"Don't let anyone say that it's just a game" Er, well it kind of is, Eddie

keeponrockin

Jearlpam0925 wrote:

Some people just don't get it. Sports bring people together. And those teams represent your city and you take pride when seeing your team go all the way. Here in Philly it's been 26 years without ANYTHING - nothing but negativity by everyone involved. No other city knows what that feels like. I don't wanna hear from Cubs fans or Red Sox fans, before they won, about how they've waited forever. Oh yeah? Have ya? Other than the fact that the Celtics won like 17 championships, the Pats had 2 Super Bowls before the first WS, and the Bulls have 6 championships and the Bears got themselves a Bowl. But a championship would change all that here in Philly, and you would see a party/parade like none other.

And like the one guy earlier said - yeah, it's crazy to attach yourself to a team but it's not crazy to follow this band religiously. And I digress...anyway....

Let's go Fightins!!!

Try being from Seattle, I know your pain! All my life, I've wanted to see one of our teams win a championship, and this year, we lost our sonics :(.

zenith

Rossum20 wrote:

no. But, does anyone find it funny when people get really attached to a band and spend countless hours reading unsubstantiated crap and writing about on a forum where there opinion means nothing? I do.

i had that exact same thought :rolleyes:

except i dont think its weird

pc_loadletter

WeaponX655321 wrote:

It depends on the city. Fans in Indy are some of the most fairweather fans you'll ever meet. Ten years ago no one gave a shit about the Indy Colts because they were finishing the season 3-12 each year. On the flip side of that the Indiana Pacers were making it to the Eastern Conference finals every year and everyone in town loved them. Skip to the current day, everyone loves the Colts and now you can't give Pacer tickets away.

I think of sports as a form of entertainment. I think it's goofy when people live vicariously through their favorite teams. When the Colts won the Super Bowl a couple years ago, I remember my friends grabbing me and saying,"We did it, we did it," and I corrected them,"No, they did it. Although I'm sure deep down the players appreciate all the pizza and beer you consumed while contributing to their championship."

i think that happens in every sports market (with the exception of a fiew [new york, toronto, boston]). there are a lot of bandwagon fans out there who only appreciate the team when they are winning, but my post wasnt targeted towards them. i was talking about the fans who grew up watching the team and who sticks with them through the garbage.... im doing that right now with the leafs lol

but yes, i agree with you about the fans who live/breathe sports..... "we did it" lol i thought i was the only one who hated when someone said that

nothingman44

go red sox!

haffajappa

you obviously werent in any major canadian cities during the NHL lock out... a lot of business were hurtin.

anyways, its not much different than being attatched to a band

silas23

Nope, I love sports! And I am a huge Dodger fan..... Go Blue!!!!

Heineken Helen

pjfan020 wrote:

I get what you're saying...i think you're wrong...but i get it. You just won't get it...

Agreed! When Ireland lost to France last year it was like a funeral procession afterwards. Everyone was devestated. You build your hopes up to prove that your country is better than theirs and then they just swat you aside like the tiny island that you are. It's not funny and it's not cute and it's certainly NOT just a fucking game :cool:

Tell that to the thousands of Gaelic football and hurling players who train day in day out like their lives depend on it... to throw themselves on the line when it comes to the big day... and not get paid a penny for it! Purely for the love of the game, for the drama, for the glory and the pure joy that can be gained from it. Sport, and games, can open and close wounds... as Ireland v England in Croke Park last year proved. In that one game, wounds were healed that hundreds of years of politics that could never do.

So again, no, it's not just a game

Heineken Helen

blackredyellow wrote:

Fans take losses harder than most players.

I find that hard to believe. Yes, fans take losses really hard. But I've seen many a player fall to his knees at the end of a game sobbing! Sobbing in the interview afterwards also... and you know they're gonna sob for the next few weeks. Fans can go to the pub afterwards, console eachother, feel like shit for a few days... but they dont' have to feel the guilt and the blame for losing.

Sporting achievements are also directly related to the happiness of a country, the spending power and any elections that are held at the same time. In Ireland anyway... as I'd imagine quite a few countries!

And to the person who said 'we didn't do it, they did it' this can be true in many a case. BUT when Munster won the heineken cup... it was tense with the last few minutes to go, when suddenly the big screen showed images of the fans in Limerick watching on the screen in the street. You could see the effect it had on them... and all of the players afterwards said that was what spurred them on, when they saw the screen they knew they couldn't lose. The outcome may or may not have been different but to say a team would win with or without the fans is not really a good idea.

Jearlpam0925

By the way, we can say "we did it." The players get to go home in the offseason and forget about what "we" did during the year. But "we"(the fans) go to work the next day and have to live with the misery of defeat so WE will live with enjoyment of victory....when that day comes(hopefully soon). When I'm paying well over a grand each for football and baseball for MY teams in Philly I am contributing to the growth of those organizations. So, yes, WE will do it.

Dissidentman

Hmmm....

When someone asks me how the last PJ show was, I don't say "It was great, WE rocked out". I would say "THEY rocked out, or Pearl Jam" rocked out. I have nothing to do with writing of the notes or lyrics, or performing the songs in front of the crowd. Therefore THEY, and not WE. I see no reason why a sports team you are not a member of can make you think WE won, when in fact THEY won.

Just by buying a ticket or a CD does not make me part of the organization.

Heineken Helen

Why then is there usually a 'home advantage' or 'the 12th man' as they say in soccer? Of course it's the team doing the physical work but they need support and encouragement. You can see when a home side turns on their team *cough France cough* and how it effects the players. They can't beat their supporters.. they need them on their side.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2006/may/22/rugbyunion.heinekencup200506

"When the players glanced up during a break in play and saw the pictures on the big screen, they could scarcely comprehend it.
The lock Donncha O'Callaghan admitted the images had "made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end". His coach Declan Kidney followed up with a heartfelt little speech which summed up the Munster phenomenon. "The players won it but it's not just about them. It's their partners, their families, their uncles, their next-door neighbours, everybody. The goodwill shown towards this team has just been extraordinary. They seem to see something in us they can relate to.""

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-union/biarritz-19-munster-23-red-hordes-roar-power-overwhelms-biarritz-to-reach-promised-land-479245.html

"just as the Munster effort was running out of steam and the mistakes were coming thick and fast, the big screens behind the posts showed live footage of the scenes back home: thousands upon thousands of red-shirted partisans congregated in the middle of the aforementioned road, screaming like banshees in support of their local heroes. Somehow, this one clip of film changed everything. Those clips of the goings-on in Limerick appeared just as the Munster support inside the ground - 50,000-strong, at a conservative estimate - was bottoming out with the dawning realisation that Biarritz were in the ascendant and perfectly capable of overturning a 10-point interval deficit. The images from the far side of the Irish Sea proved a mighty stimulus: the noise levels were amplified in an instant, the passion intensified and Munster tapped into reserves of energy they did not know they possessed. "Since 1999, our people have put their hands in their pockets and spent their own hard-earned cash following us around Europe in pursuit of this title," said Munster's captain, Anthony Foley. "We feel as though we are one with them. That's the thing about this team. And the journey isn't over, either. This is just another station on the way." He is probably right. As it will take some of those gloriously intoxicated supporters 12 months to find their way back out of Cardiff, they might just well head straight for Twickenham for next year's final.

"

chime

dissidentman wrote:

Hmmm....

When someone asks me how the last PJ show was, I don't say "It was great, WE rocked out". I would say "THEY rocked out, or Pearl Jam" rocked out. I have nothing to do with writing of the notes or lyrics, or performing the songs in front of the crowd. Therefore THEY, and not WE. I see no reason why a sports team you are not a member of can make you think WE won, when in fact THEY won.

Just by buying a ticket or a CD does not make me part of the organization.

But that is a band formed by the members the band is it members. A team has a legacy that lasted long before the players arrived and will last long after they leave. Being a fan of a particular team can be something you are born into ... fans usually devout a lot more of their live s(I'm meaning the years not the day to day) then most players who other than the time they spend playing for the team may have no connection with it.

A player can be raised a fan of one team but play for another ... are they necessarily going to have as much passion for that team as fans who will follow the team their whole lives?

Dissidentman

Chime wrote:

But that is a band formed by the members the band is it members. A team has a legacy that lasted long before the players arrived and will last long after they leave. Being a fan of a particular team can be something you are born into ... fans usually devout a lot more of their live s(I'm meaning the years not the day to day) then most players who other than the time they spend playing for the team may have no connection with it.

A player can be raised a fan of one team but play for another ... are they necessarily going to have as much passion for that team as fans who will follow the team their whole lives?

I guess I don't see it. Should I be getting excited about a bunch of millionaires who can run and catch and hit for a team that I live geographically close to?

Jearlpam0925

Chime wrote:

But that is a band formed by the members the band is it members. A team has a legacy that lasted long before the players arrived and will last long after they leave. Being a fan of a particular team can be something you are born into ... fans usually devout a lot more of their live s(I'm meaning the years not the day to day) then most players who other than the time they spend playing for the team may have no connection with it.

A player can be raised a fan of one team but play for another ... are they necessarily going to have as much passion for that team as fans who will follow the team their whole lives?

Exactly. Just the people that love being the condescending person who gives the snide comment of "Umm, no, THEY did it" just don't get it and never will and I don't need to be told otherwise. The team, like the Phillies, have represented the CITY and not the players for 100+ years. So if you don't get it - fine. Move on and don't ruin my party.

Jearlpam0925

dissidentman wrote:

I guess I don't see it. Should I be getting excited about a bunch of millionaires who can run and catch and hit for a team that I live geographically close to?

Yeah, you don't see it. And that is all.

Heineken Helen

dissidentman wrote:

I guess I don't see it. Should I be getting excited about a bunch of millionaires who can run and catch and hit for a team that I live geographically close to?

see that's why I get more out of rugby, gaelic football and hurling than I do from soccer (for the above reason). There are very few rugby millionaires (other than endorsements) and the other sports are 'amateur'. I fell out with soccer since they in general became a bunch of whinging divas. I can still see why people stick by their team but I see your point on that one. However, not all sports are money money money... some are STILL for the love of the game.

Dissidentman

Heineken Helen wrote:

see that's why I get more out of rugby, gaelic football and hurling than I do from soccer (for the above reason). There are very few rugby millionaires (other than endorsements) and the other sports are 'amateur'. I fell out with soccer since they in general became a bunch of whinging divas. I can still see why people stick by their team but I see your point on that one. However, not all sports are money money money... some are STILL for the love of the game.

I agree, it should be for love of the game - therefore PLAY, don't watch someone else play. find a league, sign up and play.

chime

dissidentman wrote:

I guess I don't see it. Should I be getting excited about a bunch of millionaires who can run and catch and hit for a team that I live geographically close to?

... and it's fine that you don't It's not the millionaires you get excited about ... it's the team. Your favourite player could be playing for your rivals next season ... it's always team first.

shadowcast

muppet wrote:

It's just a game. Does nobody else find it funny when people get really attatched to a sports team?

No, what's your feelings about Pearl Jam?

Dissidentman

Chime wrote:

... and it's fine that you don't It's not the millionaires you get excited about ... it's the team. Your favourite player could be playing for your rivals next season ... it's always team first.

And what is "the team"? A logo? A stadium? A story from your grandfather?