I’ll make this clear up front: I’m not ready to give up on this Mariners season let alone the team in its entirety, but I am interested in the question of when you’re allowed to quit a team without being considered a bad fan.
I don't think it's ever ok to quit on the team - unless they change their name and move to Oklahoma City. Then it's totally ok to quit on them and root for their ultimate and total failure. But. If your team stays where it is - you can't quit on them. You can stop wasting (as much) time watching what they are putting out, but you can't quit. You can say they suck, but you can't quit. Embracing the low years is a key part of celebrating the amazing years.
I was thinking of Oklahoma City because my NBA fandom is largely identified by my hatred for that franchise, which I think epitomizes my core belief about fandom. Once you make a commitment, you can't abandon it. You can object to your own team's moves, hate the owner or a coach or even revile some of the players, but it's YOUR team.
An interesting question. The simple answer is "Never". Your team is your team, no matter how frustrating. It is ok to ask if they will ever be good again or you feel like they are hard to support, but you still root for them - never quit.
One of my favorite books is from Joe Queenan, called "True Believers." I love Joe's writing, and I absolutely loved this book because it gets to that visceral kind of devotion that you're talking about. And I think that's the side of the fence that I come down on. I can quit being as passionate about my team. Perhaps something is annoying or I don't like a certain thing. But to quit them would imply that the owner of the team or the GM or whoever has made me mad is more representative of the team than I am, and I don't see teams that way. The teams are "ours" as a community. And of all the potential reasons to quit, being terribly run is not one.
I suppose it depends on how you define "quit." One can stop attending games and buying merch, and pay only minimal attention to their progress/regress without totally giving up on a team--i.e., going dormant until fortunes change vs a full quit. I'd associate the latter with a full-fledged commitment of time, attention, and $ to another team, never to return. Somewhere in the middle are the bandwagoneers who criticize a team's foibles up and down, then pound their chests and profess their loyalty when times are good. To me, those kinds of "fans" are worse than those who do the aforementioned full quit.
I 100-percent agree on the bandwagon fan, who stops paying attention and becomes hateful when it's going poorly, but is at the front of the parade when you're winning.
I also think it's a good point about adjusting the level of investment in a team at different times. I love the Warriors, but did not enjoy them nearly as much when Kevin Durant was on the team compared to now.
I don't think it's ever ok to quit on the team - unless they change their name and move to Oklahoma City. Then it's totally ok to quit on them and root for their ultimate and total failure. But. If your team stays where it is - you can't quit on them. You can stop wasting (as much) time watching what they are putting out, but you can't quit. You can say they suck, but you can't quit. Embracing the low years is a key part of celebrating the amazing years.
I was thinking of Oklahoma City because my NBA fandom is largely identified by my hatred for that franchise, which I think epitomizes my core belief about fandom. Once you make a commitment, you can't abandon it. You can object to your own team's moves, hate the owner or a coach or even revile some of the players, but it's YOUR team.
Bill Simmons wrote a great and hilarious column about when you can quit your team and follow another team. Here it is #18 on. http://www.espn.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/020227
An interesting question. The simple answer is "Never". Your team is your team, no matter how frustrating. It is ok to ask if they will ever be good again or you feel like they are hard to support, but you still root for them - never quit.
One of my favorite books is from Joe Queenan, called "True Believers." I love Joe's writing, and I absolutely loved this book because it gets to that visceral kind of devotion that you're talking about. And I think that's the side of the fence that I come down on. I can quit being as passionate about my team. Perhaps something is annoying or I don't like a certain thing. But to quit them would imply that the owner of the team or the GM or whoever has made me mad is more representative of the team than I am, and I don't see teams that way. The teams are "ours" as a community. And of all the potential reasons to quit, being terribly run is not one.
I suppose it depends on how you define "quit." One can stop attending games and buying merch, and pay only minimal attention to their progress/regress without totally giving up on a team--i.e., going dormant until fortunes change vs a full quit. I'd associate the latter with a full-fledged commitment of time, attention, and $ to another team, never to return. Somewhere in the middle are the bandwagoneers who criticize a team's foibles up and down, then pound their chests and profess their loyalty when times are good. To me, those kinds of "fans" are worse than those who do the aforementioned full quit.
I 100-percent agree on the bandwagon fan, who stops paying attention and becomes hateful when it's going poorly, but is at the front of the parade when you're winning.
I also think it's a good point about adjusting the level of investment in a team at different times. I love the Warriors, but did not enjoy them nearly as much when Kevin Durant was on the team compared to now.