Sell the Team

I am a sports fan.

I have followed my team since I was a kid.  I was there for the highs and I stuck around through the lows.  All of the lows.  Year after year.  And I kept coming back year after year.  

First, it was disappointing.  Then, it became embarrassing.  Then, it became hard to watch.  But, I always did. 

But there came a point for me.  A moment of clarity.  A big game against a rival.  Playoff hopes on the line.  I watched my team take the field and get destroyed.  A completely non-competitive display.  At first I blamed the coaching.  Then I blamed the players.  But this was a different coach than the last time this happened.   And these were new players too.  Sure, they clearly were partly responsible, but really I finally saw why year after year this team sucked.

The joker in the owner's sky box.  Bad ownership.  Who else is responsible for that coach?  That GM? That personnel move?  Nothing would ever really change as long as the same ownership was in control.

And why would it?  Every fan in that stadium might have been booing their lungs out.  Everyone on their couches or in the bar was booing their lungs out too.  But every one of them was wearing a jersey, a hat, a t-shirt.  They were cashing in on our fanhood.  They knew that no real fan would stop cheering for their team.

And I would never stop cheering on my team, but I was done lining the owner's pocket by buying team merchandise.  Yeah, its just one fan wearing a shirt.  Its just one voice.  But look at what enough fan voices did for basketball in LA.

Maybe the owners of your team are jerks.  Maybe they don't appreciate the tradition of the team.  Maybe they have an overactive twitter or a pending felony case to face.

Whatever your reason, think of Sell the Team as your alternative to the status quo.