Good grief.

I’ve been a Mariners’ fan since 1982, when my father and my uncle took me to my first baseball game…but not in Seattle. I was actually born in Seattle–we’ll say sometime in the 70s–and my family moved back to Minnesota circa 1980. So, when I attended my first baseball game, it was in the Twin Cities, and it was the Twins and M’s in the Metrodome. Don’t remember who pitched, but it didn’t matter, as I was hooked!

In the next few years, my dad and my uncle and I would attend many games, and frequently we’d get tickets to M’s-Twins matchups. And, as most of you know, neither team was particulary great in the early to mid 80s(the Twins would later overcome their demons with help from a guy named Kirby Puckett to make it to and win the 1987 World Series, as we all know). As a way of countering my dad and uncle cheering for the Twins, I would cheer for the M’s when we saw them play the “home” state team, and from there was born my fandom.

(And boy, I have a weird fixation with domes now, too).

I have many memories of following this team, through good times(1995, 1997, 2000, and 2001, as well as other winning seasons, etc.) and bad times(well, right now), and one(er, two?) thing(s) I always come back to is this:

I’m a fan, and it’s a game.

My interest waxes and wanes, sure, but my desire to see this team win, and my identity as a “Mariners’ fan” are ingrained now, and I can’t just turn that off. I realize, oddly enough, that my fandom is older than that of some of the current players and the ownership group(Nintendo/NoA), and that this organization…this team….will go on, and I will still cheer for them.

Viva la fandom.

(And that was my first post–me, a longtime M’s fan who’s lived most off his life in the Midwest.)

I get it. but it seems a little hypocritical. If you’re throwing up towels every hour, then what’s the difference with somebody blowing a little steam and saying “I’m done!”?

Two != every hour, but whatever.

The whole post is about what the difference is between blowing off steam and “I’m done” and how that distinction makes me feel.

I don’t see how that’s at all hypocritical.

But, to respond to your comment: Yes, I’m skeptical of some romantic fandom–idealism, in short. Being a fan for the sake of being a fan. You are fan in multiple ways. It isn’t an either-or condition.

To unpack, I think a critical fan simultaneously (1) loves his or her team and will follow that team (and blogs related to that team) until the season’s end, and (2)knows when to identify the team’s role as a business. In other words, as a consumer, you can quit going to games to make a point about the team letting you down, while nevertheless supporting the team by “keeping up” with them (e.g., watching the games at home). If you just blindly love any team, then they have little incentive to improve. You spoil them; they keep blowing your money.

Wait…Now I sound like a child psychologist.

Still, imagine the Mariners — and this will never happen — playing to an empty field. For some, that sounds cruel and fair weathered. To me, it’s making a point: As a consumer and a member of the Seattle public, you have the right to feed back into the economy, and sports teams certainly aren’t beyond that economy. No. A team doesn’t have to win all of the time. That’s ridiculous. Still, critical fans can change how teams are run. (Return here to the Yankees example.)

For a sloppy analogy: imagine Stevens Pass, after a season with little to no snow, not somehow compensating those who purchased season’s passes. People would be irate. True, they have other options (i.e., other mountains), but the mountain still owes something to the consumers.

I hope this put us on (or near) the same plane, Marc. Apologies for any confusion.

Does this mean I’ve quit or stopped being a fan? I don’t think so. I’m just rewarding the M’s incompetence with less of my money. Does this make me a bandwagon fan? I don’t think so either. I still know a lot about the team. I still follow them and wish they would perform. I guess I’m just taking a break until I see a reason to get hopeful about the future of the franchise.

Luckily for me I have 28 years of personal Red Sox history to fall back on. I can internally justify following a second team with some zest while I wait for the M’s to turn it around. Some may say….how can you root for 2 teams, who would you be rooting for should the Sox and M’s meet in an ALCS? It’s pretty easy…I’d root for the M’s in a heartbeat. While I relished the Sox recent titles, nothing would make me happier (In the realm of professional sports) than seeing the M’s win a World Series.

I think that’s what makes us fans.