What Kind of Fan Are You?

While reading Bill Simmons retro diary on the Cavaliers-Celtics game 5, Simmons brought up a great point about fans. There are three types of fans: hopelessly devoted, rationally passionate and irrationally passionate. Before deciding what type of fan you are, lets define these three groups of fans.

Hopelessly Devoted: Fans that follow their team with blind devotion. Their team can do no wrong. Worst of all with hopelessly devoted fans, their team gets no respect and everyone is out to get them. The league, media, refs/umpires, and the commissioner. You see this trend with fans with only one sport in their town. Take Orlando Magic fans for example. During the first round they were convinced the refs and David Stern were out to get the Magic, this despite the fact their team swept Charlotte. Magic fans didn't want to hear that the Bobcats forced a lot of fouls on Dwight Howard and the Magic in general. You can't speak reasonably with these type of fans. They are hopelessly devoted to their team no matter the circumstances.

Rationally Passionate: These are the best type of fans but they are also the hardest to find. It's hard to find a fan that is rationally passionate fan because it's hard to be rational when it comes to your teams. Depending on which team I'm watching, I can be rationally passionate. It has to depend on the circumstances though.

Irrationally Passionate: Irrational fans overreact to big wins and big losses. When your team wins you walk around with a strut despite the fact that your team won a mid-season game. When your team loses you get angry and or depressed. I would venture to say that the majority of sports fans are irrationally passionate. We've all been on cloud 9 when our teams wins and we've all been very low when our team loses.

What Kind of Fan Am I?: When I think about what type of fan I am, I see myself as someone who straddles the line between rational and irrational. Depending on the circumstances and the team I'm watching I can be both. I follow four professional teams (49ers, Giants, Kings, and Sharks) and two college teams with passion (Cal football & basketball). So lets break down what type of fan I am for each of these teams.

49ers- I was really too young to remember the glory days with Montana and Rice. I was old enough though to remember the Young/Rice days. Those were glorious days that saw a lot of heartbreak. Oh sure the Niners won their fifth Super Bowl in 1994, but they had their fare share of heartbreaking playoff loses(Another reason I can't stand Favre. He broke my heart growing up too many times that I can't forgive him). Following the Niners recently though, I've become more irrational. It stems from the point where the team drafted Alex Smith number 1 overall instead of Aaron Rodgers.

Rodgers had played his college career at California and grew up in Chico which isn't far from where I grew up. I was praying the Niners would select Rodgers. Instead they picked Smith and I've become more and more irrational. The folks at Niners Nation I would say is hopelessly devoted to the Niners despite the fact that Smith is their quarterback. This is one of the reason why I clash with the people who comment over there. They're hopelessly devoted to the Niners and will defend Alex Smith no matter what the circumstances. You can't be hopelessly devoted and be taken seriously. That's why I hardly comment over there anymore.

Giants- I'm definitely irrationally passionate about the Giants. This team has never won a World Series in San Francisco but have come close. You could see where I'm irrationally passionate. I believe fans of teams that haven't won championships are irrationally passionate. Your on a high when they win and on a low when they lose. This happens to me when I'm watching the Giants.

Kings- I was once irrationally passionate about this team. It goes back to the Orlando Magic/one-team city theory. When the Kings were actually a good team during the Webber/Vlade days, I believed the NBA was conspiring against my Kings. I don't need to remind people of the 2002 Western Conference Finals to remind you. It felt like the NBA didn't want the Kings to play in the NBA Finals and would do anything in it's power to get Los Angeles in the finals. That's being irrational.

With the Kings though back to losing, I've become more rational. If they ever stated winning again though, I will jump right back into being irrational when it comes to the Kings.

Sharks- I'm rationally passionate with the Sharks. Hockey isn't my favorite sport and the Sharks are still a relativity new team that I haven't been following for a long time. I do believe though if the Sharks win the cup this year, I'll become irrational.

Cal- I'm definitely rationally passionate when it comes to Cal football and basketball. I'm happy whenever they do good and I never feel a low when they lose.

Conclusion: Depending on the team and circumstances I straddle the line between irrational and rational. I know what I am though and I don't deny my feelings when it comes to my teams. I will always be a sports fan and I will always be irrational and rational when it comes to them.

So, what type of fan are you?