And by we I mean "We"

“We” won the game!
“We’re” number one!
“We” really played a good, hard game.
How often do you hear that in the world of sports fans? Probably not much these days. It has become fashionable to belittle and berate fans that have the audacity to root whole-heartedly for their favorite team.

Relax! I do it all the time.

I know that I’m not on the field throwing blocks! I didn’t make that sweet saucer pass to Sakic for the game winning goal. But I still say we, and by we, I mean “We”!

Let’s get some credentials out of the way here. I have been to Rage and 14er games, Colorado Rockies (baseball & hockey), Nuggets, and about 42 ga-zillion Colorado Avalanche games. My dad and I have been Denver Broncos season tickets holders since 1963. I shudder to think of the money we have spent on those tickets. It’s like filling a wheelbarrow with money and wheeling it into Bowlen’s office, here ya go! Ok, so it’s either “credentials” or madness, call it what you like, I’ve been forking over my hard earned money to professional sports teams for all of my adult life. And the reason I (and millions of people around the world) pay money to see games is because we are huge fans. We love the action, the strategy, the drama, the physical skills and the mental toughness.

Doesn’t that fulfill the criterion to pronounce myself and the Broncos as “We”?

There are two kinds of investment as a sports fan, literal and figurative. It’s a little counter-intuitive, but the figurative is the cash. The literal is the emotional. Despite all the cash I have poured into pro sports, I’m not going to be retiring off that investment. The literal investment is the emotional. Think about how crushed you’ve been to see your team lose a huge game. How mad you have been at a player or coach. That’s real emotion, you care. You are invested.

If you aren’t, what’s the fun of “my” team beating “your” team? Where is the satisfaction of harassing your co-workers and friends when “your” team just spanked “their” team? If you aren’t invested in a team, then why are you even watching? It’s really the whole (successful) philosophy behind spectator sports. And there’s nothing wrong with it.

The sports snobs want you to think that it isn’t cool to get too emotional about your team, especially when they are doing well. But I say it’s the height of hypocrisy for a guy who is wearing his Detroit Red Wings, Stevie Yzerman game jersey to look askance at me when I say “We”. Hey, you aren’t Yzerman. You don’t play for Detroit. Chances are you’ve never scored a goal on a pro goalie, let alone hundreds of goals! So back off dude, nothing says “We” like a $200 piece of gear!!!

So are you convinced? Are you ready to invest in your team like a real fan?

Try saying “We” at home during a game by your favorite team. Practice till you are confident in saying “We”. It might be best if you try this alone or with people you trust. People who aren’t going to disparage your new-found ownership. When you are ready, I’ll see you at the game/bar/in front of the big screen where you and I will be cheering on “Our” team.

Posted by: From the Point