THE BRONX, NY – With the coming and going of every sports season, fans experience various levels of hope and despair about their team’s chances of achieving glory. Here is a somewhat incomplete and inaccurate summary of those Phases Of Fandom:
Blind Optimism: This phase is usually experienced pre-season by the not-so-bright and not-so-well-informed fan. You’ve no doubt encountered this fan. At first you think they’re joking, but at some sad and unfortunate point, you realize that they actually believe that the Pittsburgh Pirates will win the World Series or that the New Jersey Nets will win fifteen games in a season.
Unwavering Pessimism: On the opposite end of the spectrum, this fan believes that no matter how good things look on paper, things will end tragically for their team. You’ll hear things from these fans like “There’s no way the Sharks are making the playoffs this season.†Or “I just don’t think the Lakers can do it again.†By mid-season, these fans are always backtracking and saying things ain’t so bad.
Sky Is Falling : At some point during the season, you will encounter this poor slob. When the standings show that your team is six games ahead in first place, this fan will bring up the fact your fifth starter is 7-8 with a 5.24 ERA, that the fourth line has only scored 5 goals all season or that your team’s free throw percentage is below 80%. He will call sports talk radio stations all day demanding firings and ridiculous trades. This fan will worry no matter how good things really are and should usually just be ignored.
These Guys Ain’t So Frogging Bad: This is the phase that most Mets fans are going through at the moment. Not quite getting their hopes up, but not quite writing the season off. Things could go either way, but most likely they’ll end badly.
Season’s Over: When the Mets lose 18 out of 24 games in August, this fan will be screaming, “Baseball season is over. Its Football season now.†It won’t matter that the team still has an outside shot at making the playoffs. This fan has jumped ship and is swimming for the shores of another sport.
Beckham “bends it” for the Lakers
Quiet Confidence: This fan knows that no matter how bad things look early on, their team will be in the playoff race at season’s end. You usually find them among Lakers, Red Wings, and Yankees fans. Even if the team loses, this fan knows that next season, things will be back to normal and their team will be winning again.
Not-So-Quiet Confidence: He or she supports one of these teams that always wins and will never pass up the opportunity to let everyone within earshot know this. He probably can’t even name 5 players on the team, but that doesn’t stop him from rubbing a championship in your face. He predicts his team will win and, unfortunately, he’s usually right.
That’s all I have for now. Let me know if i missed any…
Sneak Peek Saturday, tomorrow.
