Tag Archives: Fandom

Game Day Morning

Arizona, Oregon, Pac-12, , , , , , , , ,

The previews have been written and the heads have spoken. The haters have hated and the contrarians have garnered their page views.

Today is game day.

And if you’re anything like me, you’ve taken casual Friday a sunrise early. You’ve tucked in your today-I-want-to-look-like-a-“friend of the program” polo and put on some decent shoes. You got to work early and explained, with remarkable clarity, the impact your opponent’s sixth man could have on the game should they manage to get out into transition. Cheryl, from accounting, was not impressed.

There is, of course, a phantom doctor’s appointment this afternoon. A joke that is only funny to you and that half the office actually believes is true. The other half rolls theirs eyes and mutters something about your general level of maturity. But you have your game day blinders on; your dual monitors adorning more of the aforementioned previews and voices you love or hate. More fuel for that fire.

And when that first meeting arrives, that Outlook reminder that you’re due in suite 205 in 15…then 10…then 5…Now… Yeah that meeting blows.

It’s this eager anticipation for a game in which we have no bearing that we love this. Maybe you’ve moved past superstition or explosive upset, but when push comes to shove, when the date of the game is some day in March (and even more anxiety-ridden if it’s April), there’s an undeniable excitement.

Your opponent may be better than you. And the national drone may dismiss your game as a cakewalk for your Goliath opponent. Their RPI, KenPom, Sagarin, AP, Coaches, and eyeball poll rating is higher than yours.

Again, there’s a brewing excitement.

Because today, it really doesn’t matter what you did in November or who you signed last June. It doesn’t matter that you dropped a pair to RPI >100s or that you edged a ranked team at home in early January.

Today is about one, March is about one, because we’re trying to get it all down to the one, last man standing.

May your Thursday be Sweet.

Cats fans…you remember it:

 

Being a Fan and Always Abiding Rule #1

Arizona, Washington, , ,

I think I’ve made it clear – and if I haven’t please take note – that as fans, we have nothing to do with the outcome of games that dictate our emotions.

That, by definition, is insane. It’s unhealthy and not conducive to mature relationships and whatever other highly-appropriate babel an MD would tell you regarding your very UN-codependency on the success of another team.

But that’s of course why it’s so perfect and wonderful to be a fan. And that’s why I had a nice little Q&A with Jack Follman. Jack is a fellow PacificTakes writer and just so happens to be a Washington Huskies fan.

This is a fan base I’m a fan of. They live in a beautiful and intelligent city. They’re a bright and supportive fan base with good perspective about them. I dig the Dawgs.

But they’re playing the Wildcats and so I want the Huskies to lose. Badly.

Here’s the football Q&A Jack and I did as a preview to Saturday’s match-up. And note that I love this kinda stuff. It’s like the political debates with even more cattiness. Seriously, how many other debate forums allow you to use actions from 1997 as indictments of one’s superiority over another (additionally note when discussing 1997 with a UW fan, I’ll gladly mention the “Leap by the Lake” and that little thing we like to call the 1997 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship).

This is the fun stuff. It’s why I love going to an opponent’s arena and going HAM – win, lose, or draw – while always abiding by life rule #1: DON’T BE AN ASSHOLE. Which is loosely defined.

It Makes No Sense, but Being a Fan is Great

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You’re a college basketball fan and no doubt a good one. You have a favorite team and know their strengths, weaknesses, and 2015 recruiting class. You have a “source” at the school, a great “remember when” moment, and your all-time favorite player never made the NBA.

You’re a great fan.

Therefore you’re irrational, dependent and manic. You know the program minutiae, read obscure blogs (gracias), have a go-to text recipient for every rumor, and hate a national expert and a local broadcaster. Team success – as finite as makes and misses in March – dictate your emotional state and you’ve undoubtedly participated in some variation of an unspeakable superstition ritual.

You, of course, have never had anything to do with a win or loss; have never scored a point or grabbed a rebound; have never drawn on the dry erase board.

Sports fandom, for better or for worse, is manic. It makes no sense and that is why it’s perfect.

The theatrics of sport – the purest of tragedies – provide a rare forum by which we can irrationally lose ourselves, become consumed by something bigger than us, and commiserate and co-exuberate the lows and highs.

Fandom provides a sense of community not always found at work, amongst your significant others’ friends, or at happy hour. It provides us the rare opportunity to raise our voices, yell and scream, jump and shout.

Fandom provides us this:

IU Upsets KY – Celebration at Nick’s English Hut from Tarun Gangwani on Vimeo.