Fandom stems from many different sources, including, but not limited to, geography, family, community and players (Raney 315). Most fans won’t hesitate to give you the latest statistics of their favorite players or explain why their favorite team is better than your favorite. If you walk around the Quinnipiac campus on any given day, you will see hats, jackets, shirts and many other articles of clothing showing off the logos of all different kinds of sports teams. One of the more heated debates at this school is centered on the Boston vs. New York sports rivalry, and not just in baseball. However, Raney goes on to say, “I acknowledge...that fans often root for a team primarily because of one or two specific players” (315). This leads me to ask where is the line drawn? When does a player become bigger than the team?
With nearly all powerhouse teams in sports, there is one player that is the face of that team. For the Yankees, it’s Derek Jeter. For the Patriots, it’s Tom Brady. At one point, the face of Green Bay was Brett Favre, until he signed with Minnesota, unretired for the 85th time, and proceeded to say “If you’re a true Packer fan, you understand.” In an article by Charles Robinson on Yahoo! Sports (found here), Packer fan Gary Nixt attempts to explain the quote by stating, “If you’re a Packers fan, you’re behind the team and you’re going to have that tunnel vision. If you are a Brett Favre fan, you’re going to stand behind him no matter what he does.”
Is this the case with every athlete-team relationship? According to Thomas Patrick Oates, “Vicarious management invites audiences to identify with the institutional regimes of the NFL…rather than with the athletes…In contrast to the heroes of the past enshrined in statuary outside many NFL stadiums, athletes framed by this mode of fandom are positioned as property, often valuable, but ultimately disposable” (32). Once a player leaves your favorite team, do you still root for him? Even if he joins your archrival? How far does fandom extend past a team?
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The one thing that everyone must remember when trying to draw the line between team or player fandom, is that sports is a business. Nowadays, it is very rare to see players stay with a team for double-digit years. With the amount of money that is thrown around in every sport, once a players contract is up, we have seen many cases where players opt not to come back and join another team because the money is greater.
ReplyDeleteFor example, in the NBA next offseason, we will see some names like Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh who will test the free agency market. Will these guys be back, or will they head to a different city? In the NFL, Kevin Faulk has always been one of my favorite players, but he will be a free agent after this offseason. I have no idea if he'll be back with the Pats or not.
I think it comes down to what terms did the player leave on and how long have they been with the team to determine where the line needs to be drawn. Even if a player joins an archrival team, but he has been on my favorite team for a long time, I have to root for him. Once you grow on a player, it is too hard not to root for him. As a Red Sox fan, I spent my whole childhood watching Nomar Garciaparra, but even when he left the Sox, I still always checked every night to see how he played. In the Pats case, I have watched Willie McGinest, Ty Law, and Lawyer Milloy my whole childhood, but even though they left (Law even played for the Jets), I still rooted for them to do well. If a player leaves on bad terms with the team, it is hard for me to continue to root for them.
Finally, I also think that knowing the player personally has a lot to do with drawing the line. I met Hanley Ramirez, who was one of the nicest players I have ever met, but unfortunately he was traded. To this day, I still have his jersey and still check his stats every night he has a game. I have also met guys like Richard Seymour, Pedro Martinez, and Matt Ryan so it's pretty neat to see them even if they are playing your team. When you meet a player and get to know them, even if it's a 5 minute chat, that does a lot for me when deciding between team and player fandom.
For as long as the world turns there are always going to be people rooting for sports teams along with their favorite players one those teams.
ReplyDeleteFans use sports to get away from the world, as we saw in the video in class. Fans fall in love with players on there team because more times than not, the popular players on the team are the players who help the team win and come through in the clutch.
It will only be the true sports fans that will continue to follow a player after his time with a team, unless the player leaves on bad terms. One example that comes to mind is former Boston Bruins defenseman Ray Bourque. During his 21 seasons with the Bruins he did everything imaginable a player could do. The one thing he was not able to accomplish was winning the Stanley Cup. The Bruins made a decision and sent Bourque to Colorado where he won the Stanely Cup in the last NHL game he played.
There is not a single fan of the Bruins who is still not a fan of Ray Bourque. On the other hand what happens when the world isn't all Championships and perfect players.
Fans lose respect for the players when the player leaves the team for more money after saying what every players says when they sign a contract with a team, I'm happy to be here and I'm just here to play the game.
Yes, I understand it's a business and I would hands down always take more money in a job. Unfortunatly it is not every season teams are gifted with players like Ray Bourque or a Paul Pierce, players who just want to win.
We root for a player who was once on our beloved team BUT what if that beloved player is playing against your team in a championship.
ReplyDeleteI have seen countless examples of athletes getting standing ovations at opposing stadiums because of their storied history with a team but what if its during one of the most important games of the year?
If Pedro Martinez throws a no hitter against the Red Sox in the World Series, how do the fans react? If recently retired Patriot Teddy Bruschi pulls a Brett favre and suits up for the Colts in the AFC Championship game, how do the die-hards treat him. If former beloved NY Giants receiver Amani Toomer scores the winning TD with the Eagles in the playoffs, what happens?
Very tough questions.
Would I be mad if a beloved player beat my team with a rival? Yes
Would I boo the beloved player? Uhhhhhh.... probably
Would I attempt to throw a metal object at this player? No
Would I be happy that this player, a product of my favorite team was the one to hand my team the loss? Yes
I certainly agree with everyone that trying to decipher whether someone is a true fan of a specific team or merely a person who is obsessed with an individual athlete, who enjoys seeing their hero’s team succeed is a difficult task. Sure we all have our favorite teams, but a favorite team does not come alone. It seems that all of us enjoy rooting for that one specific person more a little more than the other players on the team.
ReplyDeleteThere is no denying that I am a diehard fan of the Los Angeles Lakers, but I also cannot deny the fact that I started following the Lakers because of Kobe Bryant. Anything that merely resembled Kobe in the slightest bit, I had. I can remember when I was playing middle school basketball in the sixth grade; Bryant came out with his second generation of his signature shoes that were supposedly modeled after a car. These specific sneakers had to be the ugliest things on the market, and not to mention they were the most uncomfortable pair of sneakers I have ever owned. Regardless, because Kobe wore them, I needed to also. There is no doubt that I fell into the category that Arthur Raney discusses in his article, “Why We Watch and Enjoy Mediated Sports” that of some people only root for a team because of one or two players (315).
As I do agree with Raney’s theory, I also believe a diehard fan can be born through the appreciation and support of one or two players on that team. My passion and love for the Lakers all started because of Kobe Bryant, but it certainly does not end there. Kobe merely attracted me to the Lakers, and as I continued to watch them play, my passion for the team grew and grew. When the Lakers are on TV, not only do I watch the game, but I watch the game in silence all by myself. I cannot stand watching the game with other people. Especially during the 2008 Finals and the 2009 Finals, I absolutely needed to watch the games alone, entirely way to stressful for my liking. I would skip parties just to watch the game in silence. It is the idea of a fan being drawn to a particular player, which ultimately draws them to the team.
However, it starts to get gray when that favorite player leaves the team and goes to your archrival or another team that you can’t stand, especially if the player still has a lot to offer to the game. This was specifically relevant in 2000, when Luis Figo made the transfer from FC Barcelona to Real Madrid. At the time, Figo was widely considered as one of the top footballers in the world, and in the midst of his prime years. Now when he was with Barcelona, the Barca fans adored him, but once he made the switch to archrivals, Real Madrid, all love was thrown out the window and the people of Barcelona tried to forget his existence. In American sporting terms, this would be as if Derek Jeter all of a sudden signed with the Boston Red Sox. Yeah, you get the picture. It was huge.
It is certainly not to say that some fans only care about one particular player, and could careless how the team does. I have started to notice this in particular with Lebron James. I know a handful of people who could care less how the Cavaliers do, and only care about Lebron winning MVP’s, scoring titles, and championships, no matter what team he is on. Thomas Oates discussed in “New Media and the Repacking of NFL Fandom” the power of new media and how it affects the NFL. Oates stated that Madden NFL has been the most popular sporting video game for many years and he also talked about the growth of Fantasy sports and the impact it has on fans (35-36). No longer is the connection between a fan and a team/player restricted to television or newspapers, but it is much larger than that. There are more media outlets than ever, and maybe there are more fans of individual athletes today because of the new media. Fans have more interaction with the players through video games and fantasy sports, which could be why more people are drawn to individual athletes instead of teams.
Anyway you put it, fans are fans and it does not matter the extent of it.
There is a major line to be drawn when it comes to being a fan of a team as opposed to a fan of a certain player. It is much more common to be a fan of a team than a fan of a player. The main source of the gratifications we receive from watching sports is derived from the teams we root for, rather than certain players. This is highlighted in Arthur Raney’s, Why We Watch and Enjoy Mediated Sports. “Simply stated, the most important motivational factor behind viewing mediated sports is for the enjoyment and emotional satisfaction that comes from cheering on a favored team as it follows an undetermined (yet hoped for) path to victory” (Raney 316).
ReplyDeleteThis isn't to say that you can't have your favorite team and have certain players throughout the league that you want to do well. However, when you are a true fan of a team, it doesn't matter how that team performs, or if any player on that team is lost- you still stick with your team. True Packers fans will still follow the Packers and root against Brett Favre and the Vikings. With that said, there are also those people who are simply fans of Brett Favre, so they will root for whatever team he plays for. These are not Packers fans- they are Brett Favre fans.
As a Yankee fan, I see Derek Jeter as basically one of the greatest human beings who ever lived. If Jeter were to leave the Yankees and play for another team, although I would be devastated, I could never just simply forget all that Jeter has done for the Yankees and for baseball in general. Jeter is one of my favorite players of all time, in any sport. However, if Jeter was to leave and the Yankees played against Jeter's team, it would not even cross my mind to take the side of one of my favorite players against the Yankees. The team is the most important aspect of the major professional sports- not the individual players. “Yes, sports fans paint their faces to display their team loyalty. They brave freezing temperature to support their team” (Raney 326).
A true Yankee fan would never turn in their pinstripes, nor would a true fan of any other team trade in their team colors for another’s if their favorite players were to leave.
I believe the main question raised in this blog is whether one is a fan of a player, or if one is a fan of a certain player or two. Common sense tells me that the correct thing to be is being a fan of a team. The team always comes first. No matter who comes, no matter who leaves, as a fan you will be there before certain players, and you’ll be there long after certain players leaves, and you’ll always be rooting for your team, no matter how bad they are, or how many championships they win.
ReplyDeleteFantasy sports, I feel, are ruining this feeling of pride for a team, and making more people associate themselves with certain players. Patrick Oats writes that “the virtual competition of fantasy football…has grown from subcultural obscurity to mainstream prominence and profitability in the past two decades.” (32) To me that means that more and more people are cheering for certain players to do well in a given week, because they want their fantasy team to succeed. A lot of people play fantasy sports for money, and when people play for money, they’ll cheer for anything that will win them this money. I wonder just how many times a Jets fan has rooted for To Brady to get him as many fantasy points to win the week.
On the contrary, I believe that Arthur A. Raney makes a better point when he says, “People view mediated sports because they expect positive emotional impacts from their viewing. These emotional reactions to sports programming are assumed to be dependent upon and governed by the affiliations that viewers hold toward one of the competing teams. Many scholars actually contend that these affiliations are at the very heart of fanship.” (315)
This to me makes a lot more sense, since it supports my theory of supporting a TEAM first. As an LA Angels fan I had to see two key players leave in the offseason. Mark Teixeira and Frankie Rodriguez both left to go to New York. But the Angels are still the Angels, even without these two players. The next season began with new players. Just because these two very productive players left, didn’t mean that I would follow them to NY and become a fan of the Yankees or Mets. One of the greatest Angels of all time, Garret Anderson, wasn’t resigned in the offseason. He was my favorite player hands down. But even though he left, I still supported the Angels, because no player is bigger than the team.
Another example are the Lakers. When they won three straight Titles in ’00,’01, and ’02, it was easy to be a fan of the LA Lakers. They had Kobe, Shaq, and a lot of great role players that did their job perfectly. But after the ’03 Finals loss, that featured four future hall of famers in the starting five, things got tough. And even though nearly everyone left, I remained a Lakers fan. I could have jumped ship and become a Heat fan, or something else, but my loyalty wasn’t to Shaq, or Kobe, it was to the Lakers.
A person that’s been a Cleveland fan their entire life saw Lebron come to town in ’03. This person could have been there long before him, and been excited while he’s been there. But if he leaves next year, Lebron might be gone, but the Cleveland fan will still be there, supporting his Cavs no matter how much they stink.
And if you really want to know how it feels to be a fan of a team, and not a player, just ask the LA Galaxy fans how they feel about David Beckham…
- Robin Schuppert
One of the reasons that Manchester United is my favorite soccer team is becuase I remember growing up watching soccer, and really only seeing them on TV. I have always been a soccer player, and as I grew older and older, the more soccer I watched. Seeing how I would follow Manchester United, I began to not only like them just because they were on TV, but more because I enjoyed watching their style of play. Many different teams play different styles of soccer, but ever since I have been watching Manchester United, their exciting but yet controlled style of the game keeps me coming back for more.
ReplyDeleteThis goes along with Raney's article "Why We Watch Mediated Sports" when he says that "Work in Balance Theory and cognitive dissonance helped us understand that people consistantly seek information that is consistent with their prevailing attitudes, beliefs, and thoughts" (313). The more and more I would watch Manchester United, I would be pleased (even if they did lose) and so I would constantly be a follower for as long I would be a fan of the game.
With every sports fan who has a favorite team, it is obvious that having a favorite player comes hand in hand. For quite some time, that player for me was Christiano Ronaldo. Christiano joined the team when he was a very young player, and has developed into arguably the best player in the world. As a Manchester United fan, and seeing him develope into what he is today year after year with the Reds, it was hard to see him go. Just recently, he was bought and sold to a team in Spain, Real Madrid. Not only did we lose our best player, and a huge scoring threat, but we lost a leader on the field. Not to say that he was our whole team, because that is not the case in any way, but it still is a huge loss undeniably. That being said, notice the terms that I am using when describing this situation. Yes, Christiano Ronaldo was my favorite player, but Manchester United is still my team. We (Manchester United) lost a hell of a player, but we will be okay.
It is obvious which stand point I take on this subject, and that is that I am a supporter of Manchester United, and will not become a Real Madrid fan. Ofcourse I will check on how Ronaldo is doing in Spain, and surely watch them on TV, but nothing more than that.
I realize that this is not the case for all people. In the article "New Media and the Repackaging of NFL Fandom," it talks about how the NFL is the most watched sport in the US, and how 93% of people who play fantasy sports play fantasy football. I have witnessed people who claim that they are football fans becuase they participate in fantasy football. This is what I do not agree with. It is hard for me to understand that a true fan will follow their "player" no matter what team they play for. A true fan of the game will choose a team for personal reasons, and stick with that team. I know that if I were a Packer fan, and I heard Brett Farve say if we were true Packer fans we would understand, I probably would lose it. To me, that is rediculous.
Like most people, I was brainwashed by my dad into deciding who my favorite professional sports teams were. In baseball it was the Yankees. Football was the Giants, Basketball, and The Knicks. Never once did I ever consider liking a rival team. One could call that small minded, but there's an essence of acceptance that goes with becoming a fan of a professional sports team. Fandom is almost a linking factor of a community. Living in the Tri-State area, I doubt I would have been a Red Sox fan anyway. Anyway, I lived 18 years of my life like this, and it wasn't until I discovered a new sport, that it became time to choose a new favorite team. I moved into Quinnipiac, and soon learned that all of my roommates were soccer fanatics. Through them, I learned a lot about soccer, and after watching a few games, realized that it was a lot more interesting than I initially thought it would be.
ReplyDeleteMy process of choosing a favorite soccer team was interesting. The geographical factor was meaningless, because American soccer is to be fair pretty bad compared to European soccer. Family was another non-factor. My parents still make fun of me for liking soccer. My roommates wanted me to like their favorite teams, but for some reason that seemed wrong. I wanted to pick a team with the qualities I admired in other sports. This linked my search back to sports I was more familiar with. I am a Yankee fan, but have always admired teams like the Florida Marlins, and the Tampa Rays who build their rosters with young talent instead of buying it. In Soccer it is rare for a team who builds with young players to be successful. However, there was one team that immediately stood out. Arsenal, from North London is one of those teams that year in and year out win with homegrown talent. Not only do they win, but also they win in style with probably the most exciting brand of soccer to watch in the world. Arsenal was my choice, and I've been following them religiously since.