A couple weeks ago I had a conversation with a friend of mine that got me thinking about what it means to be a fan. As is often the case the conversation started with me talking about Manchester City and my irrational belief that I will one day see them raise a trophy.
My friend, who it should be noted is a Manchester United fan (although in fairness to him he was a United supporter before they were Manchester United ), suggested that winning was a bit over rated. The nature of support didn’t necessarily require a shiny piece of silver at the end of the day.
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
I agreed to a point (have I mentioned my love of City?), but suggested to him that it was awfully easy to take that view when you cheer for Manchester bloody United.
Still, I sort of understood where he was coming from. Winning is just one possible outcome of any particular game. Although we all desire that result most of all the question is whether our experience of supporting is truly enhanced by it. On the surface you would think that it is, but the reality is that we still have to pay the hydro bill the day after a big win by our team – our life is not personally changed by the result.
Flash forward to today. Following the TFC game I strolled over to the home of the Red Patch Boys, Shoeless Joes. There I bought a beer for the club’s president Boris Aguilar as thanks for his help on a couple MLSsoccer.com stories this week. As it happened, he was being interviewed by a student journalist about why the RPB does what it does.
For several minutes I stood and listened. Although I did not disagree with anything that was being said I felt compelled to add my perspective (shocking, I know). What I said was that supporting a soccer team is different than supporting most other sports teams. There is a sense of community and connectedness that makes what we do matter. I mean let’s face it – strip it down and our desire to see one group of 11 men in short pants beat the other one is irrelevant and irrational.
Except it isn’t. It isn’t because we share the experience with people we love. When our team wins it makes us happy and we share that happiness with those around us.
And that’s why my friend was wrong. Although our bond with fellow supporters is no less strong after a loss it’s the pursuit of those fleeting moments of joy that really drives us to come out week after week.
Let’s be honest – unless we support Manchester United we lose more than we win. Frustration is as often the emotion we feel as joy. But, when it goes right...
Man, there is no feeling like it. A shiny trophy may not change my life for the better, but the ssxperience of watching it will remain with me and enhance my life until the day this sport finally kills me.
I guess I should bring this back to TFC. There is little doubt that this season is going to be frustrating at times. However – and call me naive or a sucker if you want – we all need to find those special moments within the whole.
Otherwise what’s the point?