By Jimmy L. Wilson, Jr.
As summer turns into fall, we are quickly approaching football season. People will be gathering at stadiums, sports bars, and houses each weekend to watch the games. We will be venting our frustrations on Facebook, Twitter, and sports talk radio. As a courtesy, I would like to offer a few tips to make sure you do not embarrass yourself as a fan. It is very easy to do so, and not even know that you are. So, please take this advice, and govern yourselves accordingly.
1. Be Respectful- Football games bring out a different side for a lot of fans. The most mild mannered person you know will yell, jump around, and get really aggressive while watching their favorite team. All of this is cool, and expected. The problem comes in when that aggression leads them to string together more cuss words than an episode of The Wire. I understand and am happy that we live in a country that embraces Freedom of Speech. However, I should be able to take a child to a game without having them cover their ears to not hear all the cussing around us. Buying a ticket, or a beer does not give you a license to be rude and disrespectful. So, please sir, please ma’am, come up with something better than a sentence full of cuss words when you’re upset about the game you are watching.
2. Know What You Are Talking About- Imagine you are a person that is heavy into politics. You have a watch party for the Presidential election, and invite some friends over. Most of your friends are heavy into politics, and there are some insightful conversations going on. There is one friend who is a casual observer of politics, he is trying to chime into the conversations, but what he says makes no sense. After a while, it begins to get annoying, and you politely ignore him. Well that is the same feeling we get as sports fans during sporting events. This is one of my biggest pet peeves. Why express fake outrage when you do not really know what is going on? Let the people who know what is happening argue about plays, and events in the game. That will keep you from looking like Akeem yelling “Yes, in the face!!!”, when it was actually halftime on Coming to America.
3. Cut The Refs Some Slack- In a football game, there are between 120-140 plays ran by each team. That means the players have 120-140 chances to influence the game and keep it out of the referees hands. Yet, as fans we tend to blame any close loss on the refs. A painful example of this is the 2011 Big Ten Conference Championship game. Michigan State had a few opportunites to put Wisconsin away. Instead, MSU let them stay close, had a close call go against them, and lost by one point. As much as I wanted to blame the refs, I had to accept, that MSU did not finish Wisconsin off when they should have. It is a tough pill to swallow, but once you do, you will not look like a person crying over spilled milk whenever your team loses a close game.
4. Pick A Team and Stick With Them- Most of us have teams that we grew up rooting for. As a sports fan, we should realize that our team will not be great every season. In the years that they are not great, you can not jump on the bandwagon of a team that is. This is not a new practice, but with the advent of Facebook and Twitter it has been shown to be very common. They will start the season cheering for one team, then once that team falls off, they will be cheering for whoever is hot. That is a little corny. Pick a team, and if they are down stick with them. It will make the payoff that much sweeter when they begin to win again. Take my word for it as a Michigan State Spartans and San Francisco 49ers fan.
5. Do Not Talk Until It Is Over- Every fan, myself included, has fallen victim to this. The team you are cheering for is winning early in the game. So, you get on Facebook, or start making phone calls to gloat. Next thing you know, your team falls apart, and eventually loses. Now, you have egg on your face because of all the trash you were talking earlier. Your best bet is to watch the game, enjoy the fact that your team is leading, and save all calls and Facebook statuses until the game is complete. That way you will not have to ignore phone calls and comments on your Facebook page after the game.
Well there you have it. Just a few tips for my fellow fans to make the upcoming football season go a little smoother. Take heed to these, and you should have a good time from September to January. Thank you for your time, and enjoy the games this fall.
I’m Jimmy L. Wilson, Jr. and I approve this message. Contact him at
This was printed in the August 12, 2012 – August 25, 2012 Edition
