Loyalty

Recently I’ve started rooting for the Angels again: like a true fair-weather fan, I followed them closely during their run to the ALCS in 2009, didn’t really care about them in 2010 when they lost the division to the Rangers, and have now hopped back on the bandwagon to the Angels as they pulled within 1.5 games of Texas and 5 games of wild-card leading Boston tonight. Go Dan Haren!!!! Yay!!!!

I admit that my Angels loyalty is a bit sparse, but it brings up an interesting point: what does it mean to be a true fan of a sports team? (I think I am a fan…. A confused fan, but fan). How many games do you need to go to every year? ( Been to 6 games in 3 years ) When the team is on TV, how long must you watch them for? (I tune out as soon as I believe the game is out of reach, many times before that). How much team apparel do you need to buy? ( I have one solitary Angels hat that was given to me……O and a used 2009 Angels cup bearing the 2009 schedule, purchased at the height of my loyalty, no doubt). It’s tough to say, really: it really depends on my mood, how much time I have on my hands, and how well my fantasy team is doing (fantasy sports comes fist, of course).
Loyalty: another trait I need some more of to improve my fantasy game, and one I preach to certain fantasy managers. ( It doesn’t apply many times because some managers are on the other side of the spectrum, TOO loyal). Players I owned at one point in the season this year before I traded/dropped them: Ian Kennedy, Brian McCann, Mike Napoli, Jeremy Hellickson, Michel Pineda, Brandon Beachy. Basically a who’s who of players that could have helped me this year. Sigh.
My questionable sports(and fantasy sports…. Hey, they’re 2 different things) loyalty does not carry on to life:

I will admit, though, that I sometimes forget about acquaintances, neglect them. I don’t do this intentionally or because people have “outlived their usefulness.” To the contrary, I wish I could stay friends with everyone I’ve ever met, especially with the emphasis on networking and “knowing people” and whatnot in today’s society. No, honestly, sometimes I lose track of people just because I’m spread too thin, it’s not convenient, or…..people don’t want to get back in touch with me. I understand…..some people just have magnetic personalities that attract people to them like bees like honey ( I hear Parvati from Survivor is one of these people). I am NOT one of these people. I’m energetic, I’m polite, but at the end of the day I’m just another Asian guy who plays violin, went to law school, and lives in California….doesn’t really stand out from the crowd. I’m not accusing my acquaintances of not valuing me or whatever, people lead their own lives……I don’t really have that much to offer people at this stage of my life besides my friendship.

However, when I do make friends, I am loyal to the end. You gotta be; you can’t just quit on people for no reason. Loyalty is one of those virtues that makes sense: you stick with others, they stick with you.
Question: Much like in fantasy sports, is there such a thing as being TOO Loyal in life, where you stick with something or someone
Easy Answer: Well yes, if you get addicted to hard drugs, it’s time to break that off and be disloyal.
Hard Answer: I do think there are times you can be too loyal. You see cases all the time on TV, battered spouses who stay with abusive husbands, corporations that stick with a shady CEO until he gets indicted for bank fraud, etc. Basically, it’s sort of a status quo: If someone has been loyal to you 100%, you gotta stay loyal. But if someone has already betrayed your trust or shown signs of not being loyal, (in law we call this anticipatory repudiation), you gotta make some preparations. People, unlike dogs, are naturally self-serving, loyalty is unfortunately secondary to self-serving desires for most people ( I will admit that there exist people who are entirely selfless….Mother Theresa is one of these people), but in general you gotta watch out for these things… if you get too close to the fire you can get burned. Grim reality of life.
(Fantasy case in point: me owning Jimmy Rollins 3 years in a row. You haven’t rewarded me yet, Jimmy).

Fantasize on,

Robert Yan