My Fandom

There are so many reasons to choose whom you root for and they are all valid. Whether it is bandwagon or the team of your parents, the school you went to or where you grew up. I root for both the teams where I was born (Minnesota) and the teams where I grew up (South Florida) and my college (University of Florida). And while I would never root for another college my professional fan allegiances have worked out well. The teams in Miami and the teams in Minneapolis all fall into different conferences and rarely have I had to choose one side over the other. If I had to I would take Minnesota because those were the teams I loved first. I will never forget my trips to the Metro Dome to see the Twins as a little kid or my Mom taping me the final innings of the 1991 World Series for me. I still have my Homerun Hanky. My rooting interest in Florida sports came somewhat later and has never held the passion that the Minnesota teams get. But, when Florida got a baseball team I was a fan, same with the Heat and the Panthers. So, the majority of my sports attendance took place in South Florida and while I do not live and die with those teams I do care about how they do. Of course, none of the pro teams even come close to how I feel about the Gators.

 

I have an unhealthy obsession with University of Florida sports. I remember times in college when instead of going out on a Saturday night or afternoon after a loss I would just go to sleep. In 2001 when we lost to Tennessee at home and subsequently lost our chance at SEC and National titles, I sat in the stadium until we were forced to leave. I was physically unable to get up and believe it was over. Of course, a month or so later I would be in Charlotte when a Vol told me that Steve Spurrier was quitting. The following three years have made the losses easier to handle. And the past two years have made winning almost routine. And when I look back on all the losses and all the wins, not just for the Gators but for all the teams I follow, it adds up to one pretty special life of fandom.

 

In my nearly 27 years I have celebrated 9 Championships. That is quite a lot and even if you take away my secondary allegiances in South Florida I have still enjoyed 6 championship seasons. And it’s the Championships that is why the Minnesota Twins are my first love, how could they not be, I was 6 when Kirby Pucket and Kent Hrbek were beating Ozzie Smith in the World Series. I was 10 when they won their second and even though it has been a long time since they have won another  I still root for them and watch them every chance I get. Even through the down years I found something to get excited about. But, this isn’t about being a fan through the downtimes, every real fan goes through those times. This is about how fortunate I have been in my fandom and really I have done nothing to earn it. I was born into a small market that overachieved in baseball but has been disappointing in hockey, football and basketball. I moved to an area where the favorite team, the Dolphins, have not done anything my entire life, but the upstarts basketball and baseball franchises have won championships. The only fan allegiance I actually had to choose or try to get into was UF and even there all I did was apply, get in and go to class. Not that being an alum is even necessary to being a college athletics fan. But, I did apply to one school and one school only, I got into that school and joined the thousands of other students in becoming a member of that community. So, I had the time of my life there for five years and in return I have cheered on 2 basketball championships and went to one BCS title game. Even in a season where the Vikings are not looking great outside of AD, the Dolphins are terrible, the Timberwolves are playing for ping pong balls and the Heat look like they are slipping, how can I complain about a down year? The Gators are rebuilding and reigning Champs and since I am averaging a Championship every 3 years I am fairly certain that the down times will be outweighed heavily by the good ones.