I have been told several times that I am not a “real” fan of the Royals because of various reasons:
· I don’t boo Johnny Damon
· I don’t wear enough Royals gear
· I leave before the end of the game
· I don’t drink enough beer
· Etcetera.
On a recent post about adopting a second team, someone posted some rules of fandom. I found that intriguing, but since it did not list all of the reasons that I am not a “real” fan, it must be incomplete.
My purpose here is to create a definitive list of what constitutes a baseball fan. I have included the items I have read/heard over the years. I am looking for your input to add to the list. Once we have a complete list, I propose we vote on the items one at a time to determine the “true” rules of “real” fandom. Agreed?
Here is my (incomplete) list.
A real fan never boos their own team.
A real fan stays until the end of the game.
A real fan can have one primary and one secondary team that he/she is a fan of. The secondary team must be in the other league.
To prevent bandwagoners, you must follow a team for X years before calling yourself a fan.
You must own X number of articles with your team logo.
Team logo articles must be displayed prominently in your office or on your person, even during losing periods.
You must attend X number of games per year.
You must be able to name X % of starters.
You must loathe/hate/sneer at/fart in the general direction of/ the team’s archenemy.
When the team wins you are elated, but when it loses you are crushed.
You have a testimonial about your team that you share often – “I was at Opening Day in 1957 when Clyde Bumblefoot pitched a perfect game, and Renaldo Guillen crushed a game-winning grand slam.”
Feel free to add your rules in the comments section.