Loyalty in Sports
How loyal are you to your team?
The concept of loyalty in sports for fans is very unclear but it is formed by a 3 way triangle. The three components of loyalty in sports in my opinion are the fans, the players and the organization. Now there are millions of ways to place fans in groups based upon their passion but thats another more detailed story for another time. Right now I’m just going to discuss the dynamics involved in player-fan and organization-fan relationships.
Fans traditionally tend to like players that they can relate to, are very outgoing, and show a willingness to represent their city and team. Now when these players are superstars or perhaps the cornerstones of their team, the love affair grows and grows to a point where any misstep up to and maybe past rape or involuntary manslaughter will be forgiven as long as the player stays with the team and gives it 110 percent every night. However when this player seeks to find a more fulfilling situation for his own legacy as a player and to enhance his chances to win, fans blast and turn their back on him for being disloyal. There are a lot worse things that professional athletes are guilty of then just leaving the teams they are on for better situations.
The relationship between players and organizations and how they are judged is mistaken as well. While big time free agents or superstars either leave or demand to be traded to put themselves in the best situations possible. Organizations cut or trade players all the time, sometimes just to get rid of salary despite excellent behavior and personal qualities exhibited by the players. It’s a two way street. It’s the fabric of our country to make the best decisions for ourselves or what we represent and what we want to achieve. Loyalty can only go so far in regards to the player-organization relationship.
For the organizational to fan perspective, many fans tend to be just as two faced as with players. Most teams do not have the glorious history of constant success that the Los Angeles Lakers have (except for a period between somewhere in the early to mid 90s). So when they these non-Laker teams have a long period of success and then are forced to rebuild based on the nature of the sport itself, there are many fans that will write their team off and not pay attention anymore. This is what I like to call the bandwagon fan or fair-weather fan. I can’t stand these types. Now that is different from the fans that decide not to support a team based on the acts of upper management and ownership that clearly look like they are making horrible personnel decisions instead of truly rebuilding through the draft and via trades and are just attempting to save money such as the New Orleans Hornets. I respect a fan that is not willing to pay the price of admission ( a ticket) or attention (watching the games on TV) because of horrible ownership/management. However, I will never respect bandwagon fans that couldn’t name more than 3 players on the 2004-2005 Los Angeles Lakers or the 2008-2009 Sacramento Kings or 2010-2011 and 2002-2003 Cleveland Cavaliers for that matter (unless, they admit they are a bandwagon).
It’s because I am a crazy hard core fan of a particular team that I feel this way. I also know its always about the bottom line in sports and that means more viewers, more ticket sales = more money. The bandwagons or as the leagues would call them the “casual fans” may bring the different sports leagues the tv ratings and ultimately the revenue they need to earn a profit. Ultimately they allow the sport to grow to a new level. I know organizations reward their season ticket holders with special events and access to players but I would like to dedicate this post to the very few fans that know their teams and never waver based on year to year success or failure results. I would also like to dedicate this post to the fans that still root for their guy to win when he gets to a different situation (if he has done everything he could have to bring success to your team… and no this does not include Raptors fans and Vince Carter). You all know who you are.
What do you think about loyalty in sports? Give us your feedback.
This is just an opinion…so please Pardon My Bias
