What is Your Favorite Thing About Being a Fan?
EDITOR'S NOTE: As of 9:23 AM...the Internet (Spectrum) was out on Mellwood Ave. This means WCHQ 100.9 FM, our radio station for The Cardinal Couple Radio Hour is off the air.
I'll be monitoring this link www.wchqfm.com hoping it is restored.
UPDATE: The Internet was restored about an hour before we went on the air.
UPDATE: The Internet was restored about an hour before we went on the air.
Paulie
What is your favorite thing about being a fan?
I'm not asking this question rhetorically. I'd really like to see your answers. My favorite thing is that being deep into a fandom makes every person at least a little bit irrational about that fandom. It can happen to anyone in a variety of ways about any team or person or thing that they follow closely. It is human nature that when someone disagrees with you regarding something about which you are passionate, you will take it as a personal affront. The fandom also digs deep into your thought processes, guiding decisions in ways that are subtle and you may not even notice. I know this seems like a strange thing to be my "favorite," but it's what I've been thinking about nonstop recently, driven by the continued issues with UofL.
While packing for West Virginia, I decided to throw a Louisville polo into my bag. It was a spare shirt and I didn't know if I would wear it because of the conversations it might start or the looks it might draw. Fans of West Virginia don't really like fans of Louisville. At least that's what my irrational side was telling me. If I wore that polo, all of the nice people I had met at the hospital and beyond would turn on me while I was working just because of a shirt. On our last day there, I considered throwing on the polo but went with a different shirt instead, still hung up on the idea. When a coworker of mine came down in a UK button down, I went so far as to call him bold for wearing that shirt in WV. His response was that he wasn't worried about it, and I second guessed myself for being so worried about a dang shirt. I still didn't change.
When we got to the hospital that day and sat in the conference room that was our base of operations, a conversation almost immediately sprung up about the UK shirt. One of our hospital contacts asked my coworker about how much he must dislike WVU for the games they've played in the tournament and regular season recently. The content of the conversation isn't important, but my irrationality felt validated. If he was getting flak about a UK shirt when the two teams only ever clash in basketball, how would things have gone in a UofL shirt with all of the history between the Cards and Mountaineers? I don't really intend to find out on any future trips.
The polo story is just one of many things I can think of that drives fans to irrationality on a daily basis. Think of any conversation you've had about a team or player of which you are a fan. Someone argues that Lamar Jackson didn't deserve the Heisman, that Donovan Mitchell wasn't deserving of the Rookie of the Year award, that Asia Durr isn't among the best players in women's college basketball. Consider your response to those statements. Being a fan makes it personal. The cardinal colored glasses (or any other team color) fall down in front of your eyes and your emotional investment takes over for any facts. If the other person is a fan of a rival team, it is even worse. You both argue with personal bias and the irrationality of fandom.
As a normally logical person (I am an engineer after all) it seems strange to enjoy the chaos that is emotional fandom, but I can't help it. Maybe that's why it's my favorite part of fandom, because it is so different from my normal patterns. Whatever it is, it's what makes me excited about being a fan of the teams I enjoy, and it's what drives me to support them through thick and thin. So what about you? What is your favorite thing about being a fan?
Cardinal Couple Radio Hour
Jared and I are both out this morning, leaving Paulie and Jeff to fend for themselves in the new studio arrangement. They may have found a guest or two, but if not, it is sure to be a wonderful show. The summer is winding down and we are only a couple of weeks from real sports competitions getting back underway. Tune into the Cardinal Couple Radio Hour on WCHQ at 11AM to hear the OG Cardinal Couplers discuss what they had for lunch this week and to participate in a quiz that may or may not be nonsense. I'm sure they'll find a way to fit in the joy and excitement of Louisville women's sports, too.
Until next time, Go Cards!
-CH-
This is really Charlie's story but I will tell it anyway. It has been a number of years but we were driving to Philadelphia to visit our older son and family. Our car decided to "die" fortunately in a good size town and not on the highway. Car gets towed to the dealership and the guy in service simply looks at Charlie and says, "I know why your car broke down." Charlie with a puzzled look asks why. The service manager says it is because of Charlie's UofL polo shirt that he was wearing. So, Case...maybe you saved yourself from car trouble on your work trip.
ReplyDeleteHaha good story! I may have. Car trouble where we were might have taken awhile to get resolved!
DeleteMr. Obvious I'm afraid. My favorite thing is watching the good players produce.
ReplyDeleteCurtis "Front running" Franklin
Good Afternoon Cards Nation what's up with MHA her minutes per game being reduced is she hurt?
ReplyDeleteLooks like the Mystics have been going "guard heavy" as of late...starting (3) with no center and giving (2) off the bench significant minutes. MHA a innocent victim of that because she's a forward. Whatever works, I guess? The Mystics are part of that five-team jumble for third in the league standings with 10 losses...behind Surprising Seattle 18-6 and Atlanta 14-9.
DeleteNo injuries to MHA that I know of.
Paulie
I have not been real understandng with her demoted playing time either. Recently down by 15 late in the game and MHA still not put in.
DeleteGame before that not close either and she played 1 minute. Seems like something else going on as before at least when DD was rested HA got time on the court but not lately.
Guess she needs to ramp it up at practice.
Same thing with Asia and Indiana. Terrible record with big losses and she was put in the last 2 min of the game.
DeleteOne thing I do notice s that in WNBA players need and do take forced shots rather than passing off to those who appear to be more open. MHA as Asia tend to do this where others often are taking less than wide open shots. Instead they pass so I see these women being more watchers and programmed set play contributors like making the exact pick expected of that position rather than being an aggressive improvised play maker I see so many of the others doing.
I like being an overall fan of the program at the school I graduated from. That means taking the good with the bad.
ReplyDeleteArthur
#1 Clemson Fan
Greer, SC
My Cardinal fandom began in the sixth grade when my dad took us to Freedom Hall to watch a UofL basketball game. I was one of the "strange ones" in the neighborhood, most of the kids liked UK. It kicked into full gear in the early 70's when my Dad suggested we check out this new phenomenon going on at Cardinal Stadium that he had heard about at work. Actually going to a game 2-3 hours before it started and sitting around eating, having beverages and throwing a football around.
ReplyDeleteTailgating.
We had to explain it to the security folks at the KFEC. In the early days, they would not let us fire up a grill in the parking lot.
All these years later, still a Cardinal, although I always hope Bellarmine does well.
Fandom is sticking with a team through thick and thin. Lord knows, Cardinal fans can relate to that. Wearing the colors, going to events and backing your team in public.
L1C4.
Paulie
City pride for me.
ReplyDeleteI think city pride has something to do with it in varying degrees, kstarksr. My days in Tennessee (Memphis and Gatlinburg) showed two different extremes of that. Most Memphis residents could have cared less about the Tigers when I was there. On the other hand, Gatlinburg locals were all about "the Orange" up in Knoxville.
ReplyDeleteI'll never forget the Memphis papers headlining the sports section first page years ago with a UT Football win while they buried the Memphis Tigers win on page three.
The Real Joe Hill