Do you consider yourself a true sports fan?
Do you honestly and truthfully believe in yourself to have what it takes to be considered a hard-core fanatic?
What do you really stand for when it comes to sports mania? Because I have a little quiz for you.
It’s going to be fun, I promise, and there is an underlying point to it all. All the answers are either yes or no and you can keep it entirely to yourself if you be completely honest. It will finally allow you to set the record straight on
where you stand.
For fun, we’ll call it — drums please — Jesse’s Ultimate Sports Fan Quiz. It is not a matter of knowledge, sex or age. Easy enough.
Now for the questions, which can be in regard to your favorite sports team or any team you care for. Here we go:
1. Do you make sure to attend all of the games of your team unless, under some extenuating circumstance, your schedule does not permit it?
2. Do you walk away from the games with a groggy voice, or no voice, and in a bit of a hot sweat from becoming so worked up?
3. Have you attended games topless and painted yourself with your team’s colors? (For some this question may be a little over the top and tends to usually only apply to males — but not always.)
4. Do you stick up for your team when someone puts them down and make your views well known?
5. Do you stick by your team regardless of the circumstances and through the adversity, and not jump on and off the bandwagon at will?
This last question is the one that is most important to me because I believe it to be the one that many of you falter on and might be hesitant on how to answer.
As for our Oregon athletics and how the teams have fared thus far this year, one word comes to mind: adversity. Webster’s Third New International Dictionary describes it as “a condition of suffering, destitution or affliction often implying previous prosperity or well-being.” Sound familiar?
The men’s and women’s basketball teams have had their share of hardship from preseason expectations. The football team went from second in the nation one year ago to, well, you know how it goes.
And teams such as women’s soccer and volleyball have not had an easy breeze through victory lane, either.
And through it all, some of you have stood strong. You are the hard-core fans. And I give you my utmost gratitude and highest praises. Hats off to you.
As for others of you, you don’t understand why anyone would go to such an extreme as described in any one of the questions. You are the fair-weather fans, and couldn’t possibly understand the hardship these teams and their fans have had to go through together.
In all honesty, you should be ashamed of yourselves. When the going gets tough, that’s your time to ship out. You know who you are.
Fans are more than they seem — they are friends. Someone a suffering team looks to in its utmost time of need for a shoulder to lean on and to be there, no matter what.
For people such as the members of the Pit Crew, and the diehards who stand strong regardless of the weather or circumstances: as Budweiser would put it, you are “true.”
True to your team, true to your cause, true as a fan and friend. And trust me, the athletes are grateful — I speak from experience.
For the rest, you are not a “true” fan. And for your sake, think about what you are doing — and hope that the same is not done to you.