It’s been a while since any material
has come from this blog but with the football season upon us as well as a live
4th quarter of boxing, it seems necessary to get the creative juices
flowing yet again. This is a slightly humorous, very factual piece to get you
prepared for our work in the fall.
A lot of things about fans are
media induced but a lot of this ridiculousness comes directly from the mind of the fan,
uninfluenced. Here we go..
When
A Player Holds Out…
And the fans after loving a
player’s production for their team, instantly become at odds with him. “How
dare he do such a thing! We need him to get in sync with the team and he’s
sitting out the offseason. What a selfish player!!” Never mind the fact that
this same player has produced at an all pro level for the past couple of years
while being severely underpaid e.g. Darrelle Revis, Chris Johnson and many
others. Oh shame on these greedy players for wanting to get bigger contracts in
a non fully guaranteed league, a league in which players literally face season
ending injuries almost week in week out. The same league where these players
can get cut at any period by the team after poor play or injury. Poor billionaire
owners. They don’t deserve these insubordinate players making life hard for
them.
Why
Do These Athletes Make So Much Money???
I don’t know. Why do owners pay
them so much? No seriously. Do you watch your teachers on the tv or stream?
Would you pay to watch your friends fight on ppv? If the answer is yes, you may
quite possibly be a twisted individual. High level athletes who generate tons of revenue for their teams most certainly deserve to be paid a ton of dollars. I appreciate teachers, doctors, etc contributions to the world just as much as the next man but cmon. I know it sucks when your team signs a player to that huge contract and they under perform you get a little pissed off. That's too bad. A lot of these contracts are based off what the player has done previously. I’m sure when
Gilbert Arenas was offering 100 billion dollars while having a bum knee he didn’t think
“maybe I should be kind and save the team some money”. No. He knew there was a chance that might be his
last big pay day. Was he really wrong? He outplayed the initial contract he
signed with the Wizards anyways. Blame the players? Nah b. Blame the gms for
giving undeserving (your opinion) players these idiotic contracts.
Consistently
Injured…I mean, “Lazy” players
There once was a superstar in the
NBA named Tracy McGrady. He was one of the top 3 players in the league and
arguably the best player. As the years went by, Tmac began to get injured
constantly degrading the quality of his play until he was no longer the superstar
we all came to know, but a veteran just
trying to maintain a spot in the league. For some reason, though, Tmac got the label
“lazy” from Houston Rockets fans who were disappointed by his declining play.
It was revealed at some point by Tmac himself, that he had scoliosis and his
doctor years back didn’t expect him to last very long in the NBA. Tracy managed
to become a household name for almost a decade. But hey, don’t let facts get in
the way of deriding these lazy players. Slacker! All he had to do was his
pushups and weights to stay healthy.
He’s…So….Humble!
There once was a player named
Marvin Harrison, who was one of the best receivers in the NFL. Beyond his great
hands, timing and route running, he was also seen as one of the most humble players
in all of the NFL. He was very quiet and didn’t celebrate much after scoring touchdowns
like the other “Diva” receivers in the league. Little did we know , underneath
the humble exterior, he was a stone cold…nah I’m kind of exaggerating. But you know
what happened with Marvin and the shootings. But how could a humble player do
such a thing! He played the game the right way! How? Because you don’t actually
know who these people are aside from the persona they give out. Humble is
mostly code for boring. Would we want every superstar to have a dry
personality. Sports wouldn’t be enjoyable without the celebrations…the
arrogance..etc. And besides…being humble means nothing on the court/field(see
supposedly arrogant Lebron beat supposedly humble Durant in 5 games in the
finals).
Man….Jordan
would average 50 in this era!!
If you ever have someone try to
convince you of this, just mention that Wilt himself said he would average 50
in the 90s, or simply ask them if they understand anything about pace and
possessions. The most annoying thing might be fans that automatically disregard
their own era and big up past athletes as if they can’t be surpassed or
defeated. The Lebron “The Decision” backlash describes this to a tee. The
nostalgia blinders “Jordan, Bird or Magic would never leave and team up!!”.
Lol. Sure, but their teams would also have multiple hof’ers to surround them in
the first place. This happens often in boxing when fighter vs fighter
comparisons are made. The older fighter will automatically win every fight
regardless of the logic brought to the table. No matter the matchup. “Duran would whoop Floyd and Pacquiao with an
arm tied behind his back!” “Roy Jones?? Hagler
would rock him to sleep in 3 rounds!” My
advice if you encounter one of these people: stay calm and keep a clear mind.
Don’t allow their fanaticism to infect yours.
Look
at his Per! His Win Shares! He’s so efficient!!! FIP, ISO, BABIP…OMG
These are typical internet sports
fans that most of the time either barely played any sports or just enjoy
pretending their knowledge of sports is superior because they read the stats. Advanced
stats in particular are the new craze of late. It allows people to pretend like
they know sports without actually watching games. Players like James Harden are
lauded because of their gaudy advanced stats, but does anyone (who watches
games) actually believe he’s as good as his stats indicate? (*cough finals
cough*)? If you looked at his advanced stats alone you would assume he was a
great player, not a 6th man playing with the safety net of 2 other
superstars. Kevin Love is another internet sensation. Listen..everyone
acknowledges Love is a very good player, but for all his win shares he hasn’t
managed to lead a team to a winning record in any of his seasons. Don’t tell
his fans that, though. Stats are cool…when you combine em when actually viewing
and understanding what you watched. Just don’t condescend me, dun.
Perceived
Scapegoat
This often happens when a team
has had a rough history. The fans often resemble victims suffering PTSD. It’s
tough being a fan of a team that hasn’t ever won a superbowl or hasn’t done so
in a couple decades. A team that has been close to getting there lately, only
to squander these opportunities. Fans get frustrated, yo. A good example might
be the New York Jets. The Jets in the 21st century have been a
relatively successful team, with multiple playoff appearances and 2 afc
championship appearances. But all of that is irrelevant when fans have had to
endure decades of almost being there to not even being close since their only
Superbowl(won some time around when the Civil Rights Act was passed). There is
that one player everyone hates(Mark Sanchez), that regardless of the Jets
accomplishments, will always get flack for something. No matter the offensive
line, bad playcalling, inconsistent receivers. NOPE. None of that matters
because it’s perceived as just excuses for the poor or inconsistent play. The
perceived scapegoat was Brian Schottenheimer, who for years has been derided by
Jets fans for his up and down playcalling. After reaching 2 straight afc
championships and then a setback 8-8 season he was fired. It was the moment a
lot of rational Jets fans were anticipating for a long time. But there is still
that little sect of fans that believe he was a scapegoat. Newsflash: he wasn’t
a scapegoat, just a mediocre offensive coordinator, and it was time for him to
go. Every moment that Sanchez persists as starter proves them right. In their
minds.
Good
Effort, Good Job.
This is mostly focused on tennis
fans. If you don’t really watch tennis you can learn a little something about
how their fans act. The current pantheon is Federer, Djokovic and Nadal. They
have dominated the Grand Slams over the past..who knows how many years(feels
like forever). These are the top 3 then
the rest of the top 10 consists of good to great players. To make a long story
short, whenever certain fan favorites manage to give a good effort and make the
match kind of tough for one of these greats, they get a ton of love for it.
Even when they lose. Good Effort, Good Job. Wait..what? You’re telling me if a
player is leading then chokes (choking happens too frequently) when they have
an opportunity to beat a great, it’s ok? It’s ok sometimes when it’s a young
player who is bringing it to one of these greats, but when established top 10
players have a chance to make an imprint(in any kind of tournament, major or
minor) and fail to do so, that shouldn’t be lauded. I’m sure if you asked the
players, they themselves wouldn’t be fine with just getting to the brink. WIN
DAMNIT! We’re tired of the same old players doing the same old thing. Thank you
Lukas Rosol for blasting Nadal out of Wimbledon. Or del Potro being the ONLY
one to break the stranglehold of grand slams by the top 3. Even if it was only
once.
Looking over my 8, I acknowledge there could at least be 5 more but if I kept going I may never end!
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