My mom was recuperating in a Chicago hospital a few days after delivering me, when suddenly ... air-raid sirens blared. For five minutes. She was terrified. So were others. Why would the city do this? Were we in danger? Nope. The White Sox had clinched the pennant.
So maybe I was born to loathe the White Sox.
Growing up in northern suburbs all but clinched it.
I worshipped the other local pro teams, the Bulls and Blackhawks, the Bears and Cubs, but the South Side White Sox were the enemy. I couldn’t believe my best friend at 7 was a Sox fan – and a Packers fan.
Oh, how we taunted each other.
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I already was well past the Awareness stage of fandom on the Psychological Continuum Model (PCM) I mentioned the other day, and racing through Attraction. By 9 or 10, I was deeply into Attachment and Allegiance for the Cubs. The 1969 collapse had a profound effect on my life.
I took losses personally for my teams, believing this showed the depth of my fandom. I was right.
I believed real fandom required a commitment of heart and soul, for life. I was wrong.
I am here today to admit that.
* * *
The other day, we examined new ways to look at what kind of a Bengals fan you are and how it changed. We looked at healthier ways to describe our fandom.
The conversation carried over to social media, and I challenged you a bit. I asked you what you require of other Bengals fans and what exactly that would mean. This was not to judge you. This matches what have been asking myself a lot lately, especially since I adopted the Bengals.
Wow, have I changed over the years.
More:Bass column: Are you a real Cincinnati Bengals fan? Says who?
Even into my 20s and beyond, I cringed over the Yuppie invasion of Wrigley Field, rued the lights that defiled baseball’s masterpiece, grumbled about those Cubs fans who were there for the party. I felt superior to fans who jumped from one winner to another, even if I didn’t know any of them. I respected fans who stayed true to a team ... hoping they would wise up and pledge forever to my team.
Which makes no sense.
A lot of what I thought made no sense.
* * *
Here is the truth. Looking back, I never cared if fans were standing by most of my teams. I never thought about it.
Growing up, I was really into the Bulls (especially) and the Blackhawks when both were title contenders, a bit less as both faded. The Bears always were awful to mediocre, but I still loved them, and their misery meant I could afford season tickets the year they finally made the playoffs. Then I was off to college. Distance made a difference.
I still felt past alliances, especially at first. The 1980s brought the Cubs to the playoffs, a Super Bowl title to the Bears and Michael Jordan to the Bulls. I relished those.
The longer I was gone, and in the media, the more detached I became from my teams and focused on the local ones. Did it make me a good journalist? A bad fan? Or both? It was easier to judge the fandom of others.
They deserved better.
* * *
I can see that now. I am not ashamed. I needed to go through all of that to get where I am now.
Does it make you a bad fan if you relocate and become interested in local teams? What if you move when you are in school? What if you adopt your college team?
Life happens. Situations change. Priorities evolve. We have families. We have jobs. We might decide to back off our teams. We make choices.
I chose to leave journalism, to become a fan again, to become a coach and to coach fans. I reconnected more with the Cubs and Bears than the Bulls and Blackhawks, without forcing any of it. I reconnected with the Bengals and with you as never before, and in late December declared my Bengals fandom for the rest of the season.
I heard about it. Welcome home. Who Dey! Get lost. Who do you think you are calling yourself FAN!? I appreciated the support and expected the anger. Had I really turned Bandwagon or Fair Weather? What happened to me?
Nothing. I did what I always do. I just spun it differently.
I have embraced secondary favorites since I was young. I adopted teams because I liked their style or their players, and because I wanted to support teams that won when mine were bad or eliminated, and because games are more interesting when I have a rooting interest.
Was I being rational? Or rationalizing?
Time for another confession: I made absolute statements about my fandom for most of my life because they made me feel better and because I was being superficial.
As a diehard fan, you can feel a special connection to your team and deeper sense of community with your team’s fans. Successes can resonate more because of the losses. I still believe that. I just took it too far.
More:Bass column: The story of the 2021 Bengals is yours to tell
Fandom is nuanced. Limitations have consequences. The Yuppie Invasion of Wrigley Field annoyed me because I was naive. People come to the games for a lot of reasons. Better that they come. Cubs manager Lee Elia once ranted that the 3,000 fans booing at Wrigley “oughtta go out and get a (bleeping) job and find out what it’s like to go out and earn a (bleeping) living.”
Want to limit fans to those who cheer? Good luck enforcing that. Or limit all seats to diehards-only and keep the team financially viable? Umm ... all that sounds ludicrous, too. Or limit fandom for a winning team to those who made lifetime pledges? OK, ... point taken.
I never really thought through any of this.
* * *
I liked it when a team’s success intoxicated and united my city, with team wear everywhere, with games that were events and seats that were filled, with everyone wanting to join in the fun. The new fans added to the atmosphere.
Maybe I had softened a bit without realizing it.
Researching and coaching sports fans raised my awareness and curiosity. Declaring my Bengals fandom the way I did forced me to look inside and see what I had missed. Now I believe in an Open Door Policy for fans.
I support fans who choose to back off, whether as a statement about a team or because life happens. I support fans who choose to back a team for as long as they want, as long as they don’t harm themselves or others.
Fandom is your choice, and it is my choice. My Bengals fandom was an amazing experience that will not stop with the Super Bowl. Otherwise, who knows?
If I could stop hating the White Sox, I am open to anything.
I actually rooted for them to win the 2005 World Series. I even admitted that to my best friend at age 7. He still hates the Cubs, though.
We all make choices, right?
Email Bass at [email protected] or reach out to him @SportsFanCoach1 on Twitter if you want to be included next week. His website is MikeBassCoaching.com.
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