The Unbearable Difficulties of Being a Fan
It's hard to be a fan. People don't appreciate this. My (female) housemates who complain that all I do is sit on my ass watching sporting events don't realize that it's not easy to devote yourself to sports the way a fan has to.
First off, there's just the scheduling nightmares. It isn't easy to organize your saturday plans to make sure you're home to watch the Miami/Va Tech game and still make it out for partying. And staying up until 2 in the morning every night when the Pistons are out on the West Coast can start to add up after a while. Or you get into a month like October, where you can barely find time to eat between baseball playoffs, football Sundays, College Gamedays, and golf...okay maybe not golf. And that's not even mentioning international events. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to plan for the World Cup? Last time I literally had to go to sleep at like 9, set my alarm for 2, and drive over to my friend's house to watch the USA/Mexico match...and when I ran around the next day screaming about our victory, most people had no idea what I was talking about. Cretins.
Plus if you're a big enough fan, eventually you're going to find yourself rooting for mutually contradictory things. This weekend my Lions are playing the Arizona Cardinals. Now I obviously want us to win, but the thing is I have Larry Fitzgerald on my fantasy team, so I also want us to give up about 350 yards passing (preferably all to Larry). Or what about if Wisconsin wins this week, MSU loses, OSU wins, and Michigan wins. Then, should Michigan beat OSU, I'll find myself watching the PSU/MSU game in the following light: If MSU loses they don't go to a bowl (oh happy day), but if they win Michigan is Big Ten champs. Now here I know what to do, bite my tongue and root for MSU. But I'm not entirely sure I can manage that without throwing up. Or what about the Knicks this year? On one hand, I find myself wishing them the best, because I love LB and want him to continue to do well. On the other hand I really want to see Isaiah Thomas trade Marbury away for Mehmet Okur. I have a sincere belief that the fact that Isaiah missed the opportunity to sign Okur to an obscenely high contract keeps Zeke up nights. I mean, that's the golden boy of overrated players being ridiculously overpaid right there. How is he not on the Knicks?
And speaking of rooting for things that make you feel worse than Brett Favre when he looks around the locker room (what's the over/under on Packers who catch passes this week that Brett Favre knows by first name? like 4?), there's always the horrific injury that benefits your team. Now nobody wants to see someone get hurt. Especially not an injury that jeopardizes career or (heaven forbid) their day to day life. But on the other hand, how many Michigan fans can honestly say they didn't cheer when Stanton went out injured last year? And you don't feel good about it, but that's how it is. Just this last week, Priest Holmes has suffered from an injury (various reports have listed this thing as a bad back, sore neck, a tumor on his spine, a broken hip, a slight cold, Gingivitis, alzheimer's, stigmata and the bubonic plague...seriously, shouldn't some one know what's actually wrong with him?). Anyway, he suffered from something that is putting him out for the season, maybe for good. And I feel for him, because he's a great running back, a great athlete, and I imagine a fine person. So I want to see him play again. On the other hand I have Larry Johnson on my fantasy team, so I'm basically doing cartwheels inside.
So you see? It's not easy being a sportsfan. It's not easy juggling 5 real teams, three fantasy teams, a half dozen sports, and you know...your actual life. So the next time you see your friend/roommate/boyfriend/girlfriend/cousin-in-law/indentured servant/circus freak sitting on the couch zoned out watching three college football games and an NBA basketball game, plus a re-run of last week's World Series of Poker, do a fan a favor: go make sure all his fantasy players are actually going to play tomorrow.
(originally written November 11th)
First off, there's just the scheduling nightmares. It isn't easy to organize your saturday plans to make sure you're home to watch the Miami/Va Tech game and still make it out for partying. And staying up until 2 in the morning every night when the Pistons are out on the West Coast can start to add up after a while. Or you get into a month like October, where you can barely find time to eat between baseball playoffs, football Sundays, College Gamedays, and golf...okay maybe not golf. And that's not even mentioning international events. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to plan for the World Cup? Last time I literally had to go to sleep at like 9, set my alarm for 2, and drive over to my friend's house to watch the USA/Mexico match...and when I ran around the next day screaming about our victory, most people had no idea what I was talking about. Cretins.
Plus if you're a big enough fan, eventually you're going to find yourself rooting for mutually contradictory things. This weekend my Lions are playing the Arizona Cardinals. Now I obviously want us to win, but the thing is I have Larry Fitzgerald on my fantasy team, so I also want us to give up about 350 yards passing (preferably all to Larry). Or what about if Wisconsin wins this week, MSU loses, OSU wins, and Michigan wins. Then, should Michigan beat OSU, I'll find myself watching the PSU/MSU game in the following light: If MSU loses they don't go to a bowl (oh happy day), but if they win Michigan is Big Ten champs. Now here I know what to do, bite my tongue and root for MSU. But I'm not entirely sure I can manage that without throwing up. Or what about the Knicks this year? On one hand, I find myself wishing them the best, because I love LB and want him to continue to do well. On the other hand I really want to see Isaiah Thomas trade Marbury away for Mehmet Okur. I have a sincere belief that the fact that Isaiah missed the opportunity to sign Okur to an obscenely high contract keeps Zeke up nights. I mean, that's the golden boy of overrated players being ridiculously overpaid right there. How is he not on the Knicks?
And speaking of rooting for things that make you feel worse than Brett Favre when he looks around the locker room (what's the over/under on Packers who catch passes this week that Brett Favre knows by first name? like 4?), there's always the horrific injury that benefits your team. Now nobody wants to see someone get hurt. Especially not an injury that jeopardizes career or (heaven forbid) their day to day life. But on the other hand, how many Michigan fans can honestly say they didn't cheer when Stanton went out injured last year? And you don't feel good about it, but that's how it is. Just this last week, Priest Holmes has suffered from an injury (various reports have listed this thing as a bad back, sore neck, a tumor on his spine, a broken hip, a slight cold, Gingivitis, alzheimer's, stigmata and the bubonic plague...seriously, shouldn't some one know what's actually wrong with him?). Anyway, he suffered from something that is putting him out for the season, maybe for good. And I feel for him, because he's a great running back, a great athlete, and I imagine a fine person. So I want to see him play again. On the other hand I have Larry Johnson on my fantasy team, so I'm basically doing cartwheels inside.
So you see? It's not easy being a sportsfan. It's not easy juggling 5 real teams, three fantasy teams, a half dozen sports, and you know...your actual life. So the next time you see your friend/roommate/boyfriend/girlfriend/cousin-in-law/indentured servant/circus freak sitting on the couch zoned out watching three college football games and an NBA basketball game, plus a re-run of last week's World Series of Poker, do a fan a favor: go make sure all his fantasy players are actually going to play tomorrow.
(originally written November 11th)
posted by drs at 5:44 PM
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