As posted on From the Rink....
The place at which I work is an NFL office. That is the topic of discussion most days - football. Which, I don't mind; I actually like football. Though, I'm more of a college football kind of person than an NFL kind of person.
But an interesting point was brought up during a discussion of the local NFL team. I was making some point talking about hockey, of course, and someone said that hockey fans weren't like football fans. And he genuinely meant that; it wasn't just some flippant remark.
Isn't that nice? Even the fans of other sports know the difference. Not sure if that's a compliment or not, but that's not what I'm trying to get at.
The topic of discussion, at that time, was about getting autographs from players. And it wasn't that NFLers weren't as accommodating, as according to the NFL fans in my office, so much as he was suggesting that the fans weren't that nice. And, in their opinion, that's why the NFL players weren't so accommodating.
Think about that for a second. The reason why some NFL fans think that hockey players are so accommodating is because their fans are nicer. Again, not sure whether that's a compliment or not, but moving on....
Too often, we judge athletes by what they do, when in reality it comes down to how they interact with the people they're around. Athletes that aren't so accommodating? They must be jerks, right? Well, perhaps it's because they had a bad fan experience, as well as maybe they really are jerks. I mean, you just don't know.
In sports, there's this symbiotic relationship between the fans and the team and/or athlete: you just can't have one without the other. And since the team and/or athlete are the ones in the spotlight, it's easy to point fingers at them when there's good or bad behavior. But the reality is that it works both ways - players are justified to point their fingers back at us, the fans.
So when a hockey player says what great fans their team has, that's not just lip service. How often do you get that from guys who play other professional team sports? Not too often. Usually, they give credit to their teammates and to their coaches. But, you know, maybe their fans just aren't living up to their expectations, either. Don't fans have an obligation to their teams, too?
I just found it interesting that an NFL fan would point out that hockey fans are better than they are. Obviously, this doesn't apply to everyone and in all cases, but it's something to think about. It's not entirely about how they love their teams, and not in how they support their teams, but in how they treat the players themselves. Perhaps hockey isn't great because of the players, but it's great because of the fans. Probably, though, it's a little bit of both.
A consortium of misanthropic, persistent and sometimes brilliant hockey bloggers reconnected in the crease to observe, defend and (occasionally) offend all things on ice sporting two skates and a mouthguard.
Another thing I've noticed around here where hockey isn't very popular is that fans that meet other fans (even of rival teams) have a mutual respect as if they share a secret. It might just be due to the relative lack of hockey fans here, and how grateful we are to meet one another and have someone else to talk hockey with, but hockey fans here seem to get along a lot better than football fans which are pretty much everywhere.
ReplyDeleteThere also might be something to the notion of how NFLers differ from NHLers. Perhaps NFLers are just noticed much more here in the States and as a result are a little more guarded because with more recognition, you're likely to get more of the bad as well as the good fans. I think that in the States, even the casual sports fan will recognize the big names in football which will lead to ignorant comments in public, but it would take a pretty regular hockey fan to recognize anyone who isn't Crosby or Ovechkin.
I am not a role model! pass me the donuts.
ReplyDeleteLiving so far away from the home team, and in proximity to a HUGE enemy I have to say its a mixed bucket. While I adore the SJ fans for their knowledge, class and love of their team, and Kings fans were really cool and a lot less cocky befor the Kings started winning,I'd just as soon hang with Raiders fans in Oakland as share a bartop with a Ducks fan. In Game 5 the 2009 WCF My brother and I actually left the game before the Hossa "no-goal" goal because Ducks fans (whose team was winning at that point) were throwing cups of beer at Wings fans in our section.
Surprisingly though- the worst, most vitrol filled, violent fans I have encountered are Phoenix people- short pale white guys with a paunch, thinning blonde hair and a high school education. And the Jobing.com Arena Ushers and Security are by far the worst in all of sports.
Fascinating blog Cassie. I certainly agree that by and large, hockey fans tend to be more polite, egregious exceptions notwithstanding. I wonder if that is because there are fewer hockey fans than NFL fans, or if it is just a perception that is driven by hockey being considered a foreign sport. But as Juice noted, the bad ones can be really bad.
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