Last Friday, I had the privilege of going to the Minnesota vs. Milwaukee baseball game at Miller Park! I always LOVE going there for the fun atmosphere, tailgating, the friendly rivalry…etc. However, on that fateful Friday, I went through a terrible ordeal that changed my ideas on going to Milwaukee. It saddened me. This is what happened:
I was sitting with my friends, having a good time. There was a group of teenagers behind us, and half of them knew NOTHING about baseball. However, throughout the ENTIRE game, they were talking about how much the twins are the worst team in baseball. They didn’t just say a few things, it was constantly! And it was based on no valid facts. To show how much they didn't know anything, at one point they were talking about the Toronto and St. Louis game and the boy said he hated st. louis, but then the girl says: “But don’t we hate Canada?! Duh!” Wow. Well, when it came to the Twins, it was to the point that one of the girls said: “I just can’t believe that all of these people would go all this way to see their team lose?! How stupid are they?!” As someone who is very passionate about baseball, I really was about to lose it! But when I was at that point, the twins lost and I could leave the premises! On the way out of the ballpark, many Brewers fans were incredibly rowdy and incoherent and were saying very disrespectful things…and so, this ordeal made me think about how we should act as professional sports enthusiasts. What we should do as true believers of the game. How we should act. So, here are some simple do’s and don’t of being true enthusiasts of the sports we hold dear to our hearts.
DO:
-Cheer on your team as hard as you can!
It is okay, especially if you team is tied in the 14th inning and they score the winning run, to go a little nuts. Its okay to scream and jump up and down: “WE WON, WE WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” Do it! They deserve it! They tried their hardest, and they deserve all the respect they can from you, the fans. However,
DON’T
-Rub it in the face of the people that don’t agree with you.
Let’s say, you are fans of the Yankees. You have just swept the Twins, who seem to always get extremely distracted by the pinstripes. Do not, by any means, rub it in the face of the Twins fans. It is extremely disrespectful and it’s unsportsmanlike conduct. How would you feel if you created a painting and then someone went right up to you and said it was terrible? It is the same thing, and if you have anything bad to say about the other team, back it up with reasoning. And this goes to another point:
DO:
-Have a spirited rivalry with someone who loves a different team! It’s sure fun to have a joking rivalry with someone, like “Oh, I bet my team will have 10 more runs than yours by the 6th inning! Hhahahahaha” It’s always fun to be “against” someone else, a friend, because in the end, you love the same sport, and you are just hoping for a great end to the game! But this means…
DON’T
-Get into a vicious fight with someone, just because they don’t cheer for the same team as you! It is just incredibly disrespectful to get into someone’s grill just because they believe in a different team than you. Perhaps, they believe in a team because they have grown up with the team their entire lives, and even though the team is doing horrible, they are still pulling for them. That absolutely does not mean you can target them as a person just because they believe in something different than you! What happened to free speech? What happened to believing in what you believe in, no matter what anyone else says?! And, this goes on to another point…
DO:
Cheer for your team, no matter HOW horrible they are! They could be 20 games out of 1st place, but this does not mean you can give up hope! This does not mean that the season is over! Miracles DO happen! The 1980 Mens Hockey Olympic team was absolutely not favored to win the gold medal. The team of the U.S.S.R. had been playing together for years, they had a system down, they had won the previous Olympic golds. However, this was not a reason for the USA team to give up hope. They fought incredibly hard, and it was THEM that won the gold. If you give up before it even happens, then why have hope at all?! The MN twins in 2006 were absolutely horrible. In 2009 they were horrible. They won the division BOTH years! Never, ever give up on your team. Miracles can happen! DO HAPPEN!
DON’T:
Cheer against your own team, no matter how terrible they are playing at the moment! Okay, I admit it. I have booed AGAINST the Minnesota Twins this year. More than once. SHOCKER! Haha! I was at a game this season where the twins were losing 11-3! OH and another where they were losing 15-3!!!!!!! At that game, I started screaming that the pitcher should be cut from the team, and I booed every time someone on the Twins did something wrong! This is the exactly WRONG way to act as a fan. No matter what happens in a season, you STICK BY YOUR TEAM! Like you would your own child, you would stay by them no matter what they did, and you would support them in the end. Don’t ever give up on your team. They may surprise you in the end, and hey, you would feel kind of stupid if your team wins the World Series after you were booing them the whole season?! Never give up hope. Never stop believing. Do you believe in miracles?!!!!!!!!! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS!
