The Lanuage of a Fan

Growing up living and loving sports, I've encountered my fair share of sports fans of all different interests and level of devotions. I've noticed that no matter how passionate the individual is, the use of pronouns remains consistent. When discussing "their" team's success, a fan will say "WE won" or "They can't be beat US". On the contrary, when a fan talks of the team's failures, they will most likely say "THEY lost" or "The (Insert Team) Suck". Though the difference in language is subtle and often goes unnoticed, it is key in explaining the human psyche. Humans have always had a need to bond together, whether it be in the form of tribal alliances, social memberships, or zealous patriotism. Having that desire to be a part of something greater, something more prominent and universal, we tend to attach ourselves to our team, claiming "WE won". The connection we feel with a team is fostered in large part due to the team names. By naming a team the "Chicago" Bears, we feel an even closer tie and even obligation to support and root for "our team". Though it was designed as a marketing strategy to widen the viewing audience, team names are key in creating an "Us" (Chicago) versus "Them" (Rest of United States) environment. Though our financial support and team spirit fuels the team's success, "We", the fans, never actually play or contribute directly to the victory. We don't, however, let the obvious physical differences prevent us from being on the team emotionally. A fan, though he doesn't play, can feel the same emotions to a greater or lesser extent than a player on the team does, trust me I know. Thus, to a fan, when he team loses, the pain of the loss effects his mood and in attempt to lower the discouragement he feels, he attempts to distance himself away from the team's struggles by using the less familiar "They". Likewise, a fan will be eager to celebrate a victory or success by using "We". In the end, our subconcious use of the pronouns "We and They" is a fan's way of coping with the team's ups and downs.

The "Dream Team"

Remember, if you can, the days of your youth, playing sports with your friends either in gym class or outside of school. Remember that before you started, you needed to form teams. Though the methods differed, they all had a similar goal of forming relatively even well-matched teams. However, there are those few times where the better players realize that by all playing on the same team they would crush their opponents and achieve an easy victory. Most agree that games they played where the teams were uneven, no matter if they were on the dominant or outmatched team, were the least enjoyable for them. These games were the worst because the uneven teams eliminated the element of competitiveness seeing as both teams know the outcome of the game before it starts, and thus, lose the will to try.
Sadly, something similar seems to be occurring in the NBA. Last Season, the Miami Heat acquired two of the best free agents in the league in Lebron James and Chris Bosh. These two elite players had both been the stars of their respective teams and decided to accept slightly less money in order to play alongside another all-star, Dwayne Wade. Other players, such as Mike Bibby and many other veterans soon realized the potential of the team and decided that it would be worth sacrificing their salary in order to join the “winning” team and have a chance of becoming a champion. Though they lost last year in a close series to Dallas, Miami continues to attract quality players from all over the league because of the talent they have. Miami is not the only team guilty of luring players based on their ability to contend, other teams such as the Los Angeles Lakers, the New York Knicks, and even the “dream team”(AKA Philadelphia Eagles) in football have used their players and their level of talent as incentives to convince others to join their team. Like it does when I’m in gym class, this centralizing of talent to a few teams bothers me a lot. Because players are beginning to ignore the traditional incentive to join a team, the money, teams are becoming more uneven as only a few teams can actually contend with one another. Besides being less entertaining for the viewers, and less profitable for the owners of the teams, I can’t imagine it’s very satisfying for the players. Take Mike Bibby for example. Before he joined the heat, he was averaging roughly 14 points per game for team that he played an integral part in. On the heat however, Bibby has taken a back seat role, playing less and averaging a mere 7 points per game. Like in the case of Bibby, players are not only giving up money by joining these teams, but they are also sacrificing individual success for success as a team. Though this could be seen as honorable, the intentions are actually selfish.
The lesson that these actions seem to endorse is instead of working hard to improve and developing yourself and others, you might as well just abandon all efforts and join a team that seems most destined for success.