COLUMN: Will the real sports fan please stand up (callling all armchair quarterbacks)
I have been very impressed lately by the sports knowledge shown to me by girls around campus. Maybe its just a local phenomenon. Maybe I’ve been getting lucky. Or maybe it is that I am used to trying to talk to guys about sports. That’s right, I am convinced guys just don’t know their sports like they used to.
I conducted a survey last semester on campus where I asked students to define their level of interest and knowledge about sports. One hundred men and 50 women were given these definitions and asked to choose one that fit them:
1. Superfan: Eats, drinks and sleeps sports. Follows many sports and lives and dies by their teams successes and disappointments.
2. Supporter: Likes playing and watching sports, but it isn’t a big part of life. A big fan of maybe onesport.
3. Novice: Doesn’t mind watching and playing sports, but rarely does unless nothing else is on TV or they want to look cool in front of the guys.
4. No Frills: Doesn’t know a thing about sports and doesn’t mind admitting it.
It is easy for a guy who spends half of his life thinking (and yes, dreaming) about sports to say it, but I didn’t believe the results of my poll then and I disbelieve them even more with each passing day.
Over 60 percent of men and 9 percent of women in the survey classified themselves as a “Superfan,” while over half of the girls and only 12 percent of guys placed themselves in the “No Frills” category. But the conversations I have with classmates, intramural teammates, and friends tell me something much different.
Most guys I know fall into the Novice, or what I like to call “Pretender” category. They are the guys who always have something to say, but never have any relevant arguments or statistics to back it up. These jokers are like the guy I encountered just a few weeks ago while watching the Utah State versus Utah football game. He sat in my living room and told me those filthy Utes were going to take it to the Aggies. When I challenged his prediction, his only retort was, “Utah State sucks.” Not only did this “Pretender” wear a crimson Utah Ute hat, immediately eliminating any possibilities of me taking his sports knowledge seriously, but he also broke one rule generally understood by sports fans: Don’t come into someone else’s house and dog their team. There is nothing more annoying to a fan of any type than people of this breed.
That being said, I think part of our problem starts with the announcers we have to listen to while watching games these days. Has anyone heard Dennis Miller on Monday Night Football or Bill Walton during NBA broadcasts? Are they watching the same game we are? I think I get dumber every time I watch a game they are announcing.
With all the sports we play and watch in this country, I am amazed at how many self-proclaimed “Superfans” don’t know basic rules. I contend there are a lot more “Supporters” out there than “Superfans.” These are of the variety who played sports in high school, like to work out and are fairly knowledgeable fans. They will watch the playoffs but not much of the regular season, unless their favorite player and/or team (which changes every year) is playing.
These kinds of fans also believe because they are athletic, they understand all the rules of the game. Just recently, I argued with one guy and a half dozen of his friends about whether a batted baseball that hits the foul pole is a home run? Dude, just because you have all the neat little gear that makes you look like you know what you’re talking about doesn’t mean you do.
The “No Frills” fans get my respect, even though I must say they are missing out. I have a couple of friends whom I swear store their sports knowledge in that 10 percent of our brains we don’t use. They don’t care about sports, therefore they are not reading this article. So enough about them.
The “Superfans”? Those are the guys who can’t sleep at night without watching ESPN News, who yell and scream at the TV each weekend and who just have to shell out the extra $9.99 a month to get ESPN Classic. These are souls whose world revolves around sports. They are people who I want to see more of.
My plea is that more of us become “Superfans.” Please guys (and girls), if you aren’t a real sports fan, please don’t be a “Pretender.” You aren’t fooling the real sports fans and are in fact making a fool of yourself. So will the real sports fans please stand up? I’m tired of trying to talk sports with Chris Berman and Dan Patrick. Something tells me they don’t hear a word I’m saying.