Don't get me wrong, I'm a very reliable guy, sticking to my assignments and making sure I do what I said I would do for my group. I am loyal to my family and would defend them against everything, and my friends can count on me to be there for them. However, when it comes to being a sports fan, I admit, I am not a diehard fan of any fan.
A diehard fan lives and breathes with their team. They literally bleed the team color. They skip business meetings, dental appointments, counseling sessions, important dinners, and choral practices to watch their team play. Even if they're at one of those other activities, their heart is not in it and they'll constantly be jonesy-ing for a score report of their team. There is no TiVo or "I'll record it" for the diehard fan, they're either at the game or pressed against their TV hanging on every play.
A diehard fan makes sure his closet is at least one authenticated jersey of their team. A diehard fan has team mugs, team helmets, team socks, team scarves, team kneecaps, and all other sorts of apparel that they wear only on game day. A diehard fan has the team's schedule hanging on a poster in their room or programmed into their blackberry, depending on the income class. Not that the diehard fan needs it; they've memorized the season schedule as soon as it came out in the off-season. A diehard fan has their children wear mini-team appareal.
A diehard fan never loses faith in their team; the fan sticks with them through thick and thin, through 7-game losing streaks and rebuilding campaigns. The diehard fan remains patient with their team, remembering how patient their parents/ ancestors were with the team and their parents before that. The diehard fan doesn't change allegiances even if they move to a different city, different state, or even different country. They will literally go to their graves a fan of that team. They resist the urge to quit despite cocky free agents, boneheaded playcalling, micro-managing managers, lame-duck GM's, and unlikable players.
A diehard fan suffers through all those things as above, but the reward is great. The pot at the end of the rainbow is that much sweeter for the diehard fan, as they've had to travel the whole way to get there. The diehard fan can quote by memory all of the wins and losses of their teams throughout the years, and when victory in the form of championship comes, they will be the real winners, the ones who have endured through the chaos to emerge victorious as championships of the night.
Ahh, how sweet it is to be a diehard fan. I, alas, am not one of them. Of any team.
I'd say I WAS a Cubs fan, and that's the closest I've ever become to being a diehard fan, watching them since I was 7, listening to Pat Hughes and Ron Santo call the games on the radio, remembering Harry Carey and Chip Carey, from Mark Grace to Sammy Sosa to Jose Nieves to Kerry Wood to Derek Lee to Milton Bradley, being there in the 65-win seasons as well as the 100-win seasons. O the cubs. Alas, I have given up on that team, and you can strip the diehard fan status from me. Other teams I have had an interest in but far from being diehard about: The Bulls, the Bears, the Fighting Illini (all sports), the Boston Red Sox, the Los Angeles Angels, the San Diego Chargers, the Los Angeles Clippers.......all just common fandom, nothing serious. Will I ever become a diehard fan of any team ever again? I doubt it. I'm now a dedicated diehard fan of Big Brother --> that's my summer Super Bowl.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
A diehard fan lives and breathes with their team. They literally bleed the team color. They skip business meetings, dental appointments, counseling sessions, important dinners, and choral practices to watch their team play. Even if they're at one of those other activities, their heart is not in it and they'll constantly be jonesy-ing for a score report of their team. There is no TiVo or "I'll record it" for the diehard fan, they're either at the game or pressed against their TV hanging on every play.
A diehard fan makes sure his closet is at least one authenticated jersey of their team. A diehard fan has team mugs, team helmets, team socks, team scarves, team kneecaps, and all other sorts of apparel that they wear only on game day. A diehard fan has the team's schedule hanging on a poster in their room or programmed into their blackberry, depending on the income class. Not that the diehard fan needs it; they've memorized the season schedule as soon as it came out in the off-season. A diehard fan has their children wear mini-team appareal.
A diehard fan never loses faith in their team; the fan sticks with them through thick and thin, through 7-game losing streaks and rebuilding campaigns. The diehard fan remains patient with their team, remembering how patient their parents/ ancestors were with the team and their parents before that. The diehard fan doesn't change allegiances even if they move to a different city, different state, or even different country. They will literally go to their graves a fan of that team. They resist the urge to quit despite cocky free agents, boneheaded playcalling, micro-managing managers, lame-duck GM's, and unlikable players.
A diehard fan suffers through all those things as above, but the reward is great. The pot at the end of the rainbow is that much sweeter for the diehard fan, as they've had to travel the whole way to get there. The diehard fan can quote by memory all of the wins and losses of their teams throughout the years, and when victory in the form of championship comes, they will be the real winners, the ones who have endured through the chaos to emerge victorious as championships of the night.
Ahh, how sweet it is to be a diehard fan. I, alas, am not one of them. Of any team.
I'd say I WAS a Cubs fan, and that's the closest I've ever become to being a diehard fan, watching them since I was 7, listening to Pat Hughes and Ron Santo call the games on the radio, remembering Harry Carey and Chip Carey, from Mark Grace to Sammy Sosa to Jose Nieves to Kerry Wood to Derek Lee to Milton Bradley, being there in the 65-win seasons as well as the 100-win seasons. O the cubs. Alas, I have given up on that team, and you can strip the diehard fan status from me. Other teams I have had an interest in but far from being diehard about: The Bulls, the Bears, the Fighting Illini (all sports), the Boston Red Sox, the Los Angeles Angels, the San Diego Chargers, the Los Angeles Clippers.......all just common fandom, nothing serious. Will I ever become a diehard fan of any team ever again? I doubt it. I'm now a dedicated diehard fan of Big Brother --> that's my summer Super Bowl.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
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