When it comes to sports there are three different categories of people
1.People who don't like sports at all:A large number of people fall into this category but they don't make up the majority.
These people could care less about rooting for or following a sports team.Knowing about a team is basically a waste of time for them.They find no significance or social benefit in liking a particular team.Even if that team is the best team,plays in their home city and makes the playoffs every year they'll never pay attention to them.Their priorities seem to occupy most of their time and day for them to attend a game or watch a sporting event on television.Sports is something that is completely oblivious to these type of people.
2.The casual fan:Most people fall into this category and sadly but true, they make up the majority of a team's fan base.
Bandwagoners, frontrunners, fairweathers and people who are easily persuaded by glamor and success fall into this very category.But they're not the only ones that fall into this list.Some people actually do like a team but their 24 hour schedule doesn't permit them to dedicate as much time as they'd like to their team.You can include a lot of celebrities in this list and people who root for a particular individual of a team rather than the team that they play for.
Most people in this category won't watch 95% of any sports season but will tune in to a game if their home team happens to be competing in the playoffs and are the center of everyone's attention.They don't show up at sporting events out of a wholehearted desire to watch their home team win but show up at these events because someone from their job or very close to them, gave them a free ticket to do so.And once they're at these events they either don't pay attention to the games or leave the sporting venues before the games end.These are the kind of people who aren't very passionate about a team but will celebrate amongst the passionate fans if that team happens to win it all.Sure they'll be exuberant and excited for a few days after watching a championship run but they'll totally forget about the team until that team makes another championship run.They could go more than 15 years ignoring a team if that team happens to be irrelevant for that long.
Example:Many people who've rooted for the New York Knicks in the 90's and the NY Mets in the late 80's have been reported missing for more than a decade.The Knicks in early 2010 are to New York what the Yankees were to NY during the first half of the 1990's.
Only winning and triumph can resuscitate the part of the brain in these people which allows them to pay attention to and like a sports team.But if that team happens to fall from grace they'll turn their backs on them once again.Some of these people even have the nerve to claim that they've been a fan of that team for most of their lives.
I forgot to mention that these are the people who attend championship parades and have limited knowledge about sports teams.They could probably tell you the jersey colors of a team but could only identify the 2 or 3 superstars on that team.This is why I consider them casual fans because of their erratic knowledge and attitude towards teams.
3.The True fan or die-hard fan:They make up the minority and are very rare to find in a large city with a big market.
These are the people like us who follow their teams religiously.They'll buy the newspaper everyday just to read the latest news about their teams.They'll show up at games even if the stadium or arena is 3 quarters empty.They'll go ahead and watch the same Sports Center highlights over and over again and never get tired of it.They'll root for their teams wholeheartedly even when nobody else wants to root for them.These people can tell you the history of their teams like the back of their hands.They do not root for a team because they're popular, successful or well liked by the masses.The'll get frustrated or even depressed after their team loses a game and will watch every single game of the season even if it's an exhibition game.Whenever they hear someone criticize their team they'll defend their team as though it was their birth right.And would never turn their back on their teams to root for other teams.
These are the best fans in the world and this is why I decided to leave them for last.
