Florida State Seminoles: Is Fandom Okay?

Mar 7, 2013; Tallahassee, FL, USA; A young Florida State Seminoles fan shows his support in the second half of their game against the Virginia Cavaliers at the Donald L. Tucker Center. The Florida State Seminoles beat the Virginia Cavaliers 53-51. Mandatory Credit: Phil Sears-USA TODAY Sports

There is nothing wrong with being a fanatic, a fan or having true fandom. While the title might seem like I am going to talk about the opposite of that, I’m not. No matter the team — even the Florida State Seminoles — fandom is a right that every fan has. Notice I didn’t say it was their privilege, I said it was their right. Having fandom isn’t something you have to earn or have given to you. It is you, from the get go, the moment you are a kid and decide (or have decided for you by your parents) who your favorite team is going to be going forward.

Whether you have the ability to be objective during a scandal, if another fan questions your fandom or etc; Your level of fandom, however, can be under question.  Being that you are likely a Florida State fan and I am the editor of a Florida State site, well, we will use the Noles as our example.

Not everyone who likes FSU is from the state of Florida. That is obvious. As far as football programs go, Florida State travels well and has a tremendous fanbase throughout the entire country. Something that, maybe, only eight or nine other programs in the nation can say. Having more distance between you and the actual home of the program doesn’t make us question your allegiance. It does, however, make us wonder if you care about the Florida State basketball program.

That is where college fandom for certain universities get tricky. FSU’s basketball program — which has been solid, steadily improving, but never world-beaters — doesn’t seem to benefit from their football college brethren. Same can be said for most big programs. Duke’s basketball program being great for a long time doesn’t mean folks are going to root for their football team. In fact it is the complete opposite. The Blue Devils’ football program is openly mocked — even by those who claim to love their basketball teams. I’m not saying those people don’t really like watching Duke hoops, although, their loyalty to the school stops there and leaves the rest of Duke-related things to die slowly on their own.

Distance, using that formula, does alter a person’s fandom to a small degree. Most people born within the state of Florida, who grew up fans of Florida State football, are more likely to be a fan of all their sports programs. People, say, from the northeast are the complete opposite. They may have become fans of the Noles because of how successful their football program was when they were children. I don’t want to call former 6 year-olds front-runners, but that is essentially what those people were. If Florida State had gone through multiple 6 win-6 loss seasons when they were in their formative years, well, I doubt they would be Florida State fans.

I’m not even trying to make a statement here. I am asking. Do people who live in the state of Florida, who loves all Florida State sports programs, think less of a person who only likes Florida State football? No, not likes, but loves FSU football — to the point of it being unhealthy to that person’s relationships. Do you think less of that person because his favorite college hoops team might be The Club State Pool Cleaners?

I can only speak from my own experience. Before taking over this site I covered college basketball on a national level. Never assigned to a specific team or group of teams. In fact, I would avoid covering teams I grew up with and had affection for. My job, for lack of a better description, was it be unbiased and to be objective. It doesn’t mean that after covering certain teams over a period of time I didn’t grow fond of certain players. It was the opposite, really, as some guys became players I would either relate to or become emotionally invested in. Whether it was because the way they played the game or because they seemed like good people, every now and then I would catch myself defending a player’s performance when I shouldn’t have been.

Fandom is no different. If you are a die-hard Noles fan being objective may not be that high on your priority list — and, still, there is nothing wrong with that. Most of us, who happen to be grown at least, talk about these kids playing sports for our team as if they were one of our own. Like we have a personal relationship with them.

I’m as guilty as anyone else. Even though this is a Florida State fan site I should try to stay objective. Given that I have already grown to really like Jameis Winston — and have “God-ed him up” — how hard will it be for me to criticize him in a fair manner? For whatever reason, I really like him. Is that fair to Jacob Coker when I am breaking down the quarterback position? No. Of course it isn’t.

The worst arguments I ever see are from people who carry their fandom to other-worldly levels. It happens in the media all the time. Go find a reporter, journalist or blogger who follows a specific team or conference. What is the first thing you notice? He or she is too emotionally invested in the teams that they cover.

What seems like ages ago, I once wrote an article about preseason college basketball rankings being as relevant as a clown dunking a basketball. Sure, it is neat. But the importance of a top-25 coming out the day after the season ends makes no sense. Media members do not know who is going to declare early entry for the draft, who is going to transfer, which coaches are going to move around, etc.

I used a few teams as examples. Michigan State, Kentucky and Duke. I pointed out the obvious — remember, this was a day after the season ended — that all teams have players who may or may not declare early entry. There was no way to know if Michigan State was actually the potential third best team in the nation until their players made decisions. What happened? A person who covered solely Michigan sports went nuts on me. Let me know — while lacking politeness — he disagreed and that my premise was bogus. After doing a little back and forth, which included me asking if he even read the article (which he didn’t), he admitted he just didn’t like me using Michigan State as an example.

That is an example of fandom gone wrong. The guy cared so much about ‘his’ team that he made himself look like an idiot. He was too quick to come to his program’s defense without taking the time to read the article. To see I used several teams as examples, but also pointed out that they were all in a position to live up to those rankings. The article was about the unnecessary need for preseason rankings one day after the season was done. Not about any of the programs mentioned or — more importantly to that guy —  ‘his’ team.

All of that is part of the fandom problem. Some people want their fandom to be known. To be the “number one team-x fan”. Which is awesome. It also ruins their credibility as far as critiques go. If you openly state how much you love Florida State but hate the Clemson Tigers (which is cool by me, by the way), no one is going to take a single word you say about Clemson’s ranking seriously. It is a price that person is going to pay for their level of fandom. Other people of the same fandom will have that person’s back, but that is it. It is up to each to decide what is more important: Their opinions or their fandom. Neither of which are the wrong answer.

Fandom is also an issue facing this very site. My plans for ChopChat itself has short and long-term goals. In the short-term, I want to build our own database of player profiles, stats and things like that for us to fall back on when talking about news that breaks, or games, or strategies. It has, so far, proven to be a long and tedious process. One that I take very seriously. I don’t want to regurgitate another person’s assessment of a player. If I were to regurgitate someone else’s take, then there would be no need for our site. That takes time watching games, reading scouting reports and even relying on second-hand accounts. For those who have been with us since the relaunch two weeks ago, they have probably noticed we have been doing mostly those player profiles. They are waiting for actual columns to be written and news to be broken. Those folks need not worry, they are coming.

The long-term plan is to build a community for Florida State fans. Where smart, insightful pieces are available to the reader, but written in an objective manner. Where FSU fans can have their fandom hulk-up or get out of control. The plan is for ChopChat to be a safe haven for Florida State fans, yes, but not at the expense of honest candor. Not for the author to be waving their fandom in the air like a flag and lose their objectivity.

So far, so good. I’ve found most of the readers are more than happy to help point out a player’s flaws while I might have been too nice while breaking down his weakness. I have also, however, been accused of not showing my Florida State fandom enough. To that I say that I am not supposed to. My goal is to bring you FSU related things — albeit, from my point of view — and for you to do with it what you please.

At the end of the day I enjoy fandom. Secretly, behind close doors of course, I yell at my picture-box when my teams’ are doing things I like. So do you. To whatever extent your fandom extends is up to you. Either way, regardless, to each their own.

Fandom transcends not just the team or program you root for. It alters how one fan might treat another. It can change how you feel about one athlete on your favorite program because you like the other more. Fandom is really a fickle, dirty dastard.

And you know what? I think it is awesome — as long as we either admit we have it or acknowledge or viewpoints may be tainted. Honestly is always the best policy, right?

Joseph is the editor of ChopChat. For the love of Sam Cassell, follow him on the mean streets of Twitter @JosephNardone