As I prepare to immerse myself in another season of ill-fated devotion, there is a question I can’t shake: Why? Not why do the Raiders keep losing, but why does anyone follow an incompetent, perpetually failing team? It’s a question that resonates across an entire nation of fanatics, from the frigid Cheeseheads of Wisconsin to the yodeling herds of Texas, from the mile-high multitudes to the bellowing masses of New York.
In offering explanations, the afflicted tend to stress the laudable aspects of sport. It’s perfectly natural, we note, to admire the grace and strength of our finest athletes. Their contests reconnect us to the unscripted physical pleasures of childhood. They simplify and lend moral structure to a world that feels increasingly chaotic. And they allow men, in particular, a common language by which to express deep emotions (rage, disappointment, joy) that might otherwise feel forbidden ”” as well as activating our ancient yearning for tribal affiliation.
Unfortunately, these reasons don’t quite justify the more pathological practitioners of fandom. By which I mean hard cases like me, who spend decades rooting for teams that almost invariably stomp our hearts. To understand this species of devotion requires the invocation of Omar Little, the mystical Robin Hood figure of “The Wire.” As he puts it, “A man’s gotta have a code.”
I’ve been a Lions fan for 44 years. It’s crazy, I know; but it builds character. I am, after all, a hopeful man.
Being a diehard Mets fan I can only hope that my suffering in this world might count for something in the next.
People who grew up in Western New York State or southern Ontario will usually confess to undying hope that once, perhaps only once, the Buffalo Bills might at last win the Super Bowl. It would mean so very much to the continuing residents of the greater Buffalo region, who for several generations have endured economic malaise and ridicule for their long and harsh winter weather.
When i first read the headline, I thought it was about politics!
Hm.
My Dad brought me to Wrigley Field when I was six. I got Ernie Banks’ autograph (and Carmen Fanzone’s) and was hooked. When you’re young, no matter how bad the team is, they are giants in your eyes. After that you just rationalize…any team can have a bad century. As for you Mets and Lions fans, talk to me when the streak reaches triple digits.
Ouch. For what it’s worth I’ve always had a soft spot for the Cubs. Maybe I need professional help.
Dolphin fan here, so I know the drill. But another take: doesn’t this also describe the long time Episcopalian hoping that somehow sanity would return to PECUSA and that it would once again become a Christian church? Chances of that are sort of like chances of the Dolphins making the play offs, much less the Super Bowl.
I grew up watching the St. Louis Cardinals NFL team and learned something fairly quickly. The team was incompetently run and had a scouting staff that I could have beaten with a Street & Smith’s even back then.
Since you learned fairly quickly that the Super Bowl was simply not an option, our football day of the year was draft day. You literally had to fight to get through to the newspapers, the television stations, the sports lines, all of it, because we all had one question. “How bad are they going to screw it up this year?” And the Big Red seldom disappointed us.
It got to a point when the Cardinals demanded a new stadium, didn’t get it and moved to Arizona, quite a few of us didn’t care in the slightest(although my dad continued to pull for them). It was also why the 1999-2000 St. Louis Rams season and Super Bowl victory was the most surreal experience of my life. Still haven’t gotten my mind around that game.
#3 Henry Greville, you are a man after my own heart. I’ve not lived in Western New York in over 35 years, but having grown up there, Da Bills are still my team.
#6 as a lifelong Cubs fan, thanks. There is always next year….
Daryle Lamonica, Fred Biletnikoff, and George Blanda. That’s how I became a Raiders fan, watching them on TV Sundays with Dad. I never had it as bad as Mr. Almond, but they were my first pro football love.
As an Angeleno, I figured I could wash my hands of them when Mr. Davis moved the Raiders back to Oakland (as I’d done with the Rams when they moved). And it wouldn’t be hard here in Peoria, since they don’t show up on over-the-air TV much.
But one Sunday afternoon, there they were, on my TV and, as much as I tried to not care or root for the other team, there I was — cheering them down a drive, disgusted by (what else!) a holding penalty on a key play killing their chances once again. Yes, the “Commitment to Excellence” mirrored the shadow Al Davis became. But they’re still my Raiders.
Lamonica, Biletnikoff, Blanda; Sundays with Dad.
The Rev. [url=http://pastorzip.blogspot.com]Steven P. Tibbetts, STS[/url],
Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church of Peoria, Illinois
Los Angeles Angels fan since they played in the original Wrigley Field.
I loved my Texas Rangers long before they became one of the best teams in baseball. Why? Because they were here and (usually) played with heart. Anyway, it was a ballpark I could actually go to, put my feet up, drink a beer and relax. TV is great, but sometimes you just want to be there.
On the other hand, winning or losing, you can keep the Dallas Cowboys. “America’s Team” indeed!