Plastic Fans and Pliable Allegiances

[ponsaelius]

http://worldcupsoccerfifa.com/am-i-a-glory-hunter-for-recently-starting-to-support-barcelona/

 

 

You don't f***ing chose what team to support. It choses you. Where were you when Fabio fucking Rochemback was our midfield maestro?

 

I know a lad who started supporting Barca when you were 'shit' as such. Weird, but more acceptable than latching on say after you won a treble.

[Village Idiot]

http://worldcupsoccerfifa.com/am-i-a-glory-hunter-for-recently-starting-to-support-barcelona/

 

 

You don't f***ing chose what team to support. It choses you. Where were you when Fabio f***ing Rochemback was our midfield maestro?

 

I know a lad who started supporting Barca when you were 's***' as such. Weird, but more acceptable than latching on say after you won a treble.

 

Gotta say that our "s***" era saw us sink into the gaping abyss of finishing 6th and the unspeakable horror of not winning anything for five years.

 

Years of watching Rochemback attempt to pick up a pass is something I wouldn't wish to an Espanyol fan though.

[Guest neesy111]

I wish I didn't love football as much as I did.  Would make incidents like this much less painful.

 

Honestly, the last 2 days have just been about enough for me.  I love match days, but I couldn't give an arse about the match tomorrow.

 

I'm dreamt of playing for newcastle when I was younger (like just about everyone did on here) that should be the ambition of NUFC fans, and gaining a stupid amount of money 2nd.

 

I can't believe some of my mates have said they would have accepted the same deal off Liverpool and call themselves true NUFC fans.

[Guest neesy111]

http://worldcupsoccerfifa.com/am-i-a-glory-hunter-for-recently-starting-to-support-barcelona/

 

 

You don't f***ing chose what team to support. It choses you. Where were you when Fabio f***ing Rochemback was our midfield maestro?

 

I know a lad who started supporting Barca when you were 's***' as such. Weird, but more acceptable than latching on say after you won a treble.

 

Gotta say that our "s***" era saw us sink into the gaping abyss of finishing 6th and the unspeakable horror of not winning anything for five years.

 

Years of watching Rochemback attempt to pick up a pass is something I wouldn't wish to an Espanyol fan though.

 

Nah, you gave it to Boro thankfully.

[Incognito]

I wish I didn't love football as much as I did.  Would make incidents like this much less painful.

 

Honestly, the last 2 days have just been about enough for me.  I love match days, but I couldn't give an arse about the match tomorrow.

 

I'm dreamt of playing for newcastle when I was younger (like just about everyone did on here) that should be the ambition of NUFC fans, and gaining a stupid amount of money 2nd.

 

I can't believe some of my mates have said they would have accepted the same deal off Liverpool and call themselves true NUFC fans.

 

I've never dreamed of you playing for Newcastle.

[Guest neesy111]

London is fucking the worst place for glory hunters, honestly the amount of Pool and Man USA is fucking disgraceful.

[Guest neesy111]

I wish I didn't love football as much as I did.  Would make incidents like this much less painful.

 

Honestly, the last 2 days have just been about enough for me.  I love match days, but I couldn't give an arse about the match tomorrow.

 

I'm dreamt of playing for newcastle when I was younger (like just about everyone did on here) that should be the ambition of NUFC fans, and gaining a stupid amount of money 2nd.

 

I can't believe some of my mates have said they would have accepted the same deal off Liverpool and call themselves true NUFC fans.

 

I've never dreamed of you playing for Newcastle.

[Guest firetotheworks]

Supporting a team is just in you, it would be like trying to be gay because women keep breaking your heart.

[Foluwashola]

Supporting a team is just in you, it would be like trying to be gay because women keep breaking your heart.

 

A fantastic alternative, full of orgasms and good banter?

[leffe186]

I accept fans from regions other than the club's own, mind. I still think they'd be better served if they supported Columbus Crew or Mumbai FC over Manchester United or Barça, since you just can't compare living in a community that breathes and lives that football team. Sports support is a community undertaking, you share it with others. But there's always an emotional connection to it even if you're not from there. You dislike us because as a kid we were cheaters in your eyes (I think I know the game you are refering to, the 1982 European Supercup? I have always had a slight irrational distaste for Villa since losing it), you loved Milan as a kid because they were great, I loved the Bulls as a kid because Jordan was the f***ing man. We are very impressionable as children and we can gain connections to distant clubs we should never care about for some strange reasons. I verily stand by my opinion that ultimately a true sports love isn't chosen.

 

I agree, and I think your club should be rooted in a community that lives and breathes that sport. It's easy for me though, because I supported my local club, one that my Dad had supported before me and one that many around me supported as kids. And they were pretty good. The difficulty is - and the Carroll saga is obviously why we're all navel-gazing - in many cases the sport has moved a long way from being rooted in its local community. Barcelona is particularly rooted in its community because of Catalonian identity and the Franco years, Newcastle is 

particularly rooted because it is the only club in the city, is physically rooted in the centre of the city and there is a strong local identity. People are often attracted to that if they don't have that outlet in their own lives - if they don't have a local football team or reject theirs for another reason. You can tap into that community feeling so much easier nowadays through t'internet.

 

There have been enough posts over the last couple of days from people who questioned their own loyalty because (a) their club's owner sold their best player or (b) that player may have rejected his community for money. Neither would matter if they felt that the team was strong enough to deal with this. Ultimately I think that the thing that hurts most is if there is a transition to a point where someone else is "bigger" or "better" - that they can take players from you despite everything seemingly stacked in your favour simply by throwing great wodges of money at you. That bloody hurts. If you're a plastic fan, you get to avoid that feeling.

 

I guess what I'm trying to say is, I feel uncomfortable condemning someone for their choice of team precisely because I had no choice. That's not something afforded to everyone. If I was born where I live now (a small university town in Ohio) how would my football team be able to choose me? The Crew are all well and good (and I actually go to see them fairly often) but they are still about 150 miles away. How rooted in that community am I?

[leffe186]

London is f***ing the worst place for glory hunters, honestly the amount of Pool and Man USA is f***ing disgraceful.

 

OK, I'm going to defend London here. London has an awful lot of people living in it who come from outside London. It also has an awful lot of people who really don't care about football, for example, a huge rugby-following community in the South-West London. It has a few thousand people who support Barnet, a few thousand who support Orient, a few thousand who support Brentford etc etc. AFC Wimbledon had 3400 supporters at home to Southport, people who could have gone to several other better clubs within 10 miles on that day. Gateshead had less than 1000 turn up when they played Wimbledon.

 

I'm not saying that people from Gateshead are necessarily glory-hunters if they support Newcastle of course, but your average Londoner will not necessarily be more of a glory-hunter than anyone else. Of course you'll see more different shirts here, because there are shit-loads of people here.

[Vinny Green Balls]

 

In the US, it really depends.  Take baseball fans in Boston or and their eternal struggle against the Yankees. Sure, the Yankees have won something crazy like 27 world series compared to Boston's one championship. But I wonder who celebrated more - I'm thinking the BoSox for overturning "the curse".

 

I don't think you can compare fans of teams from sports from other countries.  I think American's supporting english teams is about as fickle as Brits picking an NFL team to follow. Very few pick Bolton or Blackburn, and equally very few pick Cleveland or Cincinati.

 

 

 

Please don't talk about the Boston Red Sox!  They are owned by the same prats that own Liverpool.  As a Baltimore Orioles fan and an NUFC fan, I've got enough reason to drive up there tonight and piss on their ramshackel dogshit stadium.  I've been thinking about doing it a lot in the last 36 hours.

 

Well, I am a Giants fan.  I'm still in shock that we won the World Series.  My ever-suffering chip on my shoulder melted, and I feel the more naked for it.

[Vinny Green Balls]

http://worldcupsoccerfifa.com/am-i-a-glory-hunter-for-recently-starting-to-support-barcelona/

 

 

You don't f***ing chose what team to support. It choses you. Where were you when Fabio f***ing Rochemback was our midfield maestro?

 

The difficulty is, if you come from a country where there are no local football teams or all you see are Prem/la Liga games, how will the team choose you? I always find myself rooting for one team when I watch football, even if I know absolutely nothing about the team. Maybe that's the same for everyone. For the record, I never like Barca (despite the fact that I really should for historic reasons) because I once saw a UEFA Cup (or was it Cup-Winners?) game against Villa in the 80s when they were unspeakably dirty, cheating bastards. One game was all it took.

 

You can try to generalize about US sport, but just look at Cleveland. Haven't won anything in ages in any sport, but some of the Cavs fanbase is rabid. Then you come to the Browns, widely and fervently supported. When their club was taken away they managed to essentially get it re-started from scratch.

 

My Italian club was Milan as a kid - absolutely no idea why but when they were fucking brilliant in the 80s I felt great. Was I a glory-hunter? No idea.

 

I'm lucky in that my father was taken to Spurs by his Uncle Cyril as a kid, then he took me and we were close enough to walk to the ground. I'm proud of that, but am also proud of any Spurs fan who chose us (poor bastards). It's the old dichotomy, if you're from, say, Cleveland and are a Spurs fan then you're a brave, thoughtful man of taste. If you're an Everton fan then you're a misguided plastic.

 

 

Yet Newcastle did somehow choose me.  Kindred spirits, I suppose. 

[Mike]

Is it not just an American thing ?

Here most of us bear the burden of our club from cradle to grave. In the US fans switch allegiance just because they like some player or coach.

I just know life would have been a lot easier if my father had been a Man U fan.

 

In the US, it really depends.  Take baseball fans in Boston or and their eternal struggle against the Yankees. Sure, the Yankees have won something crazy like 27 world series compared to Boston's one championship. But I wonder who celebrated more - I'm thinking the BoSox for overturning "the curse".

 

I don't think you can compare fans of teams from sports from other countries.  I think American's supporting english teams is about as fickle as Brits picking an NFL team to follow. Very few pick Bolton or Blackburn, and equally very few pick Cleveland or Cincinati.

 

 

Fuck Boston.

 

/leaves thread.

 

Oh, and fuck Michael Jordan.

[polpolpol]

This obsession with the 'other', or 'plastic' fans' enjoyment and the idea that they are somehow acquiring it illegitimately or in bad-faith stinks of paranoia. If anyone is or (seems to be) enjoying a situation what is the problem? It is quite the sickness to attempt such an ill tempered dissection of it (as if there would be anything at its core!) as I see in this thread. The only thing that reveals is a terrible sob of anguish: “why are they stealing the enjoyment/I should be enjoying”

 

As for the paranoid construction of the 'plastic fan', what are you opposing to it? Anybody who can't accept plasticity is inured in the most horrible conservatism, and if there has to be a reaction formation – so that your own “solidness” can give you a hard on - that's a sorry state of affairs.

 

The problem with this idea that there is some final or legitimate case with which it can be determined that you are a true 'fan' is that it turns into a horrific race to the bottom. To me, it just sounds like a paean to travail, famille, patrie and all those other palaeolithic formations that sluice up desire: “They enjoy, but my desire is Real”. What poppycock and nonsense: a desire for the Law and the ever-same.

[timeEd32]

I remember one of my first months in the USA, watching NBA Bulls-Lakers (Bulls getting f***ing hammered) with some locals.

 

Me: *expletives after yet another s*** play by the Bulls*

Yank: Hey, why are you getting so worked up?

Me: Man, when I was a kid Michael Jordan was the f***ing king of the world, Bulls are my NBA team and always will be.

Yank: Here it doesn't work that way, just support somebody who isn't s***.

 

I generally make a point of not talking to people about sports at a bar. Most people are fucking idiots and care more about how many yards their Fantasy Football RB had than if their team (if they even have one) won. I can promise you that there are plenty of people in the US that have a team and stick by them. You guys are just citing the worst of the worst. I don't really care who someone becomes a fan of as a kid (as someone said, kids are very impressionable), although chances are they were good or had a great player, as long as they stick with them for the rest of their life - through thick and thin.

 

Also, I wholeheartedly agree with the fuck Boston sentiment. And fuck John Henry even more after yesterday.

[Consortium of one]

f*** Boston.

 

/leaves thread.

 

Oh, and f*** Michael Jordan.

 

Man, Jordan used to torment the Knicks.  I can still see Charles Smith missing all those putbacks...

[Vinny Green Balls]

Well done polpolpol for your encyclopedia caliber example of pedantic. 

 

I particularly like your elegant ability to skewer this holier-than-thou argument with a holier-than-thou spearhead of an argument yourself.

 

Quality.

[polpolpol]

Well done polpolpol for your encyclopedia caliber example of pedantic. 

 

I particularly like your elegant ability to skewer this holier-than-thou argument with a holier-than-thou spearhead of an argument yourself.

 

Quality.

 

That's how we roll in the avant-garde.

[Mike]

People honestly think Americans are plastic fans? Seriously? We're fucking nutcases when it comes to sports.

[Vinny Green Balls]

Well done polpolpol for your encyclopedia caliber example of pedantic. 

 

I particularly like your elegant ability to skewer this holier-than-thou argument with a holier-than-thou spearhead of an argument yourself.

 

Quality.

 

That's how we roll in the avant-garde.

 

I like your style

[Mike]

f*** Boston.

 

/leaves thread.

 

Oh, and f*** Michael Jordan.

 

Man, Jordan used to torment the Knicks.  I can still see Charles Smith missing all those putbacks...

 

GOD. Just dunk the damn ball! Just go up! Take the foul, get some contact! Go up!

 

Fuck. It's the worst!

[Ameritoon]

The amount of new fans that suddenly come out of nowhere after a Super Bowl still amazes me, and it shouldn't. These are usually the people that don't really watch sports though, they just see some of the news and talk about it, but rarely can talk about games.

[Guest bmoregeordie]

Couldn't imagine living in a land that wasn't bonkers for its football like.

 

 

Helps that we get to watch more matches on TV than you. But it does suck not to have tons of people to talk to about it with.

 

QuakesMag, agree with your initial post.

[SEMTEX]

Couldn't imagine living in a land that wasn't bonkers for its football like.

 

 

Helps that we get to watch more matches on TV than you. But it does suck not to have tons of people to talk to about it with.

 

QuakesMag, agree with your initial post.

 

Sounds like you need to force your other half to take an interest. Mine WILL care or I'll fuck her up.

 

Failing that, that's why NO is useful.