It wasn't always that way. I loved the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team. For about 4 decades. Through good times and bad. I don't know when it stopped. It just did.
That was my one team I followed every year. I supported them no matter what. I just knew that they would turn it around if they were losing and continue to win if they were winning. Well, all of that has changed.
I still like sports. I watch many different types of sports. However, I like to watch excellence. Not mediocrity. Not teams that are not willing to put their all into the sport.
If I watch a team, they have to provide a winning product. At least an exciting brand of the sport they represent. I don't think that is asking too much.
Now take the Arkansas Razorbacks football team - Please! (sorry - old Henny Youngman joke - look it up).
The razorbacks football team is in for a long season. They have looked pitiful in the two losses this season against supposedly less talented teams. They have lost. They have looked bad. They are not providing a quality product for the people to enjoy. Therefore, I will not tune in to watch. Oh, I may check the score out of curiosity sake. But until they improve and make the changes necessary to play a winning brand of football, I will not be wasting my time watching them play.
Now saying they suck might be a little unfair, a little harsh. After all, the players on the team, most of them, are trying hard. They want to be a good team. Unfortunately, time is a valuable resource. I want to be entertained today. Not next year. I will not waste my time watching a team struggle to find that winning formula.
I will, though, check in occasionally. Look up a few stats. Check out a few scores. Maybe they will figure things out. I hope so. I want them to win. I just won't watch them (much) until they do. It is just not worth my time.
Does that make someone like me a fair weather fan? Maybe. I prefer to think of it as being selective in my viewing. I still have a hope that they, the razorbacks, will one day find that formula that will make them competitive in their football games. I would like to think that the team would want me to do that. Oh, they won't say "don't watch us - we suck". But they want to win too. My not supporting them when they suck should make them work harder to win. It will make it all the sweeter for them when they do have success.
So until that happens, until I notice significant changes in the product on the field, I will be in the background.....waiting. You cannot afford to get emotional about the product. If your TV you bought broke all the time, would you buy another? If your car was a lemon, would you say good things about it and buy another one? No. It should be the same with your sports team.
That's what sports teams are anyway....your way of connecting yourself to a city or state or country and taking pride in it. Not that you had anything to do with it. But still, you can say "Yeah, we really kicked their ass today, didn't we?" People like to be a part of the winning side. They love the underdog. They don't mind suffering with the team. I get that. It is for young people, I say. I have suffered enough with sports teams. I just want to be entertained now.
So for all you people out there that don't agree.....I understand all of the reasons. I thought that way too. For a while. But now I want to cut to the chase. I'm too busy for the drama. Just give me something worthwhile to watch, is all I want. You don't even have to win all the time. Just play a competitive winning brand and I will return. But don't take too long,,,,,,,,,,the sports team down the street, I heard, is the latest hot team. I think I will go watch them.
YOU KNOW HOW TO STOP ME FROM DOING THAT, DON'T YOU?
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