To me, fandom generally falls into two categories.
As a Tar Heel fan I am quite familiar with the first one. If your team is really good - or really bad - being a fan can be easy. With a few bumps in the road (say, against BC) you know how your team is going to perform. And you know where they are going to end up at the end of the season. That's true whether you're rooting for the Heels or the Clippers.
So if your team is good, you walk around confident that even with BC-like bumps your team will be okay in the end. And if your team stinks you are equally content. With expectations so low every win is a gift. Either way, you aren't disappointed and individual games or results aren't life or death.
But the second category is the more tantalizing and terrible one, when your team looks like they should be good - and can even sustains quality play for a few games - but don't do so on a consistent basis.
That's the case with our hometown Nats.
Their offense, led by Ryan ZImmerman but with plenty of help from Adam Dunn, Nick Johnson and Christian Guzman, looks Tar Heelesque. But their pitching, especially their relief pitching, is firmly in the Clippers/Pirates/Lions territory. Their offense makes you CARE, and their pitching makes you cynical.
That tantalizing paradox, the roller coaster of wins and losses, can drive a fan crazy.
1 comment:
I'm right there with you on the Nats. But after years of watching the Red Sox fail for years on end until 2002, I feel like I'm well prepared for the Nats lame-o record. But what bugs me the most right now is the overall bad rap the team is getting from the press. It's like they all are conveniently ignoring the fact that the Nats have put together one of the best offenses in the NL and the entire league.
-3rd best avg in the NL, 6th best in both leagues
-3rd most home runs in the NL, also 6th both leagues
-3rd best OBP in the NL, 4th in both leagues
Oh, and a 30 game hit streak from Ryan Zimmerman! It's really exciting to watch him play, and I love the fact that in the last few games he's extended his streak in his first at bat. Hopefully the streak will bring some better national media attention. I have tickets on Friday and Monday nights, hoping I'll be able to see the streak extended to 31 and 36 games - I'm pretty sure that would put him up in the top 10 all time.
One other cool stat regarding Zimmerman's streak - there's only been one game in the entire season that he didn't get a hit, and that was the second game!
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