Expectations?! A Guide to How Fans Should Behave.

It’s a home game. You buy your ticket to the game, whether it is football, hockey, or baseball. You have your home team’s jersey on and you expect that there will be some fans with the opposing team’s colors on. Should you expect that there will be more of the away team’s colors in the stands than the home team? Do you expect an argument to ensue towards the end of the game or a brawl to breakout in the parking lot afterwards while leaving the game? The expectations should be, you go to a game, and you cheer for your team, win or lose, and go home.

Fans can sometimes be so passionate and enthralled in a game that they lose sight of it all. It’s a game and it’s just entertainment. To tell children to not be sore losers and to lose with dignity, bash a player for comments after a game, or the be upset with a player that actions show those of a sore loser and then act like one in the stands is unproductive and set a low expectation. To be unhappy and to boo or sing little songs like those that were sung at Buccaneer games in the early ‘90s is one thing. You are entitled to your opinion. To throw objects onto the field or ice is just going too far. Is it going to change the opinion of another fan or city to cheer for the other team because you are in disgust with their choice?

There are cities around the world that are known to be not fan friendly or that you shouldn’t wear the opposing team’s colors in the venue. As fans people should realize, that is all a person in the seats is, a fan. Be passionate for and about your team. Clap, shout, and make noise, but let’s not take it too far. The athletes playing the game are going to be more upset than you are, it’s their job. They do get paid to play the game and to perform or entertain you. So at the end of the game when there are dozens of mics in the player’s faces asking question of what happened or what went wrong remember, you’re just a fan. Be a fan, cheer and be passionate and expect your team to win, but remember in the end it’s just a game, so don’t flip the Monopoly board when your team loses.

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