Sunday, October 14, 2012

IGNORANT FANDOM BANTER


I can honestly say that few things annoy me more than sports fans yelling across the aisle, "Your team sucks." Vikings and Packers fans are amongst the worst offenders and social media has only heightened the ignorant talk. Packers lose to Indy in Week 5 and all you hear from Vikings fans is, "Packers blow" or "Vikings are the best team in the division."

While at that point, the Vikings were indeed tied for the division lead at 4-1, only a little over a quarter of the season had been played and the Packers lost two games in the final moments (one because of a terrible call).

As you can tell from this site, since I spend the time to write and manage it myself, I am a very dedicated Vikings fan. I love no sports team more than the purple.

But I am also a realist. When the Vikings went 4-1, realistically, we could have been 5-0 if it hadn't been for some bone-headed plays by the Vikings in Week 2. But even after five weeks and the Vikings being 5-0 or 4-1, I still would have a tough time calling the Vikings the BEST team in the division. They have no recent history, with this core, to prove they can sustain their successes over the course of a season or against their tough division rivals.

Of course their record reflected they had the most wins, but they only have the best record through five games. Isn't the season 17 weeks? Does that make them the best team now? Yes. But are they really the BEST team? It's tough to say definitively.

 Seriously? 

And despite all this, Vikings fans sit here shouting across the aisle at Packers fans like a bunch of juvenile children, "See Packers suck, Vikings are the BEST!" Or I have even seen MEMEs calling Christian Ponder the best Quarterback in the NFC North. Yeah, above last years' MVP Aaron Rodgers. Five weeks doesn't mean anything people. Rodgers and Ponder had competitive numbers the first couple of weeks, but if tonight showed anything, it's that Aaron Rodgers can throw six touchdowns in a game -- Ponder couldn't do that on Madden (not dissing Ponder, but he clearly is not in Rodgers league, yet).

This type of fandom is fun sometimes, but when taken to the extreme, these fans spouting this crap look ignorant. It's important to win those games early in the season, but it's also important not to get ahead of yourselves and declare divisional victory. We haven't even played either the Bears or Packers, the two closest division rivals. If the Vikings play next week against Arizona like they did today, the Packers will be tied with us (they play St. Louis, who despite a good defense, will not beat Green Bay).

I am the definition of a die-hard fan, but I will never make myself look foolish by making false or inaccurate statements based on my dislike for the opposition. If the Vikings beat the Packers, then you can talk as much garbage as you want. But until then, quit relying on childish banter when a football team loses. The NFL is the toughest place on the planet to win contests, teams don't suck for losing a few games.


In short, talking like this makes you seem like you don't understand the sport and are just as knowledgeable as the cheerleaders standing on the sidelines with pom poms.

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