It is still weird to say… but we beat Kentucky. Fair weather fans, you now have the green light to dust off your gear.
The Indiana University Hoosiers have had a tough few years. As a senior, I came into Hoosier fandom right when the program was at its worst. As many students about to graduate can agree, I am so lucky that we get to see a competitive team again.
Along with this excitement, however, comes the re-emergence of the infamous fair weather fan. But what does it take to be a fair weather fan? And are they really all that bad?
Fair weather fans are defined by many as people who begin rooting for teams only when they are performing well. UrbanDictionary.com adds “they basically have no real loyalty to the team, but still manage to get better seats than you at the game.”
As a Cubs fan, I understand the sad truth that I may never get to be excited about World Series contention in my lifetime. However, I accept it and bear the consequences of my fan inheritance from my father.
Many in my shoes often detest fair weather fans because they haven’t suffered painful repetitive losses before being to finally break ground and celebrate like we get to do with IU basketball right now.
In respect to Indiana University’s specific current batch of fair weather fans, senior IU student Ross Van Dongen would put it this way:
“Fair weather fans are people who left with Sampson and just now came back. In other words, they don’t know our team, they don’t know our players, and they don’t matter.”
Many Hoosiers echo this sentiment across the hills of southern Indiana. While I feel this is a valid frustration, let me draw your attention back to the Kentucky game.
It would be hard for one to argue that all 17,000 of those fans on the court at the end of the game were die-hard fans 3 years ago. The same goes for the euphoric riots on Kirkwood Avenue after the game. While these fans maybe only came on board once we started winning this year, they still add to the culture, the excitement, and the overall experience in our team’s and school’s history.
Sports are social events. They are best when shared. Some may argue that many rooting for the Hoosiers right now are just jumping on the bandwagon. I say “let them”. We need all the energy we can muster to help bring this team alive again.
It is fine for us die-hards to know our place in the upper echelons of fandom, but like many other fans, I get happier the more I see red everywhere and the more I hear about the Hoo-Hoo-Hoosiers everyone on campus and in the community.
We are all Hoosiers. And like it or not Purdue, we all bleed crimson.
