With the internet, increased media coverage, blogs and other new age trends towards the ultra-wired world we live in today – being a sports fan has changed tremendously over recent years. Sports fans back in the day were regarded as tech geeks do today, consistently awing randomers with their borderline obsessive/pathetic knowledge of their respective passion. You could tell your friends living outside the United States how Magic Johnson scored 40 points the previous night and you would impress them with how closely you follow the NBA. You could ask younger kids which pick Michael Jordan was drafted in, and draw ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ when they heard the correct answer. You could walk around with your Dominique Wilkins jersey and know that everyone who knew anything about basketball would respect you.
Today, the same things can't be said. The internet has made access to information so easy, that you'll find information quicker on google than trying to remember it in your own brain. The three ‘impressive’ feats that I mentioned above can be replicated today by a grandmother who'd probably think of an episode of “The Young and the Restless” if you mentioned ‘48 minutes’. While the idea of a grandmother wearing a Dominique throwback and going around spreading NBA trivia and up-to-date news is one I would soon like to forget – it just symbolizes, in some strange way, how being a sports fan is no longer something 'special'.
Today, the same things can't be said. The internet has made access to information so easy, that you'll find information quicker on google than trying to remember it in your own brain. The three ‘impressive’ feats that I mentioned above can be replicated today by a grandmother who'd probably think of an episode of “The Young and the Restless” if you mentioned ‘48 minutes’. While the idea of a grandmother wearing a Dominique throwback and going around spreading NBA trivia and up-to-date news is one I would soon like to forget – it just symbolizes, in some strange way, how being a sports fan is no longer something 'special'.
You'll surf around myspace/facebook and see your clueless friends say how amazing it was Lebron did against Detroit in this year's playoffs and how he's much better than Kobe. You'll find yourself on random forums arguing with a 9 year old kid with the name "Dwaine Wayde Rulzz" how D-Wade is in fact NOT the best thing that has happened to the league since the 24 second shot-clock. You'll be exposed to a blog that argues how Allen Iverson should be banned from the league because he's a bad influence. You will see all around uneducated and downright clueless opinions that you were not used to seeing back in the day, because back then, 'these people' didn’t have access to any information and couldn't dare open their mouths. Only people who had invested time, effort, and their brain to their sport could. But now if I say how Wade isn’t actually the legend some people think him to be, ‘Dwaine Wayde Rulzz’ would do a quick check on NBA.com and point out to me that he averaged 38 points in the NBA finals which is the 3rd highest in NBA history, and that makes him among top 3 players ever. End of argument, as far as he’s concerned. What bothers me most is that this D-Wade fanboy hasn’t seen Wade play outside of youtube highlights.
Before you get a sense of elitism creeping up on my tone of voice, let me make it clear that I am not regarding myself as a basketball guru who would like all casual fans to never speak their minds. In fact, I think the opposite. One of the best sides of sports is the fact that you can start up a conversation with just about any stranger and quickly get into an interesting sports related debate. The information age has made this more possible and actually leads to better conversations as the casual fan has much more data and knowledge to support their arguments. However it can not be denied that the special feeling of knowing much more than the people around you on a specific subject is now long gone. You can lose fantasy basketball games to people who've never heard of the game, you can end up dead last in that office NCAA bracket tournament to your colleagues who copied the picks off of ESPN.com, and you can downright feel embarrassed at being a lesser fan to your life long supported team than your 13 year old nephew who's memorized all the stats and puts you to shame in front of the whole family at Thanksgiving dinner.
Yes that feeling of being a hardcore sports fan is now gone. You can no longer feel superior as there are now millions with the same knowledge as you. You can't feel special because any chance your local team has of being good – and you'll get more random fans trying to get on your teams’ bandwagon than thieves try to get on the Money Train. So as a result, the thrill you get from sports is no longer the same. If you look at Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs below, you can see that a human needs to feel unique, get respect, and experience purpose – all factors that a hardcore sports fan could once upon a time feel.
But now that you no longer get those same feelings from sports, you must change something. It must be what drug addicts feel like as they get less of a thrill from a fixed amount of drugs – they consequently have to step up the intakes or just quit. So first it might be getting sports satellite so you can catch all the teams’ games, then it might be season tickets, then before you know it you’ve got your face painted in your teams’ colors and you're shouting your lungs out as you storm the field tackling opposing teams’ players. Sports is indeed like an addictive drug that your body grows attached to and cant let go until it consumes you for all your worth, it is a drug that losses effectiveness as more people share it with you, and intensifies with the consumption of alcohol. Sports...its a helluva drug.
Before you get a sense of elitism creeping up on my tone of voice, let me make it clear that I am not regarding myself as a basketball guru who would like all casual fans to never speak their minds. In fact, I think the opposite. One of the best sides of sports is the fact that you can start up a conversation with just about any stranger and quickly get into an interesting sports related debate. The information age has made this more possible and actually leads to better conversations as the casual fan has much more data and knowledge to support their arguments. However it can not be denied that the special feeling of knowing much more than the people around you on a specific subject is now long gone. You can lose fantasy basketball games to people who've never heard of the game, you can end up dead last in that office NCAA bracket tournament to your colleagues who copied the picks off of ESPN.com, and you can downright feel embarrassed at being a lesser fan to your life long supported team than your 13 year old nephew who's memorized all the stats and puts you to shame in front of the whole family at Thanksgiving dinner.
Yes that feeling of being a hardcore sports fan is now gone. You can no longer feel superior as there are now millions with the same knowledge as you. You can't feel special because any chance your local team has of being good – and you'll get more random fans trying to get on your teams’ bandwagon than thieves try to get on the Money Train. So as a result, the thrill you get from sports is no longer the same. If you look at Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs below, you can see that a human needs to feel unique, get respect, and experience purpose – all factors that a hardcore sports fan could once upon a time feel.
But now that you no longer get those same feelings from sports, you must change something. It must be what drug addicts feel like as they get less of a thrill from a fixed amount of drugs – they consequently have to step up the intakes or just quit. So first it might be getting sports satellite so you can catch all the teams’ games, then it might be season tickets, then before you know it you’ve got your face painted in your teams’ colors and you're shouting your lungs out as you storm the field tackling opposing teams’ players. Sports is indeed like an addictive drug that your body grows attached to and cant let go until it consumes you for all your worth, it is a drug that losses effectiveness as more people share it with you, and intensifies with the consumption of alcohol. Sports...its a helluva drug. 
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