Monday, May 01, 2006

Sports Fan Character Traits

Being fans of sports often reveals our unique character traits. For example, before each of the previous 7 NFL seasons, I believed the Vikings were preparing for a Super Bowl run. The Vikes were last in a Super Bowl three years before I was born, but I continue to believe.

There are other Viking fans (especially the older ones, witnesses of four Super Bowl defeats, Drew Pearson, and 45 years without a title) who fail to share my optimism. Even a sports optimist like me has shared their feelings: waiting for failure to come, questioning the validity of every move the team makes, feeling quite certain that they won't win a Super Bowl...ever.

Some fans are insanely optimistic, always filled with hope and excitement, always thinking that redemption lies just over the horizon.

Other fans are filled with bitterness, heartache, anger, and staunch pessimism, believing the bums running the team will never do anything but make us miserable.

And so it goes with the draft. At the draft, we see fans of teams at each pole--excitedly screaming, sometimes with joy and excitement, sometimes with anger and perplexity.

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