Arena What do you mean "we"?

Some of it is the concept of the 12th Man (copyright Texas A&M, Seahawks fans go **** yourselves). I think fans can influence a game, especially at the college level with the sheer volume of yelling to disrupt communication and concentration. Also at A&M a guy was called out of the stands to play once.

Hav already touched on how Packers fans literally own their team and definitely can use that word, imo.


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by attending the game fans influence the result. why else is home ground advantage such a thing? further, if you've ever bought any merchandise you've contributed to the financial success of the club.

but beyond that, I think it's a fairly odd thing to get worked up about. as others have said, people associate themselves with their clubs - it forms part of their identify in some way. I don't see how referring to the team they support as 'we' is an issue whatsoever. it just seems rather cold to refer to a team you support as 'they'.

 

Interesting, they did do a statistical analysis of HFA and basically determined... there's not really any such thing except surrounding referees as human beings and making judgment calls, I think, something like 70/30 in favor of the home team because of the home crowd.

Also, in most US sports, the latter part is less important now but used to be a huge, huge advantage especially for teams like the Yankees where it actually wasn't merchandise but media market (Yankees were one of? the first MLB teams to have their own TV channel vs. a regional sports net, or shared basic cable channel like TBS).

 

Just last night my gf and I were checking out at the supermarket and the cashier was attempting to make small talk to us. As a gentle reminder, I currently live in Philadelphia.

Here's a brief synopsis of the conversation. My gf was smart enough not to engage.

Cashier: Did you see the game?
Me: Which one? The Eagles one?
Cashier: No, the Eagles lost.
::
Cashier: We <this> and we <that> and we'll win next time.
Me: Yeah, it was a close one. I'm a Chiefs fan and my gf is a Bears fan.
Cashier: We <blah blah> and we <blah blah> and we'll win next time.
Me: Yep, thanks, have a nice night.

 

For fair-weather fans, it's "we" when the team is winning and "they" when the team is losing.

I heard some radio interviews recently with people who had gotten into fights outside of NFL games, and some of them said they got into it because fans of the other team were disrespecting "us". But the players don't care what those other fans were saying, which just makes the logic of "I have to do it for my team" so dumb. But really, that logic comes down to what Havac said earlier.

 

For the price I pay for a seat
For the price I pay for merchandise
For the price I pay for a friggin hot dog.
For the emotional toil I allow these damn teams to take on me

I feel no remorse in using the word "we"

because they market to me as "Cavalier Nation" and "Buckeye Nation" and "Crew SC Nation" and tell me I'm part of the team.
because they pander to me and say "we need you to have our success"
because there is an inexplicable link to the community I take pride in and the team that represents it

I feel empowered to use the word "we"

If you don't because you're not on the payroll? That's fine. That's how you fan.
This is how I fan. Don't like it? Bite me.

 

if one is going to take issue at the logic of using 'we', you may aswell take issue with the logic of sport in the first place. just a bunch of arbitrary rules, an ultimately pointless activity of grown men and women running around, designed to keep the masses from focusing on the important stuff in the world, like FIGHTING THE SYSTEMMMMMmm

but it's good when that ball hits the back of the net, man

 

I'm not all that invested in the issue, but my take is this:

1. Professional sports teams: Their venues tend to be supported by massive tax breaks and municipal spending, so the public is literally propping up the teams. Also, people pay a lot of money for tickets.

2. College football/basketball: Wealthy and even not so wealthy alumnae donate lavishly to these teams. Students and alumnae support the sports by attending games, traveling to games, buying season tickets, donating funds, and watching them on tv to support the ad revenue that NCAA generates.

It is a collective cultural effort.

 

I can see where KW's coming from, I don't think it's an absurd point. There's a fine line to be walked between tribal sentiments and hostility. However, on these two pages those who disagree with him have had the stronger points.

Me, I have often thought patriotism is the source of a lot of suffering in the world, and supporting national teams needlessly enforces that patriotism. On the other hand, I never learn as much about other countries as during a UEFA or a FIFA championship. I imagine I am not the only one. So I kinda let it go. I guess to think all tribalism is bad is too dogmatic. But we'll always have to be diligent.

 

My vuvuzela is steel-reinforced, with one end honed to razor sharpness. In the event of soccer riots, I use it to cut my way out.

Also, as noted from the interesting map thread. State university College football coaches are often the or among the highest paid state employees in their respective states. Many state schools seem to be little more than football teams with some kind of public university tacked onto them as an afterthought.

 

Look at these idiots in the crowd. They should be singing "YOU are the Champions" back at Freddie.

 

Sorry Josh, but I have to disagree with you on this one. These teams exist because of the fans, they can pay players because of the fans, they win games at home because of the fans. And teams often bear the name of a city or region or nation, so they clearly represent more than just themselves. Saying we not only is okay, it actually makes quite a lot of sense.

Can people take sports too personally and get violent because if it? Yes. But they can also take parking spaces too personally and get violent. As mentioned, some people are just going to channel their anger incorrectly in general. I actually think sports help most people channel aggressive energy in a harmless way.

And let's not forget what Nelson Mandela said, "Sport can change the world." International competitions in particular more often than not help both unite countries (even dangerously divided ones such as with the integrated Springbocks) and also help cultural understanding between nations. And when you say "we", you're just saying that you are part of that whole experience. That you would rather see your nation or city represented peacefully in sports competitions than through actual conflict.

Even if some fans go too far and don't live up to the peaceful potential of sports, I don't think the choice of the word we has anything to do with it.

 

I learned a lot from reading different people's perspectives, and they make sense. I appreciate each person's sharing theirs.

Having said that, I still don't think fans should say "we." They play the game-- we don't. It pretty much comes down to that for me.

 

You don't know if I'm in the NFL or not plz don't say "we"

 

But why does it matter what word other people use to reference their fandoms? I don't care if Star Trek fans call themselves "Trekkers". It's not like I require that they literally trek into the stars to use that terminology.

 

I kinda though this thread would be about this classic bit from Mad Magazine:



, but I guess I was wrong.

 

For me, the use of 'we' as it relates to sports doesn't bother me in a truly serious way... it's more of a philosophical, 1st world problem; I'll continue to not use that term.

 

you need to read better philosophy, tunes

 

Oh boo-hoo; it's not like I don't have any less passion for the Dodgers & Lakers because I don't use 'we' 99.5% of the time (when I use it, it's in reference to the fan base in general/friends & associates of mine who are fans).

 

Yeah, but you substitute the anachronistic and silly "the Bums" instead, so do you really have a good leg to stand on here?

 

Probably not, but I'm a schmuck after all.