So what defines a good fan?

The common description of “sports fan” is that the word is a derivative of the word
“fanatic.”

In my near 46 years of living, I have seen the word defined many ways. For some,
it is attendance based? Do you show up to the game looking like you came from a
Halloween party? For others, it’s how often you where the team’s clothing. Some
have shown their love through tattoos.

The term bandwagon, fair-weather and today’s popular word “hater” get thrown
around loosely. I avoid usage of the term “hater” because it sounds like a Miley
Cyrus fan that hasn’t reached puberty. Bandwagon and/or fair-weather is often
described as someone that supports the team when they win but is not heard from
when they lose. These terms along with “hater” are also used to describe fans who
support the team but are critical are when the team plays poorly. I beg to differ on
this issue because being a fan does not involve singing “Kumbaya” when the team
sucks. I respect fans that admit when their team stinks much more than the
“Kumbaya” crowd because at least they are honest.  

I have even heard the question posed, “Are you a bad fan if you don’t watch and/or
go to games if the team stinks?” I say not at all because being a sports fan is about
having the release from the daily realities we face as parents, professionals,
college students, etc. but when watching a lousy product that makes you miserable
as a fan, it is no longer a release.

Before I get into the next layer of this discussion, I have lived all but six years of
my life in Northern California. My following team loyalties are: Nebraska (college
football, also my alma mater), San Francisco 49ers (NFL), San Francisco Giants
(MLB), and San Antonio Spurs (NBA). I’ve never claimed a college basketball
team but generally rooted for whomever Rick Pitino coached. I have found myself
casually rooting for Duke the last 14 years because I had a chance to meet coach
Mike Krzyzewski (Coach K). The experience was pleasurable beyond belief.
However, I wouldn’t call myself a Duke fan per se.

With the 49ers and Giants, I grew up going to games with my dad and brother.
When the Oakland Raiders moved to Los Angeles, I disliked them because in
these parts of California, we are conditioned to dislike LA teams. When the Raiders
moved back to Oakland I developed an interest in them because I covered them as
a freelance reporter. Now that they are headed for Las Vegas, my mindset is “I’ll
follow you but don’t let the door hit you.” With the Oakland Athletics, though there
are A’s and Giants fans that despise each other, I’m pretty ambivalent. I don’t
strongly like or dislike them.

In terms of the NBA, I’m a contrarian in that I’m among the minority in the Bay Area
that is not a Golden State Warriors fan. I rooted for them from the mid-1980s to
mid-1990s but when they turned into a 15-year dumpster fire, I decided I needed
real basketball to watch. I never got on the Chicago Bulls bandwagon because it
was too trendy. However, I had admiration for the Spurs and Utah Jazz because
they were the antithesis of what people perceived the NBA to be. They embodied
the “substance over style” motto. I loved watching the Spurs win five NBA titles.
When I tell Bay Area people I am a Spurs fan, sometimes I get cross-eyed looks.
I figure, “Well, if I jumped ship on the Warriors when they sucked, I’d be a fraud for
claiming them as my team now that they have won three NBA titles in four
seasons.”

You are probably wondering how I became a Nebraska fan for college football.
Well, it happened through being a 49ers fan. Stanford and Cal weren’t quite doing
it for me so I needed a good college football team. Nebraska alums Roger Craig
and Tom Rathman comprised the 49ers backfield tandem, one of the best in NFL
history. So I became a Nebraska fan in 1987. Lo and behold, I discovered they had
a journalism program and I got my Bachelors Degree from there. Please don’t
come at me with, “How could a California native want to go to Nebraska?” That
question just reeks of California smugness. I felt going out of state was the best
move for me. Looking back, I felt like I matured more in those four years than at
any point in my life.

For the longest time, I subscribed to the theory of, “Pick a team when you are two
years old and stick with it.” For the most part, I still agree with that notion but in the
pro sports free agency era of the last 25-30 years, it’s hard to ask fans to stay loyal
when players and owners are not.

However, here in the Bay Area, there were San Francisco Giants fans in 2010 that I
didn’t know existed and in 2015, there are plenty of Laker fans that suddenly
became Warrior fans.

So what defines a good or bad fan? First, let’s look at what doesn’t define one.
Spending money on tickets does not make you a better fan. For openers, ticket
prices for college and pro sports skyrocket each passing year to where
above-average income fans are getting priced out. As a father of three kids, I have
not been to a college or pro sports event in seven years, mainly because we are
using that money to put our kids through Catholic schools. I’m OK with that
because I have been to a lifetime’s worth of sporting events. However, I would love
to fly back to Lincoln, NE, for a football game.

Watching every single game even when the team is terrible, while noble, does not
make you a better fan. Before every one of my team’s seasons, I start with the
philosophy of “all in” when it comes to watching most every game as long as my
professional or family life does not sidetrack. However, if the team’s season is going
off the rails, like the 2017 Giants and Huskers, most 49ers seasons since 2002, I’ll
watch the game if I’m home but I won’t go out of my way to do so.

I base being a good fan on how informed do you remain as the season progresses.
You can remain informed about the team (wins, losses, roster moves, etc.) without
watching the games.

Fan might be a derivative of fanatic but the level of fandom is not based on painted
bodies, tickets, wardrobes or TV sets.