Being A Fan — Anyone see this Chicago Cubs special on HBO? I watched it last night and it was really good. How is this football related you ask? As I watched it I thought about rooting for the Jets. I thought of how the Cubs have had such a long drought. How their fans are so hopeful but have had to deal with so much losing. Similar to what we have experienced with the Jets on a much smaller scale.
As I watched it I realized that it is such a great story. Here are these fans that are SO happy for the few good years they have had. They consider 1969 to be a magical year yet they finished like 8 games out. They were so close in 2003 but lost when it seemed certain they were going to the World Series.
What is the point here? The point is that what gets lost often times is what I will call the magic of being a fan. Just rooting for your team. Sure the #’s tell us that our team will lose. Sure history says they haven’t won it all in awhile. But what is wrong with truly just believing? What is wrong with putting yourself out there and rooting for the team to win. It is almost like being a kid. You don’t factor in all of the other stuff. All of the reasons that were hear daily. There is so much negativity in the world. The Jets won’t win because Chad can’t get it done. The defensive line isn’t strong enough. The offensive line isn’t physical enough. Mangini is a good coach but it is only his second year.
I remember being a kid and truly believing every year that the Jets would win the Super Bowl. What is wrong with that? Sure they didn’t get it done, but I think it is far better to just believe. Why? Because that is what sports gives us. An escape. An escape from reality and all the things that are certain in life.
Some things I can’t change. I have bills to pay. Work to do. Things have to get done. The Jets offer an escape from all those things. In sports anything can happen. The future has not been written. So I refuse to look at things and say why it can’t happen. Instead I look at it and just believe that it will happen. People will say that history will prove me wrong. And that’s okay. I am not an expert on TV giving analysis about the game. I am a fan.
My job as a fan is to root for the team. It is to believe that they will win it all. I am not saying we can’t be critical. They don’t always do things right. But you know what? One day they will do it right. One day they will win the Super Bowl.
When it happens — I will be able to say that I called it. Because I am a fan. Believing they are going to win it all is what I do.Â
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