"So.... who's a fan here?"The other day, I had a conversation with my friend regarding the fans of the Lakers. I’m from Northern California, making me not too familiar to the fan base of the Lakers. He’s from Los Angeles, thus he’s quite familiar with them. He also knows if anything, many Laker fans aren’t that hardcore as they present themselves.
One particular example comes from this guy we know. He’s the type of guy who pretty much follows anything that’s “in” right now in sports. If the Red Sox are doing great, he’ll like them. Kansas is playing in the national championship? He’ll be their biggest fan. Thus, since this guy is from LA, he’s pretty much off the wall now that the Lakers are making a championship run. Basically, he’s the biggest bandwagon we know.
He doesn’t know much about the Lakers. Sure he knows Kobe and Gasol, maybe even Bynum, but that’s it. The scope of his knowledge only extends to what he sees on Sportscenter perhaps once every two weeks. He’s not what I consider a real fan of the Lakers, nor a real fan of sports. The bad thing is many Laker fans are like, though he is probably an exaggerated version. These people wear their Kobe jerseys all post season and talk about how great Kobe is, but where were they during the season? Where were they last year when the Suns crushed them? Can any of them really say they are hardcore fans of the Lakers?I can’t really say that I can, but then again, I never claimed to be. I can even admit that concerning the NBA in general, I am a fair weather fan at most. Sure, I follow up on what’s going on and read the news going in the NBA, but that’s only because I am a fan of sports in general. I’ll keep up with what’s going on, but my passion does not lie with the NBA. I reserve that for the NFL and college basketball, as you may notice that many of the entries hear on TPIC feature those sports. It’s the reason I mock these sports so much, because I feel I can back up the convictions I dish out.
If you ask me about my Kansas City Chiefs, I could name a lot of facts off the top of my head. I could also tell you about how great their draft was this year, about how Glenn Dorsey will be a great addition to an ailing defensive line and why Brodie Croyle is going to have a tough time at QB, meaning we should just stick to the run. I could also tell you that realistically, I know the Chiefs aren’t going to be in the Super Bowl, but I’ll watch them anyway. I’m not the type of “Laker”-like fan who will talk about a superstar like Larry Johnson, and that’s all I’ll rant on about. I’m not like those people.
"This is a picture of my room. Just kidding, heh, heh..."Also, “those people” would never come across this blog. If you are person who happened to stumble to this blog by way of Yardbarker or Ballhype, then I commend you because you are probably a true fan of the Lakers. For you to actually spend your time to go to listings and opinions about the Lakers on websites geared only to hardcore fans is very admirable, and shows the true dedication that you have. However, you fine citizens are far and few and pale in comparison to the people who get sucked into the celebrity appeal that the Lakers offer. While you guys search every scrim of the internet to find readings about your favorite team, those “others” probably only glance at the Lakers once in a while on ESPN.com.
This also doesn’t only pertain to the Lakers. As you may know, the Sharks are also clutching for dear life in the playoffs. Being from San Jose, I can tell you right now that the only team that matters right now in San Jo are the Sharks. A lot of my friends all displayed their disappointment when the Sharks began to fall into a 3-0 hole. A lot of my friends also displayed their exuberance when the Sharks won on Wednesday. Yet, where were all these emotions in the regular season? Oh, that’s right they didn’t exist.
That kind of leads to the bigger question of who can you really call a fan? Is it someone who just likes the team, yet has little knowledge about them? Can someone who roots for the home team yet doesn’t watch any games until the playoffs be considered a fan? How about someone who watches a few games but doesn’t watch every game as if it matters? Can that person be a fan?Though I would like to be the nice guy and say yes, my ultimate answer is no. A person similar to the one described above is not a fan. He or she is an admirer of the team, and probably feels happy when they win, maybe a little bummed when they don’t. There’s nothing wrong with that really. I never stated it was a bad thing. It doesn’t bother me one bit. What does bother me is that sometimes these people parade around and act like they are the biggest super fan in the world. They act like they’ve been living and dying on every action their team has made, especially come post season. “I’m loving the Lakers! Kobe is the best! I’m such a huge fan of the Lakers right now!” Yeah, you’re a huge fan of the Lakers RIGHT NOW, but you’re not a huge fan. Sit down, son.
Hell, I’m pretty sure my roommate, an avid fan of the Magic, probably knows more about the Lakers than these posers. That’s because, like me, he is just a fan of sports in general. His knowledge arises from the passion of the game, not because rooting for the Lakers or Sharks is the cool thing to do right now.Take even the Warriors. During their magical run last year in the playoffs, people had their We Believe shirts on. A lot of people thought this was great, but I kind of just thought “if they were real fans, they would always believe.”
The problem is that all these fans are new to the game. Don’t get me wrong, of course it’s great to have new fans, but it’s not great to have new fans that are unintelligent and ultimately undedicated to watching the team. If you’re a new fan then you have to be dedicated. If you started liking the Lakers now, I better see this dedication throughout all of the 2008-2009 season. I don’t want to see it all magically vanish only to resurface when the 2009 playoffs are around.I guess to bring it to an even larger scope, every thing will have their fair weather people. There are people who eat a Vegan diet, even though they don’t believe in the values of Vegans. Some people are Buddhists and don’t know why. Some people are sadly voting (or also sadly not voting) for Hilary because she is a woman, not because they are informed about her platform. In the end everything will have their posers. What can you do, right?
It’s just that perhaps I hold the sporting world very sacred to me, something I’ve followed since I was a kid, and it’s just a shame when you see “that guy” claiming to have as much dedication as me. There’s no loyalty his fanship, just loud talk with no substance. Thus, I would like to conclude this somewhat serious post with this proposal: next time you see “that guy” talking about how much he’s lovin’ the Lakers or any other team, call him out on it and grill him. Or just punch him in the face. Whatever floats your boat.From Around the Blogs:
How's Cal doing this spring? [Golden Blogs]
How bad is UCLA's offense after losing their QB's? [Gutty Little Bruins]
Chris Loften beat cancer while still playing. Amazing. [ESPN]
12 comments:
I didn't know being a fan was something you have to earn. I'd love to hear your opinion on what makes a real American.
My litmus test (at least for anyone over the age of 21 or so) is how obsessively you followed the team during what I like to call "The Sedale Threatt Years." That was the closest thing to a Lakers time in the wilderness in my lifetime.
Yes, believe it or not, being a fan is something you have to earn, much like a lot of other things.
Jayhawkowensjunior - Bejus, Sedale Threatt? You might want to push your litmus test up to 25, because when I read his name, I thought "Houston Rockets", and I'm 22. Of course, I'm not a Lakers' fan, so do with that information what you will.
Lakers fans are BY FAR the best fans in the NBA. It's not even a contest. They are the best educated about basketball, they know everything about every player, they watch every game they can, they are brutal against opposing teams, they carry long-standing grudges against players even when they're twice removed from their former teams (ask Mike Bibby, for example).
Sure there are a lot of bandwagon jumpers but that has nothing to do with the laker core, which is far bigger then any other core fans in the league. Believe that.
Looks like Mr. Anonymous die hard laker fan there is using the grandest of reasons as all die hard laker fans do by describing how far and beyond their devotion to their team supercede the rest of the nation's fans. One word...Utah...even Phily has a more hardcore fan base than the Lakers.
"Kobe is the best player EVER...Mr. MVP"
Amen, rudykelly.
Why do you or anyone care who is on or off the bandwagon? The only person's fandom you can control is your own. If you want to be a Spurs fan today and a Hawks fan tomorrow, more power to you. For all my teams' bandwagons, I always say, "Get on board. The more, the merrier."
The reasons for posts like these baffle me. The only thing I can think of is that certain fans have a need to feel superior to others. You may have superior NBA knowledge, superior collection of Granville Waiters jerseys or more emotion invested, but that will never make you a bigger (or smaller) fan than the guy who just hopped on.
Sorry, but yeah, you have to earn your fandom. And if you want to know about how "die hard" all those LA fans in general are (especially the HUGE SC fans driving their pimped out civics covered in SC flags), just go look at the NCAA attendance for college football for the last ten-15 years. Your usual suspects in the top 10-15 (Michigan/OSU/Tenn?FLA/ND/OK), even during down years? Attendance changes not in th least. USC, when they're not winning? Um, yeah, you'll see the dip.
And sorry Laker guy, but Laker fans the most knowledgeable? Good Lord, they're not even in the same class as Boston or NY fans. yeesh.
To Dean
I don't think rudykelly was implying the same thoughts that you have. I'm not really sure if anyone who watches sports would agree with the statement of
"If you want to be a Spurs fan today and a Hawks fan tomorrow, more power to you."
Sure of course you can do that. You can do whatever you like. You can root for the Patriots when they're 18-0 and then root for the Giants the instant they won. No one's stopping you from doing it.
The only problem is that it is a crap out for the Giants fan who believed, through all the criticism and doubts, that their team could win only for some guy to say he's in the same boat as you. I can't see how that wouldn't annoy someone.
This just comes from my opinion that anyone who devotes as much time to anything has the right to be annoyed with people who leach on once it becomes popular. Whether its a band, sports team, school project, whatever, I don't think anyone appreciates a bandwagon who comes in.
It's not a need to feel superior. It's not like we go into encyclopedias and review facts all day long. All this knowledge usually just comes from watching the game and following your team. If you watch enough of something, these facts and names become natural.
And finally, post like these are written to hopefully encourage people to watch more of the game. It's intention is to get peopel to watch their team so they won't become "that guy" that I referenced throughout the article.
Hope that helps! :)
I think people use sports for different things. Some guys obsess over their team, can name everyone on the roster, and live and die with every game. Some people don't bother with all that and simply follow a team when they're good. They're different, but I wouldn't say that one is better or worse than the other. It smacks of elitism to assume one person is better than another. I mean, I don't buy paraphernalia and I don't go to many games because I don't feel like spending the money; does that make someone sitting on the red line better than me? Why do people always say the real fans sit in the nosebleed sections? It pointless and pedantic to try to categorize who and who isn't a real fan.
It's me again, same anonymous who responded at 11:43 AM
"Some people don't bother with all that and simply follow a team when they're good. They're different, but I wouldn't say that one is better or worse than the other. It smacks of elitism to assume one person is better than another."
So those Patriots fans who showed up to the games during the Hugh Millen years and Scott Zolak years who wanted to stop the team from moving to Hartford CT - they're the same as those guys (Bill Simmons, everyone who went to my high school) who started following them in 2001? It would be elitist of me to declare one of those groups better fans than the other?
No, I can't possibly agree with that statement.
Laker bandwagon fan right here. because it was too painful to watch them when they sucked and played like shit. It used to piss me off and ruin my day
what is a bandwagon fan anyway? it's a phrase people make up so they can act obnoxious and feel special. and so when their team wins, they go "WE won! WE did it!!!"
just go look at the Boston fans
Yeah.. hate those bandwagoners..
I hate those Boston "fans" that made fun at me when BOS beat LA last finals.. Those "fans" became Boston "fans" when KG+Allen+Pierce are winning.. Where are they when Walker and Pierce played together?
LOL :D !
Lakers' fan since 1996
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