Sports Don't Change...People Do

There are notable differences between younger and older sports fans. My father, Darryl, has been a NY Jets fan since the winter of 1976. Though they won the Super Bowl in 1969, it was not until seven years later that he watched his first Super Bowl game. Super Bowl X was the Steelers vs. the Cowboys with the Steelers winning 21-17. My dad remembers the game as if he watched it yesterday. Unsure of how to articulate how he became a fan and why that date stuck out in his mind so much, he simply said, “I just liked the way that they played.” His statement was such an innocent account of a child’s first love of a team.

Coming up in the game, my father’s favorite basketball player was John Starks. When determining the similarities and differences between younger and older sports fans, it was interesting to access the loyalty the fan had to the player. My dad, age 54, has more loyalty to the team than the player. Greg, another interviewee, recently turned 21 and is one of my closest friends. He, on the other hand, was the opposite. It appears that younger fans have more of a dedication to the athlete because they tend to idolize them and view them as heroes. Even if traded to a new team Greg would still be a fan of Derek Jeter.

Though the results may have been different if my dad was a father to boys, he does not attend games as often as he did when he was younger. In the past year he has attended three non-professional baseball games and one professional basketball game. My younger test subject, Greg, could barely remember how many games he attended in the past year and gave a rough estimate of twenty. His game attendances ranged from a variety of sports, about five of which were professional and the rest college. Where as Greg’s reason for not attending as many professional games as he would like was due to not being able to afford good seats, my father was more concerned with traveling time to get to the game. He said, “I’m a Yankee fan but games are too far away. It takes two to three hours to get there. Plus with the crazy young fans today, I’m much more comfortable at home in front of the TV.”

Younger athletic fans collect more sports paraphernalia in the form of posters, trading cards, equipment, games, and trinkets, where as older fans enjoying wearing sports paraphernalia more. My dad attempted to explain this theory by stating that when he was younger he was more interested in wearing whatever was the hottest trend. Now, team jackets, sweatshirts, and t-shirts are some of his favorite birthday and Father’s Day gifts. Greg affirmed this by stating that other than his hats, he would much rather wear the latest designer clothes than sports paraphernalia.

My father is a subscriber of two sports publications, Sports Illustrated and Golf World, and finds himself reading them only as often as they are delivered. Greg has not subscribed to any publications but reads sports articles or watches sports news on a daily basis. It’s easier to be a die hard fan when you are younger because your priorities change as your responsibilities increase. Both my father and friend Greg agreed that age would bring about less dedication to sports.

As an entertaining question they were both asked to tell a story of their most interesting attempt to watch a game that they thought they may miss. Greg stated that a few years ago, when he found out that he was going to miss a highly anticipated basketball Allstar game, he decided to tape the game. Unfortunately, with the results all over the news and in the news papers, Greg vowed not to watch television or read the paper until he was able to review the tape. “I was going crazy the day before trying to figure out how I could convince my parents I was sick so that I could stay home and neglect my obligations. It would have ruined it for me if I saw the results of the game on TV before I got a chance to watch it. With all my friends calling me to talk about the game, I had to ignore their calls so they didn’t blurt out anything.”

My father, of course, didn’t have any recent stories, but did manage to pull one from his memory. “It’s nothing spectacular,” he said, “but I remember driving home one night and listening to a baseball game on the radio. The game so good, I pulled into a bar to watch rest of game”. It was out of my father’s character to do so since he is not the typical person to go to a random bar off the side of the road. He does not recall any recent incidents where he went out of his way to watch a game that he thought he might miss. “Now if I miss a game, it’s like…oh well. I can get the recap on TV or read the stats of the game later. I still love the game but I’ve learned not to be as disappointed when I miss one.”

It was very interesting to note their differences in dedication to sports due to their differences in age. I am sure that if a 10 year old was asked the same questions, they too would be different from my 21 year old friend Greg. I chose to ask someone in their twenties as opposed to a young child because I thought it would give me a better scope of their dedication. Where as a young child is at the mercy of their parents, an older youth has a job and can purchase tickets or drive to a game, etc. Over time, it seems that sports don’t change…people do.

By: Darrielle Williams