A Definitive Guide to Being a Fan?
Hop into the comments section of almost any online article about any sport and there’s a good chance you”ll find at least one person telling everyone else how to fan. They’ll say things like “You’re not a real fan if…” or “Only true fans know…”. They’ll use words and phrases such as “bandwagon fan” or “fair weather fan”, or the always easy to use “troll”. If you’re a Cub fan, no doubt you’ve heard, at least once “I bet you weren’t even a fan before 2015!”, as if there’s a magical start date for fandom and anything after that invalidates your fan status.
Here’s the thing, though. There is absolutely no set of rules on how to be a fan and the only prerequisite to being a fan is supporting your team, win or lose. Want to be a fan of two different teams in the same league? Go for it! Want to like a specific player on your rival’s team? Have at it! Being a fan of an individual player on your rival team absolutely does not make you any less of a fan of your team. If anything, its proof positive you’re a fan of the game itself because it means you’re capable of looking past the rivalry and respecting the players skill of the game.
You’re allowed to question your teams owners and their decisions, if you want to. You’re allowed to stay as loyal to management as you’d like because pretty much every definition out there describes a fan as being “an enthusiastic devotee”. Nowhere will you find a definition that includes a set of rules on how to fan.
Now, don’t get me wrong. “Definitive Guide to Being a Fan” articles are definitely out there. A quick Google search gave me links to several. They’re chock full of “rules” and “clauses” that, I’m sure, their authors thought were the exact correct rules to being a fan. So why am I sitting here saying there are no rules? Why am I right, instead of them? Because nobody has the right to tell you how to fan. You have your own reasons for liking the teams and players you like. You have your own reasons for fanning the way you fan. All of it is important and yet none of matters. What matters is the fact that you are a fan. What matters is that when someone asks “Who’s your team?”, you answer proudly, win or lose.
So go ahead and try to start “The Wave” next time you’re hanging out in Wrigley’s bleachers. Eat that veggie burger while telling all the tailgators how gross cheese is next time you’re walking through the parking lot of Miller Park. Fan your way and fan proudly. Fan however you want, just as long as you’re still fanning when your team loses.
