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| There’s no Fandom like Sports Fandom
Recently at work the opportunity to take advantage of a chance to get out of wearing our usual uniform came about. And since I’m not a fan of long sleeved shirts, I take any chance I can get to get out of wearing my regular uniform because of the long sleeves. Only the caveat for this opportunity is that instead of the uniform top, what you must wear is either a polo shirt of a jersey for an American Football team in the National Football League or NFL as it’s more commonly referred to here.
I’ve never been a fan of the sport and given the choice, if we were allowed to choose a jersey from any sports team, I would support my hometown hockey team and wear a Calgary Flames jersey, but unfortunately, hockey isn’t one of the sports that qualifies for this opportunity to avoid the uniform. So, now I needed to pick a team and get a jersey or other officially licensed shirt to take part in this opportunity at work. And when I was telling a fellow colleague about my need to locate a jersey or a shirt, he said he had an old one he was no longer using that I could have, if I didn’t mind wearing a Vikings jersey.
I didn’t have a problem with it, and what do you know, thanks to the kindness of a co-worker, I didn’t have to run out and buy a jersey. So in the process I saved myself some money and the coworker found a new home for a jersey he was just going to throw out anyway. The funny part is I had to be told that the Vikings are a team based in Minnesota as this was something I didn’t know and didn’t really care that much about, but now I know. And with Benny Anderssons Orkester coming to Minnesota in the new year for a benefit for the American Swedish Institute, and I plan on attending, it seems only appropriate in an ABBA fan way to be wearing the jersey for a Minnesota based team.
However, what I wasn’t prepared for was the expectations people seem to have for people wearing team jerseys especially if the jersey being worn is not for the local team, in my case, the San Diego Chargers. I’ve been asked all sorts of questions such as who “my” team was playing this week, if I knew how they did in their last game, and if I knew that the player that the number and name on the back of the jersey I have no longer plays for the Minnesota Vikings (as I was to find out that this is the reason the jersey was being retired by the co-worker who gave it to me.) Who knew it was going to be so much work knowing things about a team I truly don’t care about, but am just wearing the jersey for so I can get out of wearing my uniform an additional day of the week.
The irony of this is that I had no idea I was going to need to be knowledgeable about the team in any way, shape, or form because I never get those kinds of questions if I wear a t-shirt or other type of shirt featuring any of my favorite bands or other things I am a fan of. Apparently it seems that sports alone have this unwritten level of social acceptability for fandom that is not given to other types of interests. Since when did a Football Jersey become an open invitation for a full on conversation where a band t-shirt is only an invitation for a look and maybe a quick comment, like “cool” or “nice shirt”?
During former US President Bill Clinton’s Whitewater trials, a woman on the jury got all kinds of media attention for choosing to wear a Star Trek uniform to the court whereas no attention would have been given to a military person wearing a uniform or a sports fan wearing a sports jersey. The sports fan might have been given a suggestion that a jersey may not be appropriate attire for the courtroom but an alternative of a polo shirt for the same team wouldn’t have gotten a look. But the Star Trek uniform top sparked a national flurry of attention. It was as though the attention was made to make this woman out to be a freak and yet, she was simply showing her allegiance to what she is a fan of.
I suppose the ultimate irony is that while people showing allegiance to anything besides sports teams will get extra attention and be made to feel like freaks of nature for having the gall to showcase their fandom in what may be perceived as an inappropriate time and place, the attention is truly misplaced. Sports fans tend to get rowdy, and the enjoyment of such sporting activities is usually accompanied by heavy consumption of alcohol, which is endorsed by the fact that alcohol companies spend tremendous amounts of money on sports related sponsorships and advertising. And most sporting events require far more security personnel than a concert or a sci-fi event.
Perhaps its because there is a competition aspect to a sporting event. In the end someone or some team is going to walk away from the event having scored a victory and the other person or team is going to walk away in shame with a loss. One of the participants is not going to leave happy. At a concert, in most cases, there is an expectation that the performer will perform the songs that the audience wants to hear, the band plays, and everyone comes away with some level of satisfaction. Sure there are awards shows and contests that pit band against band, but not with the frequency of sporting events where every few days a team has to prove their worth against another opponent. The bulk of their efforts are “preaching to the choir” by satisfying a bunch of people who already have acknowledged their like of their material. It’s the same in other forms of fandom such as Star Trek fandom, you don’t tune in to the show or go to the movies to see the crew of the starship Enterprise get their butts whooped, or at least not for the whole duration, the ultimate outcome is that the crew will ultimately achieve victory by the completion of the story.
But it does make for an interesting dynamic of how it’s far more socially acceptable to be a sports fan and I just feel like an imposter in my Minnesota Vikings jersey because I don’t truly care about the sport or the team. But I’ll still wear it because in the end no one has to know that Minnesota has special significance to ABBA fans for both Björn and Benny’s musical “Kristina från Duvemåla” and Benny will be performing live in Minnesota in March.
Ryan |
