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Lifetime Fandom and Such

G-Fafif Nov 27 2013 01:09 PM

Mets fan (yours truly) and football Giants fan scratch at the surface of why we root and such as we grow old and older. We do, I suppose, implicitly invite comment when don we now our team apparel, yet as I go along, I find myself turning increasingly insular about my fandom. My favorite topic of discussion may be the Mets, but only if I'm talking to those who are enmeshed in the tribe. I don't have much patience for the patronizing, "So ... how are your Mets doing?" inquiries a fan inevitably receives in the world at large, because if you're going to ask, I'm going to tell you. And if you're not going to listen, I'm not going to want to deal with the likes of you in any situation. I might have to, but I won't like it.

Edgy MD Nov 27 2013 01:39 PM Re: Lifetime Fandom and Such

They want you to good naturedly acknowledge you're a sap, I guess. I kind of get the idea that the NFL's profile in our culture has passed it's deepest saturation point (unless they start expanding into minor leagues). I think one of those legacies is those sorts of patronizing statements have become kind of universally expected. And the receivers of it are supposed to accept it and openly feel sorry for themselves. I think the NFL has done particularly well at making just about every fan believe that he or she is bearing a particular burden, that his or her loyalty is a blessed thing, that God knows their suffering. It's a trick. And I don't buy it. If it was about suffering, I wouldn't be in it. Everybody suffers and it's silly to delude yourself that a winning or losing team makes you better or worse. It's about Timo Perez and his underwear, it's about fathers and sons. It's about apples and Mr. Met and horseshoes and Tommie Agee and we-don't-need-no-fucking-whoot-at-the-end-of-"Let's go, Mets." It's about daughters. And mothers. It's about Jane Jarvis and Karl Ehrhardt and Jeff Wilpon's breakfast cereal. It's about Danny Heep and Danny Hererra and Danny Boitano. It's about Ronald McDonald, Wilbur Huckle, and Blake McGinley. It's about building a culture.

Lefty Specialist Nov 27 2013 02:11 PM Re: Lifetime Fandom and Such

It's about being too old to start over now.

Benjamin Grimm Nov 27 2013 02:54 PM Re: Lifetime Fandom and Such

It's funny; people who I knew 30 years ago and with whom I've reconnected on Facebook still see the Mets as a core part of my identity, where people I've met more recently may not even know I'm a fan, unless they see a vacation photo of me in a Mets cap.

themetfairy Nov 27 2013 02:59 PM Re: Lifetime Fandom and Such

I had an opposite kind of thing Grimm. I've recently reaquainted myself with a couple of friends whom I first met in the summer of 1977, and they were surprised to discover that I had always been a Mets fan.

G-Fafif Nov 27 2013 05:10 PM Re: Lifetime Fandom and Such

Following Gary Carter's passing, I received a note from someone I knew in high school -- someone with whom I got along not at all -- who had stumbled on what I wrote. He told me he had no idea I was a Mets fan like he was. I had no idea he was a Mets fan either. If anything, I recall him being a bandwagon MFY type, which was pretty much everybody in those days. Go figure, I guess.