In May 2008 in Nashua, N.H. witnesses say a Red Sox-Yankees argument in a bar led to taunting in the parking lot, and then to murder. The argument started in a Nashua bar when Ivonne Hernandez announced that she was a Yankees fan. The argument spilled into the parking lot, where Red Sox fans chanted “Yankees Suck” upon seeing a Yankees sticker on her car. An article on FoxNews.com (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,354187,00.html) reports that Hernandez allegedly gunned her car in the parking lot, striking two of the people taunting her. One of them, Maria Hughes, suffered internal injuries while the other, Matthew Beaudoin suffered serious head and brain injuries. Beaudoin died that night.
While this is a very extreme and violent case, it’s also clear that the intensity of team fanship and loyalty is incredibly strong. Hopefully sports arguments will never be taken this far again. How did the argument get so out of hand? Arthur Raney describes the deep roots of fanship and where they begin.
In the Handbook of Sports and Media, Raney discusses why he thinks people become fans of certain teams. Raney explains that people “form allegiances toward specific teams for various reasons, such as geography, allegiances held by respected family members and friends, team colors, specific players, styles and strategies of play, and perceived popularity among the masses” (Raney & Bryant; 315). Which of these reasons do you identify with in supporting your favorite teams?
Because of Quinnipiac’s unique location, it often feels like we are a student body made up of two kinds of people; those who support the Yankees and those who support the Red Sox. Even if you couldn’t care less about that rivalry, there must be some team out there that you love! Here’s your chance to explain why you support your favorite teams (professional or not). Analyze when your allegiance began, and what/who influenced your choices. How do you show your loyalty?
I do not consider myself a diehard fan for any sports team or have loyalty to the sports game. However, I do have my favorites and mostly just enjoy watching the playoff games.
ReplyDeleteI believe that a fan is socialized into liking a specific team. In chapter 19 in the Handbook it discusses why we are sports fans in the first place. People are influenced by their family but mostly who their father or brothers favorite sports team. I find this statement true for myself as I favor the teams my Dad and brother love. The book also states,“People form allegiances toward specific teams for various reasons, such as geography, allegiances held by respected family members and friends, team colors, specific players, styles and strategies of play, and perceived popularity among the masses (or so-called bandwagon effects)”(315). In other words we tend to root for the home team.
We enjoy and consume sports for all different reasons but when it comes to what should be friendly rivalry turned into a murder scene, that’s when you have to step back and look at fandom as an issue. In the previous blog, they talk about being a diehard fan and ways to cope with their team’s losses and disappointments. But is it healthy for an obsessed fan to not be able to carry on with their day after a loss? I think that being a sports fan is a great passion to have and helps you cope with stress, gives you motivation, escape, as well as a social life but when people become emotionally attached or involved to the point where you can’t function without it you have to wonder if this is a healthy obsession.
Being from Boston, I am a fan of every sports team that comes from the city. I like to consider myself a die hard fan of the Red Sox, Celtics, and to a certain extent, the Patriots. I always cheer for the other Boston teams, including the Bruins, minor league affiliates of all the teams, and sometimes even the Blazers (Major League Lacrosse). However, being from Boston and being a die-hard fan does not mean that I don’t have limits to my sports discussions. At this point, I’ve pretty much had enough of the Red Sox-Yankees debates, only because I have reached the conclusion that neither side will ever win. Yankees fans say they have more rings, Red Sox fans say we have more this century. Either way, nobody wins and everyone gets mad.
ReplyDeleteLike the Handbook says, there are various reasons why people follow the teams they do. For me, it’s about the geography. If everyone around you likes a certain team, including your family members, odds are that your going to like that team. It gives people something in common. I can have a solid conversation about the Red Sox with almost all of my friends from home. By having some type of common ground, it is easier to relate to someone.
Another reason why I, and many others, watch sports is for bragging rights. When the Giants won the Super Bowl, New Yorkers couldn’t stop bragging about how great their team did. It was the same with the Celtics and Red Sox for Boston fans. According to the Handbook of Sports and Media, “fans tune into mediated sports because they like the positive emotions coming from the increased arousal and excitement experienced during viewing—the thrill of victory” (Raney & Bryant 317). When a fans team wins, they are generally in a better mood. This then improves the way they act, performance at work, and so on. People obviously like to feel good, and when they can root for a team that’s winning, it makes them feel that way. Although I might feel down when one of my teams lose, The excitement of the off-season and opening day is one of my favorite times of the year.
Of all of the sport teams in the world there are few teams I have the biggest connection with, one being the New York Yankees. Considering that I am from New York it is easy to see why I am Yankee fan. Sometimes I hear things like, you are fair-weather fan, you only like them because they are popular and so on. And I am completely okay with those comments, because my fandom is for myself only. I will stay loyal to my teams no matter what and I don't care what anyone else thinks.
ReplyDeleteWhen tracing these "roots" they follow right back to my parents, in particular, my dad. I have been a Yankee fan for as long as I can remember. My dad always took me to games as a little girl and although I always wanted to leave by the 3rd inning I still have those memories of seeing Yankees in pinstripes. As it says in Chapter 19, family is described as one reason for roots : "a related motivation for viewing sports on television is to spend time or to have something to do with family members". If we are not physically at the game, my family is found in the living room watching the Yankee game. It does not matter if they are playing rivals such as the Red Sox or the worst team in the league, we are there, watching the game together as a family. It is something only once I went away to college did I realize how big a part my family played in my participation of "fandom"
-Amanda Pugliese
From the womb I was destined to be a diehard Mets fan. As a fetus I attended game six and seven of the 1986 World Series. My birthday is also usually around opening day, which is always makes my birthday even better. So I think my two major reasons for being a fan are defiantly family and entertainment motivated. Family motivated obviously because my dad and both my sisters are huge Mets fans. And Entertainment motivated because I get a lot of enjoyment from the winning games especially when the Mets beat the Phillies, or the Braves. Unfortunately The Handbook of Sports and Media also talks about negative enjoyment, and I’ve also experienced this as many sports fans have. But I think the negative enjoyment factor makes me believe that when the Mets finally win the world series again the day will be even better.
ReplyDeleteBeing from New York and being a Mets fan is of course somewhat geographic, but growing up I can only recall the names of 3 other Mets fans in my grade. So I defiantly didn’t grow up in a environment where everyone liked the same team as me. Especially in my elementary school years I was one of a few Mets fans in a sea of Yankees fans. Unfortunately, the Mets also were horrible in the mid 90s and the Yankees were the World Champs. Growing up I encountered more Mets fans, I was surprised when I came to Quinnipiac because now I feel like I know more Mets fans than Yankees fans. I am a very loyal fan, so when I was defending myself to heckling Yankees fans from a young age I’ve always appreciated running into other Mets fans. I will always say, “Oh I know him/her they are a Mets fan.” Like it’s a quality I look for in a person. Now the novelty is starting to wear off because I’ve encountered many Mets fans at QU.
As a fan, I watch most of the games, have a good amount of memorabilia and try to go to as many games as possible. Sometimes I go to the games with friends but once again mostly it’s a family thing. I also tend to be judgmental of people wo became Mets fans after the mid-90s because I consider them not to be true fans. However since the Mets haunt made the play-offs in two years it’s hard to refer to them as bandwagon fans.
Christina Gaudino
ReplyDeleteMSS 420
The roots of team loyalty might not be as deep as you’d think:
When it comes to fighting over sports teams I don’t think the “loyalty,” factor needs to run that deep in order for fights to intensify fast. The combination of passion, alcohol, and friends to instigate is usually enough to fuel a good sport’s fight. Aside from me everyone in my family lives and breathes hockey. I have watched my family members take pride and loyalty in certain teams, but the same passion is still with them when we’re at a game for a team they are less familiar with. They simply pick which team they like better and root as if their mothers playing. I can’t count how many fights I’ve seen in the stands, on the ice, and the best of them in the parking lots. Sports and fighting both share masculine aspects. It’s like a fight for whose team is stronger based on the strength of their fans. Don’t misunderstand me, just because I say masculine doesn’t mean I’m only referring to men. I have seen my share of women fighting over their teams also.
I identify with my favorite sports teams for many different reasons, the main one being my family. As Wenner points out in our text, “watching sports is one of the few transgenerational experiences that men and boys, fathers and sons, still share in the post- Fordian economy.” My dad had all girls so he talked sports with us as if we were his sons. I remember always looking up to my dad and my cousins when I was younger. I wanted to root for the same team they were. I wanted to wear the jersey and refer to the players by their last names. It was about being a part of something in my house. The other reason has to do with New York. I tend to lean towards my home teams, and then separate from those teams based on my family and friends. For example I am an Islanders fan. My family has had season tickets for years, and although these recent years make me want to hide my face when I say that, I still consider myself a fan. I love their colors and the convenience of living 10 minutes from Nassau Coliseum. I love pre-gaming in the parking lot with family and friends. To me games are more about the social aspect, which I guess means I’m not a die-hard fan, but you’d never know if you saw me at a game. I wear my jersey and I scream and yell as if I bet my life savings on this game. I look forward to hugging the crazy guy with the yellow confetti hair who sports his “Rangers suck,” jersey and has never missed a game. I never buy my cracker jacks at the stands because I love when the guy throws them to me from across the aisles. I’m always in the stands screaming, trying to get the Zamboni guys attention as they shoot t shirts into the stands. Half of the times I don’t know anything about the team were playing, but I’ll fight with their fans for fun. There are so many small meaningful factors that go into the games that make them so enjoyable. I believe defending and cheering on your team is part of the experience. It’s unfortunate that arguments have turned deadly at times, but in most situations it’s just a part of the experience.
To start off I want to say I am a Yankees. I really do not like the game of baseball because I think it is a boring game. I am a Yankees because I was born in New York City and was raised on liking the Yankees and not the Red Soxs. I went to high school up the street from Yankee stadium. I feel like I was forced to like the Yankees even though I didn’t like baseball. When I came to Quinnipiac University I found out that most people live for the rivalry. That’s when I started to watch the games between Boston and New York. Even though I hated watching the game, I felt like I had to watch the game because if the Yankees won I can brag about them winning. I will still call them one of my favorite teams.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I am a diehard basketball fan in general. I do have my favorite team and player but I do not only watch them play. I can watch the worst teams in the NBA or college at anytime. Arthur A. Raney stated, “Many fans, though, report that win or lose the unfolding drama of sports competition provides them the opportunity to release emotions.” (Raney and Bryant 322) I definitely agree with this statement. While watching basketball I tend to yell at the TV like I am at the game or playing the game. This shows how my emotions come out even if win or defeat. While watching my favorite teams or players my emotions come out more because I want them to succeed.
This love for the game came from my older brother. When I was younger my brother taught me how to play basketball and ever since then I grew to love the game.
Being raised in a Polish household, soccer has played a large role in my life. Not only in terms of playing the sport, but as well as in fandom. All of my relatives are either from England or Poland—the European passion for what they call “football” is largely displayed in my house. Like Daniel Wann states in Handbook of Sports and Media, “team identification can be fostered through interactions with socialization agents such as exposure to the sport, friends and other fans of the team, and the fan’s parents and family.” (335) I feel that my situation serves as a perfect example for this because if it were not for my family and the culture in which I was brought up, I do not believe I would have such fervor for the sport. I began to follow Manchester United because my father was a fan since he was a little boy and all my relatives from England are United supporters.
ReplyDeleteAnother team that I consider myself a die hard fan of is the New Jersey Devils. However, it was not my interactions with friends or family that led me to root for this team, it was the geographical location—“it is not surprising that living in or growing up near a team is an important factor in the organization of a person’s team identification.” (335) It just seemed natural when I began to develop an interest in hockey that I lean towards the team which plays for my home state. This goes for all the other teams I support—Mets, Jets, Nets, and the NY Red Bulls. The teams being so close in proximity to where I lived game me numerous opportunities to not only attend games, but to also socialize with other supporters and create networks.
I love basketball and have been since i was born. I am a die hard Washington Redskins fan as well. I play basketball and to be good in it you have to be dedicated and loyal to it, if you dont have the passion for it, you wont succeed. Meaning a person wont put forth the hard work, blood, sweat, and tears to become good.
ReplyDeleteThe Washington Redskins is my team. I am a die hard fan and have been every since I can remember. I am from Washington, D.C. so its only right that I root for the home team. I guess loyalty just comes with the territory of being a die hard fan, its not with those who are pretend die hard fans. We have been down the last couple of seasons but I am still a fan and will be until the day that I die. I will get so angry when we lose that I would want to fight thats how loyal I am to the Skins.
In the handbook of of sports and media its says "This approach argues that fans gain enjoyment from witnessing two types of sporting events: watching their team perform well and watching a rival team perform poorly. The greatest enjoyment is expected to occur when a favored team defeats a desoised rival."
I agree with that quote because when one becomes a Redskins fan you just have to hate dallas. Its like a law, and especially when we play them and beat them, one of the best moments in the world because I hate them so much. I go for two teams in the NFL the redskins and whoever is playing dallss.
Fandom often times can have the simplest thread of a connection to a team or a deep root that has built up over time. There are infinate amounts of reasons or explanations as to why certain people follow teams or organizations.
ReplyDeleteI'm a rare breed for a sports fan from New Jersey. I'm a Yankees fan and a 49ers fan as well.
In The Handbook of Sports and Media, Arthur Raney mentions that companionship and group affiliation are two major reasons for picking teams and building deep roots. He says, "Beyond the temporal companionship that sports viewing provides, many fans also report being motivated by a larger sense of group affiliation," (323).
Companionship and group affiliation were some of the reasons that I really became involved with sports. Growing up playing baseball in upstate New Jersey, my friends and I started to follow teams at a very young age. Most of us agreed on the Yankees as our favorite team including some of my best friends. We've followed them ever since and still talk about them to this very day. On the football side, I wanted to get closer to one of my cousins, Chris, who was playing high school football at the time. I knew nothing about the sport and my cousin taught me the game, and I followed his favorite team, the San Francisco 49ers.
Friends and family played a big role for me getting involved in sports, but the fact of tradition and these organizations has kept me involved and loyal.
With the Yankees, I follow a rich in tradition team that puts everything right back into the club to make it better and better. It is a championship ready team year after year that I can follow daily and root for the whole way through.
With the 49ers, I follow a team that was once rich in history and now has entered darker days. Being a loyal sports fan, I follow the team through difficult times because this is the way fandom should be: not fairweathered...but fair and truly dedicated.
My sports fandom is something I am very proud of and openly like to pass along. I am not a homer because I follow a team that consistently is on top (Yankees) and a team that is consistently struggling (49ers). Family, companionship, and an affiliation helped me, and I'm proud to be a sports fan for these reasons.
I’ve never been too much of a team sport kind of fan. I’ve been an athlete for most of my life and have found that I dislike watching sports on television so I don’t really have the patience to follow teams. I would rather be watching a game live or participating in sports myself.
ReplyDeleteMy father skied in college and my grandfather was a gymnast so I grew up watching things like skiing, snow boarding, gymnastics, and dance where its more about forming allegiances to a person or a country than a regional team. Living in the northeast has made me form some attachment towards both the red sox and the patriots, but I'm not a fan to the point where I care to get into heated arguments about my teams or even follow their games religiously. Every now and then I’ll go to a game or watch one on television, but I don’t tend to follow them on a regular basis. So as Raney and Bryant discus in the Handbook, my allegiances strictly stem from my geographic location as well as from influence of my family and liking towards specific “players” (315) as well as my own personal interests.
Being a sports fan or having a favorite team is not only a common occurrence, but in today’s society it’s almost a rite of passage. Everyone likes different sports and different teams for various reasons. It can be because of family, friends, school, or just anything that can have some sort of influence over you.
ReplyDeleteMy father was born in Brooklyn, NY so he was a born and raised Met fan. Actually, all of his favorite sports teams are based in New York because of that very reason. Therefore, for me it was a no-brainer that I was going to be a Met fan because it is basically in my blood and that’s all that I knew as a little kid. Since then my feelings for my favorite teams have only been reinforced because those are the teams that I grew up watching, so I learned to love them all. I put an even bigger emphasis on the New York Mets because my dad was a coach for years and I played softball, so baseball is my favorite sport and those characteristics made baseball even more relatable for me.
“Enjoyment is thought to increase the more the winning team is favored by the viewer and/or the more the losing team is disliked by the viewer” (Raney 316). I agree with that quote because obviously when someone’s rooting for a specific team that they love and the team wins, then the spectator will be more excited, or the spectator would enjoy the game more if a team that they hate loses. For example, if the Mets are playing and they win, I would enjoy it more because I’m a die hard Met fan. On the other hand, if the Atlanta Braves are playing which are a main rival of the Mets, and they lose, then I would have more enjoyment because I can’t stand the Braves. Additionally, if the Mets and Braves play each other and the Mets win then, I would be ecstatic because it’s a win-win situation in my eyes since my favorite team beat my least favorite team. With that said, Raney mentions that, “maximum enjoyment from viewing sports should be experienced when an intensely liked team defeats an intensely disliked team” (316) and for me, that’s exactly what I experience when that occurs.
I don't know if I would call my self a diehard sports fan, but I do love baseball, and follow it more so then the other sports. I started to really like baseball as a kid when my dad worked for MLB. He would always bring work home, talking about baseball whenever he could, bringing signed baseballs home from his great heros etc. This really made me more interested in the sport. Hoping that one day I could follow in his footsteps. Even-though we lived in CT at the time my father and most of my family were Red Sox fans. So I became one myself. I think that my father did have a big influence on my opinions for baseball, however I also just do not like the yankees. I started to go to games and learn the players, but as we have discussed in class the regular season is just too boring to watch/ keep track of. I usually really watch when they are playing the Yankees or if they make it to the post season.
ReplyDeleteI know that today it is all about making money and winning. Winning brings in fans who spend money on merchandise and tickets. I think that baseball has come down to the revenue that the clubs/leagues make but for me its about the sport and the history. As I would hope it would be for the players too. However I think even today they have really overlooked how great the sport is, especially to the fans. In my sports studies class we watched a video on 9/11/01 and how a simple baseball game brought America together. The Yankees were playing the world series against Arizona, in NYC and even-though I do not like the Yankees I thought this was incredible. People still have love for the game, and can just go to the park and just have a good time.
I love to go to Red Sox games and wear the apparel, I am proud to be a Boston fan. My favorite thing about being a fan is going to Fenway Park it will soon be one of the oldest parks still standing, and possibly one of the smallest. My father and I always go to at-least one game a year and we just can't go a entire season with out going to the park. We get hot dogs and the funny foam fingers, which make me laugh. Sometimes we will go to NY to Yankee Stadium but the experience is very different.
The Great American Past time thats what baseball is, and that is one reason why I love it so much. I also really do not know much about the other sports
Leigh mentioned that there was a big dispute between a Yankee fan and a Red Sox fan. People really loves their sports and especially rivalries. In the Handbook Raney comes right out and says "Teams and players unify and divide communities and nations. They arouse feelings of euphoria and despair among their loyal fans" (Raney 313). The dispute is an example of how teams really do divide communities. I can understand why this happens because I really do not like the Yankees but I would never result to hurting a fan. They love the sport probably for the same reasons as anyone else would.
Weather you are a Yankee fan a Red Sox fan, or even a Mets fan baseball is still great. And I do love when my team wins especially against the Yankee. But I will always see baseball as the Great American Past time and love the sport for everything it offers me as a fan.
Farrell Henneberry
Like Mary, I am a die hard Mets fan. It's been that way since I was born, but I didn't really embrace my Mets ways until college. I've essentially been a fan since birth, passed down from my dad, one of the biggest fans ever. There's a picture of me, not even a year old, in my dad's arms wearing a bright blue Mets cap. So, as you can see, I didn't really have a choice of teams growing up.
ReplyDeleteWe went to baseball games as a family when I was young, but a lot of the times I wasn't really that involved or interested. When people asked me what baseball team I cheered for, though, I always said the Mets. Then when I got to college, I really started watching the games and getting into the team.
Part of the reason I like the Mets is because it makes you different. Anyone can be a Yankees fan, sure. But it takes something special to be a Mets fan and to endure the rollercoaster of emotions that they subject you to each season. And Mets fans are a smaller, closer group. Here on campus, as weird as it sounds, I KNOW who the Mets fans are.
The rollercoaster of emotions that I mentioned before is another reason why I love the Mets. Like Raney said, “Many fans, though, report that win or lose, the unfolding drama of sports competition provides them the opportunity to release emotions” (322). When the Mets lose, I’m in a horrible mood. When they win, the bad day that I was having is suddenly turned around. You never know what you’re going to get when you turn on the game, and I like that. Although I like it better when I know that they’re going to win.
I like other sports as well, and I’m a big Rangers fan, but there is no other team that comes close to my allegiance to the Mets.