What Does It Mean To Be A "true Fan"?

[Hanzo the Razor]

Maybe cause we have to defend it?  When you walk around this area with a REdskins jersey on, your usually laughed at, made fun of, and prodded.  But, it never stopped me from doing it.  Dont ever question someones fandom that isnt a homer.  That just proves my point that people that arent homers are bigger fanatics then ones that are.  We owe nothing to that team or city, yet we stayed through decades of losing (for me its been right around 25 years now of being a fan).  Let me ask you something, what takes more guts, walking into a Redskin bar in dc to watch the redskins vs steelers on mnf, or walking into a bar called "The black and gold bar" where theres over 150 steeler fans, and your the one wearing a Redskin jersey.  Say what you will, but dont question a persons fan hood just cause hes not a raging homer.

 

For me, that's a big part of it. Win or lose, I happily wear my Redskins gear, even if I get crappy comments from the Ravens fans here in my area. 

 

I try to be optimistic and positive about the Redskins chances in a game, but also realistic. 

 

For me, it's not about if they win or lose, it's how they play the game. Don't get me wrong, I'll gladly take the "W" anytime, but this last lost was easier to stomach because the Skins didn't look as terrible out there. The Eagles loss was stunning but I figured it was an aberration due to a new unusual offense and our offense looking rusty -- when they came back and made it a one-possession game, I thought it was just a weird situation.

 

The Green Bay game was more of a gut punch; I wouldn't have bet money that they'd win, but I thought it'd be a tight game that the Redskins would be competitive in. Last week was awful, but it came down to two really bad plays -- I really feel like the Skins would have won if Griffin hadn't fumbled and if Garcon had continued coming back toward Griffin (its why RG3 threw that interception from what I read -- "I understand why Shanahan had a change of heart after watching Griffin’s interception. Had Garcon kept running back toward his quarterback, he would have caught the ball.").

 

Still, I was bummed about all three losses, but I don't like calling for coaches being fired or players being benches or whatever, personally (not saying you're wrong if you feel otherwise) -- I feel like they need the morale boost from fans rallying behind them so they can get back on track. Although that said, I do feel the Skins probably need a new defensive coordinator if the D still looks this bad in the next one or two games.

 

In any case, when I became a Redskins fan, they were a losing football team, so I'm in for the long haul -- I know they'll turn it around at some point and with RG3, I think it'll be in the next few seasons.

[Bang]

I think the defintion of TRUE FAN is largely up to the fan, with a few conditions.

for example, two weeks ago i was griping about fans who boo and disagreed with a couple of guys who are season ticket holders and were booing. I disagreed strongly, but didn't question their fanhood. they just do something I don't choose to do.

However, as I said,, there are conditions.

1. Don't EVER jump ship.  Complain loudly, boo, whatever.. but don't show up wearing another jersey when things get bad. Look, i'm a Penn State football fan, (Not an alumni)  and I found a way to get past probably the WORST thing you can find out about your football favorite. (It's not the players fault, and they are who I root for.. this is my justification.)
    
2.  don't ever utter the words "second favorite team". There's no such thing. If there is, then you aren't really true, right? Do you have a second favorite wife? i doubt it.
    
3. If you have to miss the game, it should be a medical emergency, good money at work, a funeral.. ship sinking, something like that. If you're out shopping during the game...  forget it.
    
4. This isn't really a condition, more like a sub-clause. Don't root for NFC East teams to win the Super Bowl if we don't make it. No way. To hell with them. If saying "well, at least the Giants won the Super bowl " gives you any stretch of pride in any argument with anyone, consider suicide.
   
    

That's about it.

 

~Bang

[Mr. Sinister]

Being a "True Fan" holds about the same amount of weight with me as being "A Real American." It means whatever you want it to, in your own mind. I find it being used the most, by complete and utter idiots (not directed at anyone here). I agree with everything Bang said though. This isn't college conference pride. I root for every other NFC East team to crash and burn, and I have no second team. I also won't pull a Chad Dukes and watch pro wrestling during an MNF game against the Cowboys. That's about it.

[BRAVEONTHEWARPATH93]

Honestly I envy the hell out of ppl that can watch their team lose and not be crushed by it.

I'm ashamed at how worked up I've been over the Skins and Yankees the last few weeks. Remember skipping school the day after the Caps' game seven loss against MTL in 2010, I was throughly crushed. Remember watching game seven of 2004 ALCS in disbelief as an 11 year old. Six year old me cried my eyes when we lost to the Bucs in the 2000 divisional playoff game. I'm a mess smh

But I don't think that makes me more of a fan than someone that can watch a game then go on and have a nice, chill day. I know there are a few guys here that can do that.

Now, I can name everyone on my squads within the last 5-10 years, telling you results, records, and things like that but just because another guy can't, I'm not going to hold that against him

I think the difference is between die hard fans and caudal fans. As I said before, ES falls under the former

I think the defintion of TRUE FAN is largely up to the fan, with a few conditions.

for example, two weeks ago i was griping about fans who boo and disagreed with a couple of guys who are season ticket holders and were booing. I disagreed strongly, but didn't question their fanhood. they just do something I don't choose to do.

However, as I said,, there are conditions.

• Don't EVER jump ship. Complain loudly, boo, whatever.. but don't show up wearing another jersey when things get bad. Look, i'm a Penn State football fan, (Not an alumni) and I found a way to get past probably the WORST thing you can find out about your football favorite. (It's not the players fault, and they are who I root for.. this is my justification.)
• don't ever utter the words "second favorite team". There's no such thing. If there is, then you aren't really true, right? Do you have a second favorite wife? i doubt it.
• If you have to miss the game, it should be a medical emergency, good money at work, a funeral.. ship sinking, something like that. If you're out shopping during the game... forget it.
• This isn't really a condition, more like a sub-clause. Don't root for NFC East teams to win the Super Bowl if we don't make it. No way. To hell with them. If saying "well, at least the Giants won the Super bowl " gives you any stretch of pride in any argument with anyone, consider suicide.

That's about it.

~Bang

Girl I'm currently dating is a giants fan. Is it wrong that I allowed her to think I wanted the Giants to win the SB two years ago for relations later on??

[RandyHolt]

Refusing to do laundry after a win.

[Skins Wingman]

When the team plays good, i'm happy, excited, talkative, etc. When they play bad, like this year, I am one miserable mfer. I get mad, irritable, and dont want anybody talking to me. I try not to let it bother me, but it just does. Once you become emotionally involved in a team, then you know you are a fan.

I'll be the first to say when things are bad, i'm ready to fire this guy, bench that guy, but it's because I just want to win. I've only been a fan of the Redskins since 2005, so all I really know is losing. I hate being disappointed on game day, but I couldn't go without watching a game, and I would never switch teams.

[pjfootballer]

This thread will not end well. They never do.

[Bang]

Brave,,, no.. in pursuit of sex, you can say pretty much anything sports related.

 

Just don't go wearing giants gear so y'all can match like a cute couple.

then you're in trouble.

 

~Bang

[mike42]

1. This isn't really a condition, more like a sub-clause. Don't root for NFC East teams to win the Super Bowl if we don't make it. No way. To hell with them. If saying "well, at least the Giants won the Super bowl " gives you any stretch of pride in any argument with anyone, consider suicide.

 

I understand your points, but I don't see why this wouldn't make you a true fan. Disagreement to fans pulling for NFC east teams? Sure, understandable. But labeling them as untrue fans? Disagree. Fans have to pull for somebody in the postseason if we are not in it. Why not pull for our neighbors?

 

To me, being a true fan is simple. Always there to watch the game and if a redskins loss, it hurts.

[Sussudio]

I remember Scott Bentley kicking an onside kick for the Skins on the Monday Nighter in St. Louis.  I also remember David Akers first and only game against the Seahawks in 1998 at the Kingdome.

 

Some people are hardcore others are not, as long as you stick with the team through thick and thin (regardless of criticizing them or praising them which I do both), you are a fan.  Whoever can watch and is purposely going to miss any Redskins games since they are 0-3 is NOT a fan.

[pjfootballer]

I understand your points, but I don't see why this wouldn't make you a true fan. Disagreement to fans pulling for NFC east teams? Sure, understandable. But labeling them as untrue fans? Disagree. Fans have to pull for somebody in the postseason if we are not in it. Why not pull for our neighbors?

 

To me, being a true fan is simple. Always there to watch the game and if a redskins loss, it hurts.

Neighbors?  Really?  If the Cowboys, Eagles or Giants win the SB, there is no trophy, banners or accolades for being in the NFC East if they win.  The only thing you'll get is a bunch of **** rubbed in your face.  Eff them.  I've NEVER rooted for any of them to have any success in the playoffs or SB.  Every year we don't make it, my goal for the playoffs is, anyone but Dallas, Philly or the Giants. It doesn't make you an untrue fan, but I just think it's stupid to root for them.  Do you think Packer fans rooted for the Bears against the Colts?  Or the Bears root for the Packers to beat the Steelers?  Would Niner fans root for the Seahawks if they get in?  Hell no.  There is no banner for rooting for your division foes.  Show me a banner from the last 2 Giants wins hanging at Fed Ex for being an "NFC East relative to the World Champion NY Giants."  Blashphemous.  First SB I watched was SB 12 with Dallas and Denver.  You can bet your sweet ass I was rooting for Craig Morton and the Broncos.  George Allen would have been proud of that 10 year old boy.

[BRAVEONTHEWARPATH93]

I do vividly remember screaming for Tom Brady to eviscerate the Iggles in 2005. I wanted them to be destroyed.

 

However, watching Reid and McNabb completely eff up that final drive was just as good lol

[Mursilis]

As long as you don't change teams every two years and stick with one, you're fine. The whole "true fan thing" is complete bull****. Be a homer, a realist, a booer, a non-booer. Who cares as long as you love your squad. 

 

 

I'm a Redskins fan and I endorse this message. 

[Mursilis]

If you have to miss the game, it should be a medical emergency, good money at work, a funeral.. ship sinking, something like that. If you're out shopping during the game...  forget it.

 

 

I like your list, except for this.  In seasons past, I've skipped watching a game because the team has been so awful that I've abstained from watching to avoid getting myself all worked up.  Call it a mental health holiday.     It's rare, though, because as a fan, there's always that glimmer of hope that they'll turn it around, and the next game will be THAT game, so I usually watch, even if I swore I wouldn't after the last game. 

 

Also, I support fans' rights, and duty even, to vote with their wallets.  If an owner or team management are making decisions focused more on making money than winning games, or are detrimental to the long-term health of the franchise, I have no problem with a fan giving up tickets or whatever as a form of protest against ownership decisions.  I don't think fans should have to exercise blind loyalty to be "true" fans. 

[steve09ru]

We may have it bad... but I'll raise anyone in here a Cleveland or a Buffalo, lol.  Great point.

 

Again, Warpath, I was just making an observation.  I don't hate on anyone that likes teams from different areas, but I think it's interesting and I'm just not sure how it's possible. 

 

I do always raise an eyebrow when I see traditional powers Lakers or Bulls and Yankees in anyone's favorites, though.

 

I kind of agree with this, especially if those other areas consistently have teams contending for titles.  I understand having teams from other areas but when you see people who are fans of contenders it makes you second guess things.  I'm a Knicks and Mets fan - diehard for both and it's been nothing but misery - no championships, not even really close with any.

 

But people who are Heat, Lakers, Yanks, Boston, etc. just screams bandwagon.  We'll see what happens when those teams go through years of struggles (if they do) and how many people flock elsewhere

[Inigo Montoya]

I consider myself a real fan, but hope that one day the "die hard" in me dies down a little bit. 

 

- I don't miss games, sometimes this means finding creative ways to skip things like my kids soccer games. I admit it, its terrible, but I'd rather watch 1 of 16 Skins games than my 6 and 4 year old chasing a group of other 6 and 4 year olds around the field. During the Zorn years I went on a trip to arrowhead for a Chiefs/Broncos game and watched the Skins the whole time on my phone... we lost by a missed chip shot FG against the Saints I believe.

- I believe in changing my jersey to change luck, or a specific food or drink changing the outcome of the game. Also, my in laws are not allowed over anymore during playoff games (I'd like to extend that to all games)

- I'm irritable and mad unless its a blowout win, I actually handle blowout losses easier than close games. I love winning, it changes my whole week. The worst week of the year is the bye week.

Also to add to the "who are your other teams"... I moved to St Louis 9 1/2 years ago and didn't follow baseball or hockey until I moved here, I'm now a pretty big Cardinal and Blues fan. Obviously one has been a lot better over the last 10 years (3 WS trips and 2 wins, one of which I was at game 6 and 7) and the other has been an annual disappointment... but I follow and enjoy them both equally, with the edge to hockey bc I like the sport more. 

 

I like Ovie and I'm glad DC has the Nats, but I'm rooting for the Cards right now and will root on the Blues over the Caps. 

[ManleyMann7271]

I don't like the answer choices here.  One can still support the players and be critical.  Being critical doesn't necessarily mean being negative.  I love the Redskins but the defense is historically bad right now, does this make me a bad fan?  I am simply stating a fact.  

[pjfootballer]

I don't begrudge anyone being a Yankee fan for example, as each has their own stories as to why they are a fan of that team. But you have to stick with your teams and if your team is the Yankees for example, you have ZERO reason to complain about losing seasons for at least 10 years. My O's haven't won a WS in 30 years.

[BRAVEONTHEWARPATH93]

I don't begrudge anyone being a Yankee fan for example, as each has their own stories as to why they are a fan of that team. But you have to stick with your teams and if your team is the Yankees for example, you have ZERO reason to complain about losing seasons for at least 10 years. My O's haven't won a WS in 30 years.

Pj.... They had guys named Luis Cruz and Travis Iskawa playing this year. It was hell.

Cut me some slack lol

The Yankees are headed to 80s level suckage in the next few seasons

[ldysknzfn1]

I think a "true fan" is a fan who sticks by their team in the good times & the bad...they can voice their opinion..get p.o.'d about things but they never turn their backs on their team..we're loyal to a fault..we can talk crap about the Skins but no one else better do that around us...we bond like family w/others like us..I feel as though I know some folks here even tho I've never met them just b/c we like the same team...

 

My love of the Skins came from my Dad...he was a Skins fan (RIP 2001)..my mom is a skins fan, my older sis is a skins fan, and I have passed my love of the Skins to my daughter(I'm such a good parent..lol)..plus when I was growing up the skins were the only team we could watch on TV pretty much...I'm from a small town in VA that's about 4.5 hours from the DC area..so before cable/satellite TV was available we were watching local coverage..that was before NC had a team..so Skins it was

[pjfootballer]

Pj.... They had guys named Luis Cruz and Travis Iskawa playing this year. It was hell.

Cut me some slack lol

The Yankees are headed to 80s level suckage in the next few seasons

Sorry. Your five WS rings and 7 appearance since 1995 trump my zero anything from the O's. No complaining.

[planter]

Skin's fan for over 50 years... I get caught up in the preseason optimism year after year after year...and sometimes I'm right.,

[BRAVEONTHEWARPATH93]

Sorry. Your five WS rings and 7 appearance since 1995 trump my zero anything from the O's. No complaining.

I'm just messing dude.

[jpoer]

As I have said before on my prior posts, I was born, raised, and still live in the most “cowboy obsessed” city of El Paso, TEXAS. 

 

Being born into a family that is also obsessed with the cowboys, my mother was able to show me the light.  When I was 5, the government agency that she works for had sent her to DC for training and she came back with tons of Redskins stuff for me because she knew that I was still young enough to be turned.

 

Thank God I was!!! To this day I thank my mother for introducing to me the Washington Redskins!!!

 

A true fan is there through all the ups and downs.

 

A true fan wears a size Large Redskins jacket to school even though its two sizes too big for him because he’s only in 7^th grade, it was given to him from his dying grandmother who knew it would be the last Christmas present she would ever be able to give him, before she succumbed to cancer. A true fan is there a year later crying while trying his best to wash out the blue paint that was thrown on that same jacket at school the day after the cowboys won Super Bowl XXVIII.

 

A true fan HATES and I mean HATES dallas with all of their heart and soul (yes I have really deep issues about the cowboys and their scum of the earth fans.)

 

A true fan is mad on Sundays or Mondays after a loss, dwells on it for a few hours or days BUT come Wednesday there they are thinking positive about the next game.  A true fan runs into people they haven’t seen in years and those people ask, “You’re STILL a Redskins fan?” And you respond HAIL YEAH!!! A true fan hates that during last year and this past off season all of a sudden you see so many “Redskins fans,” because so many of them have come out of hiding or they are a new fan because of a certain QB.  A true fan misses Herzog saying , “TOUCHDOWN WASHINGTON REDSKINS!!!” A true fan cries when he finally sees his first NFL game, Redskins vs Cardinals in 2001 at Tempe. And a true fan is speechless to see the monument that is RFK Stadium and drops to his knees and wants to sob when he makes that first ever trip to FedEx Field in 2009.

 

I tell everyone that being a Redskins fan prepares you for life.

 

Here’s a play on a quote that I love from the movie The Count of Monte Cristo:

“Life is a storm, my young friend. You will bask in the sunlight one moment, be shattered on the rocks the next. What makes you a Redskins fan is what you do when that storm comes. You must look into that storm and shout, “Do your worst, for I will do mine!” Then the fates will know you as we know you: as Jon, the REDSKINS FAN!!!”

[AlvinWaltonIsMyBoy]

True fans believe.