Quote:
Originally Posted by mrdonkey
I think you're missing the point. One can still support the team and hope for them to get better, and find interest in discussing their moves and the implications therein... without wanting their money to go towards a new stadium for them to play Geoff Ward hockey in with a roster held together with duct tape and twigs. Following trades and transactions and sharing ideas with other people over some common topic is still in its own way supporting the team, and can be a source of joy for a lot of people. Everyone here wants the Flames to get better. Participating in a community is a fundamental human activity. Is it fair for you or anyone else to judge who is or is not a "real" fan on the basis of how they choose to express it?
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I'm not judging anybody, I gave you the definition. But the above goes against what you said about having no love left for the team, having a disinterest, which is why I called the kind of thing bull####. If that were really true, you wouldn't care to follow trades, signings, discuss moves about the team really, would you?
From an actual judgement perspective, it really is hard to consider yourself a fan when you don't watch the team. It's hockey, it's played on the ice, to actually show an interest and engage with the product, you have to watch it in some form. Can you imagine if someone said "Yeah I'm a big fan of the Sopranos, great show" and when asked what their favourite episode was, they said "Oh, I don't have any interest in watching it, I just read the IMBD and the Wikipedia articles summing up the plot of each episode." Weird, right? It's fine, and if that's what makes you happy and gives you joy you should do it without any judgement at all, but who would call themselves a fan on paper?
Being a fan is nothing admirable, it's not an interesting character trait. You either are one, or you're not. But I think the idea of advocating for people to demand better of the franchise when you don't watch the franchise is a strange thing to do. I like what Vlad said about hope. I have hope. All the time the Flames do some things I disagree with or things I think are downright stupid in the moment, but I'll be there watching the games and hoping it turns out well, because I enjoy them. I'm a fan. I don't need to "demand better" but I certainly always hope for better. I think a lot of fans happily pay for the product because they enjoy the product, and their enjoyment doesn't strictly stem from summaries and transactions on paper. It stems from hockey.