Fandom is unmistakably one of the largest hobbies in human history. When the adrenaline rush kicks in and it’s nearly impossible to resist screaming and hopping up and down. The energy is put into the TV on a late Sunday with Sunday night football, crying cause even the pros can’t make a basic key tackle. Friday evening in the stands of a high school football game, wondering why some kids do what they do, as sophomore Claysen Caswell, “I have gotten mad at some players before, but as a team, I have always been a fan. I have never thought about switching my favorite team.”
Saturday morning in the cool breeze watching lacrosse and cringing at every goal attempt because when that ball hits skin, it’s going to hurt, as Freshman Kade Barnes says, “People love others possibly get hit and hurt, it’s very fun to watch.”
Wednesday night screaming at the team that made it to playoffs, wishing they were the ones out on that court, as Barnes says, “I’m not very much of a fan of anything. I watch games but I would rather be playing the sport.”
Junior Jarrad Kollaer describes the wide variety of fan behaviors, “Some can be crazy, some are loud, and some are strange,” Kollaer said. That’s where fandom comes in, whether it’s dressing up, painting faces, the older fans getting drunk, or screaming at the top of their lungs. During Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour,” the fandom was so loud, that it registered the equivalent of a 2.3 magnitude earthquake in Seattle, Washington. Sophomore Evan Rich explains this kind of human behavior with, “I would say people are fans of the way we play the sport, how the team plays overall, and the effort the players put into the sports which makes them fans of it”
For those that love to be pissed off and hold grudges toward their teams, they are always in luck. Maybe their energy isn’t high enough up in the stands, the athletes lose courage, and upsets happen, but somehow, fans think that they can do something about it. Maybe if they abandon the team or ditch their fanhood, things will turn out better for them. Sophomore Evan Rich said, “Some may lose their fanhood because some fans will only want to support a team that does good and not bad.”
This can be complicated for those fans who love teams that are on and off with their winnings. Players can get hurt, sick, or disqualified; and this can anger a fan to the point of giving up. “Staying true to the team even when they do bad will show you are a true down honest fan,” Rich says. “I always liked the Seahawks and I stay true to them. I liked them before we won the Super Bowl, and we don’t play as well now but I still support them because I like them, and no matter how bad they do I will always support them.”
