2008 Woodie Awards
A call for a goofball
Joe Arleth
Issue date: 11/1/07 Section: sports
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Back in high school we used to have a student who would come out to every hockey game with a giant orange parking cone that creatively doubled for a megaphone.
In the summertime, I play in a wooden bat baseball league. Despite my charisma and big bat, I am not even close to the most popular person at each home game. That distinction goes to our super fan Allen Bose who has become a local legend with the aid of his big mouth. Allen doesn't need the help of silly parking cones. He simply draws in a deep breath and bellows out his classic lines such as "Finish Him!" whenever we get two strikes on an opposing batter.
Heck, even in the Madden video game series you have the option of creating a super fan.
All across the sports world we can find examples of MVF (Most Valuable Fans). There is a reason we discuss clichés such as home field advantage and the "6th man". These phenomenon truly exist.
Athletes often times can perform better when they are being supported. There is something comforting in knowing that you are not alone in the face of adversity. This is true in all parts of life. Whether it is knowing you family is in the audience during a dance recital, a friend is in your class when you have to give a public speech, or your classmates are on their feet as you try to find a way out of a tough inning, knowing someone has your back can make all the difference in the world. Although a fan may never catch a pass or score a goal, their mere presence can affect the outcome of the game.
Take the World Series for example. Now, of course the fact that the Red Sox were a better team then the Rockies was the major reason for the outcome, but you cannot tell me Red Sox nation didn't have a role to play. Down two games in the series, many teams can rely on the fact that they can regroup in their hometown with their fans back in the teams' corner. Unfortunately for the Rockies, they returned home to a stadium splattered with sections of loud Boston fans. They were everywhere. How could this not mess with a teams' psyche. It had to seem like the entire world was opposing them at times.
In the summertime, I play in a wooden bat baseball league. Despite my charisma and big bat, I am not even close to the most popular person at each home game. That distinction goes to our super fan Allen Bose who has become a local legend with the aid of his big mouth. Allen doesn't need the help of silly parking cones. He simply draws in a deep breath and bellows out his classic lines such as "Finish Him!" whenever we get two strikes on an opposing batter.
Heck, even in the Madden video game series you have the option of creating a super fan.
All across the sports world we can find examples of MVF (Most Valuable Fans). There is a reason we discuss clichés such as home field advantage and the "6th man". These phenomenon truly exist.
Athletes often times can perform better when they are being supported. There is something comforting in knowing that you are not alone in the face of adversity. This is true in all parts of life. Whether it is knowing you family is in the audience during a dance recital, a friend is in your class when you have to give a public speech, or your classmates are on their feet as you try to find a way out of a tough inning, knowing someone has your back can make all the difference in the world. Although a fan may never catch a pass or score a goal, their mere presence can affect the outcome of the game.
Take the World Series for example. Now, of course the fact that the Red Sox were a better team then the Rockies was the major reason for the outcome, but you cannot tell me Red Sox nation didn't have a role to play. Down two games in the series, many teams can rely on the fact that they can regroup in their hometown with their fans back in the teams' corner. Unfortunately for the Rockies, they returned home to a stadium splattered with sections of loud Boston fans. They were everywhere. How could this not mess with a teams' psyche. It had to seem like the entire world was opposing them at times.