Woofer

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I'm still not sure what a "true fan" is.

Is the definition of a true fan one who

  • watches a game that was lost early (reference the afore mentioned blowout by the Pats, and the loss to the Eagles last year) all the way to the bitter end?
  • watches an ugly game to the end, only to be bitter, angry, cussing out the TV and possibly loved ones?
  • wears T-shirts that say "Worst. Owner. Ever."
  • Gets on a message board and predicts "paloffs" after a two game winning streak?
  • Gets on a message board and makes angry statements after a loss
  • accuses the coaches of all kinds of screwups and acting like they should be the coach/GM and all around president of the team?
  • continues to spend money on jerseys and other collectables when they know the player whose jersey they just spend $90 to $300 for will be gone next year, or the year after that?

Are you not a true fan when you don't watch a game(s) because you WANT to watch the game but don't because a friend or neighbor needs you?

What about the fan who realizes that the game is lost, and goes to spend time with their family? Or get some much needed work done around the house?

I've always considered myself as a fan of the Redskins. I've been watching the Redskins since 1966. When I was a young adult, I actually didn't go to weddings and other big occasions like that so I could stay home and watch the game. The skins inevitably lost when I did stuff like that. (and most of the couples whose weddings I missed are divorced now anyway, so there really was no winner in that one.)

I don't like it when the skins lose; but recently I have learned to keep it in perspective; and when a game is obviously lost, I turn it off and do something with my wife. Am I a true fan?

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brandymac27

brandymac27

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Posted
:rubeyes:

Ok. It wasn't until I saw this post that I realized it's age.

I miss Bubba. NO ONE could ever question his fanhood.

I know. I didn't always agree with him (mainly over whether Jason Campbell was a good QB), but Bubba always stuck to his guns and defended this team with pride. No way anyone could question his fan hood.

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Dallsux

Dallsux

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Posted

For me, a true fan is a simple thing. When you are a "true fan", you stick with your team, win or lose. You may decide that doing other things on Sundays is more important than football, but when an opportunity comes up to watch football, your mind, your heart always goes to your team first.

As a Skins fan who is married to someone who is also a Skins fan, but doesn't care about football like I do, I have to decide what's more important in my life. Do I want my life to revolve around something that I ultimately have no direct effect on or do I want to have a direct effect on my own life? I get to watch a lot of the Redskins games, because, like I said, she's a fan too. But when they start to lose, she doesn't want to see that & leaves the room. I don't know how to give up on the Skins that easy tho. I've seen the games they came back with 2:46 left & score 2 TDs back to back to win. But, how often does that really happen?

I believe that a true fan will always be a fan of their team. I think a true fan has the right (yes, the RIGHT) to criticize the teams efforts & results. I believe a true fan always wants to see the team succeed, even if what their idea of success & how to get there are misguided. I also believe that a true fan can be objective, removing homerisms & seeing past the B&G colored glasses to see what's really there.

I believe that a true fan has the right to live their life, even if that means not watching the games because life gets in the way.

A true fan will always support their team...but they don't always have to know what's going on, who's on the team, who's coaching the team, who they are playing each week, etc. because their family life takes priority over entertainment.

I AM a true fan & I will always be a Redskins fan. I will not always watch the games. I will not always buy merchandise. I will not always follow what's going on, but my heart will always bleed burgundy & gold. I will always hate everything that is blue & silver & stars give me the willies. Especially blue ones. B&G stick out to me everywhere I go. When I see a B&G shirt, I immediately start scanning it to see anything that says "REDSKINS" on it. Likewise, I am always on the lookout for the enemies in blue.

I have also recognized that the time to be so die-hard that I can't function for a week after a loss has come & gone & is just not conducive to a life of happiness & peace. I can no longer allow my actions & emotions to be determined by how well or poorly my favorite football team performs.

I am a true fan & ultimately, all I want as a Skins fan is to see them win 12 more Super Bowls. To me, being a true fan has nothing to do with how much money you spend on merchandise or how much time you spend watching. It's a matter of the heart. Is your heart with your team...or not? If you find yourself wavering because of a few losing seasons, you can probably question your fanhood. If you start looking at other teams & wonder, "could I follow them?", you should seriously be questioning your fanhood.

If all you can do is complain about the team, no matter what it is they do, maybe you should consider another form of entertainment, because truthfully, who wants to be around someone like that? Life is far too short to be spending all your time complaining about things you have no control over. That doesn't mean you're not a true fan. Just a miserable one.

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No_Pressure

No_Pressure

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Posted

Football fans can know a lot about a team, they can know all about its history, all about its present, and can make lofty claims about its future. Football fans can support a team monetarily- season tickets, jerseys, hats, shirts, car magnets, everything possible. Hell on gameday my mom has Redskins socks, pants, long sleeve shirt under a 47 or 89 jersey, a Redskins headband, redskins shoes, probably even has Redskins earrings by now and I know I've seen plenty of men walking around FedEx Field who are even more decked out in Redskins gear. Football fans can support their team 100% of the way, they can always have something positive to say and never utter a negative word against their franchise. Football fans can be so into their team that they dread waking up early on Sunday mornings because it means they have to spend more time awake just waiting for their game to start- oh the agony! Some football fans are happy go lucky fans, they are disappointed with losses and can view the team negatively, but they just want to see success- they don't really care how its accomplished they just want to see their team improve.

Sometimes the fans who support the team with money get pissed off that their team has been pretty bad for almost two decades now. Sometimes the fans who are always positive lash out at those fans for not staying as positive about the team as they do. Sometimes the knowledgeable fans care deeply about how we missed on 20 different prospects he wanted in the draft, the less knowledgeable fan might say "huh? oh yeah well I just wish they would throw the ball better ya know? Get more touchdowns and win these games!".

Rarely do all or many football fans have something exactly in common, and each group in times of trouble may point fingers at one another and say: "You! You fans are doing it wrong! You're not loyal! How could you do this?!?!" or perhaps "You're an overly optimistic moron! How can you sit there and not acknowledge all of our shortcomings and the necessity of blowing up this team and starting from scratch???".

All we're really saying to each other is "I'm mad that our team is losing and I need somebody to take it out on because I can't control anything our team does".

We share one thing in common. Even the most optimistic upbeat fans out there, the die heard rah rah guys who point at everybody and question their fandom sit around while our team is losing and do the same thing we all do. They may be less vocal about it- the happy go lucky fan might be less vocal about it. The frustration may come out in different ways or it may not come out at all. The point is that everybody who is a Redskins fan will feel that feeling in the pit of their stomach. Utter disgust. Anger. Frustration. The need to do something- to help out in some way, and the helplessness which accompanies it sitting in the stands or sitting in front of a television.

If we're fans we're the same in that way. I felt like I got kicked in the ball on Sunday and I expected us to lose going into that game. I told my fiancee as she left that morning and said "hey good luck for the Redskins!" "Yeah well, that doesn't matter they're going to lose." I'm not even expecting a playoff run, I never was. I never expected more than 8-8. We're 3-3, right on track with what I logically reasoned we were capable of, and I'm still mad. I still feel sick watching this team fail year in and year out. My father in law is a Lions fan. He's constantly telling me to stop being such a negative person when we're watching the skins and I tell him how they're going to blow the game and I've seen it 100 times before. I'm right 99% of the time which is sad, but he still gives me crap. He's always upbeat about the Lions, I don't know how he does it, but when they failed hard in that 0-16 season I could see the pain on his face and the disillusionment in his eyes.

I don't know where I'm going with this but I suppose a true fan is anybody who feels that feeling in the pit of their stomach watching their team lose. Anybody who really cares to the point of feeling like crap when their team lets them down. Sure there are people who claim emotional detachment. I did that two years ago with Zorn and company, but you know what? Late in the season I was watching a game and was absolutely livid at what I saw, in spite of my stoic approach. The only fake fans are ones who can take or leave losses and failures. The guy who doesn't really care about the outcome of the game. They're not really fans of a team, they're just paying attention to it so they may be more accepted socially, or so they can talk about it with their coworkers the next day. They're the people who watch the Redskins start to lose and say oh well! and go outside to mow the lawn or change the channel to Holmes on Homes because it looks really interesting. They don't really care. If you do, regardless of how you approach partaking in football and rooting for the Redskins, you'll feel that feeling in your gut when you watch them lose and you'll know you're no different from the rest of us.

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Commander Chaaarmnder

Commander Chaaarmnder

Posted
Posted

I'd say resigning your fanhood can actually apply in a couple of situations:

a) your team relocates to a geographical location not easily accessible to you (i.e. baltimore colts to Indianopolis, Houston Oilers to Tennessee, Cleveland Browns to Baltimore. Although Oakland Raiders to LA and back doesn't make sense to me cause the fanbase has remained relatively the same).

B) you are a fair weather fan with no heart and soul and just root for whatever team is winning and have no regard for loyalty.

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Ænima

Ænima

Posted
Posted
I love these rules of fanhood by Bill Simmons. Truly inspiring stuff. This is just an excerpt, but the whole article can be found here: http://proxy.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/020227
•The owner of your favorite team treated his fans so egregiously over the years that you couldn't take it anymore -- you would rather not follow them at all then support a franchise with this owner in charge. ( ) Just for the record, I reached this point with the Boston Bruins about six years ago. When it happens, you have two options: You can either renounce that team and pick someone else, or you can pretend they're dead, like you're a grieving widow. That's what I do. I'm an NHL widow. I don't even want to date another team.
If anybody reads Simmons, can you tell me if he shamelessly hopped back on the Bruins bandwagon last year? I'm just curious.

Also, it is always sobering when an old thread is bumped and you run into a Bubba post. RIP.

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Jumbo

Jumbo

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Posted

In the case at hand, IMO, you can acceptably terminate your fanhood when you decide to withdraw yoiur previously dedicated time and interest from football altogether, to spend that time and energy on something you feel is more meaningful in life and you have relevantly limited amounts of said time and energy. That's my serious answer. :cool:

Otherwise, you're just a whiny wimp loser for terminating your fanhood just because your team sucks. :D

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HogNose

HogNose

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I, like many others were born a Redskin fan and it is all we know. We have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly and it will all come full circle again. I just hope my sons (6 & 3 years old) get to witness another round of the glory years in their lifetimes.

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daveakl

daveakl

Posted
Posted
In the case at hand, IMO, you can acceptably terminate your fanhood when you decide to withdraw yoiur previously dedicated time and interest from football altogether, to spend that time and energy on something you feel is more meaningful in life and you have relevantly limited amounts of said time and energy. That's my serious answer. :cool:

I think there were quite a few people that were close in November/December of 2009 to walking away from being avid followers of the Redskins and becoming more passing followers of football in general. I know for me I had one daughter that was 1.5 and another on the way so my time was becoming limited. Watching the Redskins play, following them online, and even seeing the pictures/memorabilia in my house made me more sad then angry. Combine that with it being winter and I was fed up with it all. I still enjoyed football, love to play it, love to watch it, but hated that the team I loved with a passion was so freaking bad and headed nowhere. I never stopped watching, but man oh man was I close. Talk about a dark time.

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ouvan59

ouvan59

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Posted

Not that I am considering ever rooting for another team other then the skins....but should someone in my situation be allowed to terminate their fanhood? How many losing seasons must someone endure before they can like another NFL team?

That's something you'll have to ask a Cowboy fan.

In all seriousness there is no excuse that I can think of for switching alliances. If you are considering it then you aren't a real fan (fanatic). You are just a follower. Losing tests you but it only makes the good times that much sweeter. I have nothing but contempt for anyone who switches teams.

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Jumbo

Jumbo

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Posted
whats funny is reading posts from 2007 saying we're on our way back up. 4 years later- nothing

Worse...8 years ago zoony & I were posting on the WaPo message board looking to the future...outside of a few half-real flashes under Gibbs II... nothing. Until now. Now I think we are heading towards soemthing good. Really. :)

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Boston Skins

Boston Skins

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Posted
If anybody reads Simmons, can you tell me if he shamelessly hopped back on the Bruins bandwagon last year? I'm just curious.

He definitely mentioned that in one of his columns around the time the Bruins and Canucks were still playing for the cup and he was spotted at the Garden banging on the glass. I gotta see if I can track that article down (too lazy to do it right now).

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