No Need for a Formal Introduction

If one ever goes to a sporting event, one will notice the interaction between people in the stands. Most of these people have just met for the first time on game day, yet it does not seem that way. They are there drinking beer, eating hot dogs like one would be at a backyard barbeque. The common ground these folks share is their interest in the game. They are part of the fan culture. The reason I find this particular topic fascinating is because professional sports have a strangle hold on our society. Sport fans very much identify themselves with particular teams and players. Listen to somebody talk about their favorite team and one would think they are talking about people they have a longstanding relationship with. Go to a game, and fans of the same team are like one big family. I think it can be said that sports fans have their own community. The teams and their colors create an identity for the fans. You see somebody out and about with your favorite team's jersey on and there is an instant acknowledgement of the team, of the person. To quote Nyla R. Branscombe and Stephen Reysen, who authored this report for the Journal of Sport Behavior, "Fandom is similar to social identity, defined by Tajfel (1978) as "That part of an individual's self-concept which derives from his knowledge of his membership of a social group together with the value and emotional significance attached to that membership" (p. 63). (Branscombe and Reysen)." What I wanted to know was: Is the fan community and bond as important as the team identification. That was kind of answered with the aforementioned quote but there is still more that can be known. Does having that fan community enhance the experience of watching or attending a game? Are there benefits to...

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...ive and a negative. While none of the participants have ever been involved in one of those negative mob moments, they guarantee that instances always present themselves. Anyone who has ever been to a sporting event or even watch from a sports bar, can tell you that it only takes one or two people to wreck the mood. I guess the next topic to look into would be just that. Why and how do people get egged on into committing stupid acts that figuratively give a black eye to the fan base they belong to? Can they all be explained by an outside ingredient like too much alcohol? Another area worth looking into is how sports fans are viewed and treated differently based on their gender.

Works Cited

Branscombe, Nyla R., and Stephen Reysen. "Fanship and fandom: comparisons between sport and non-sport fans." Journal of Sport Behavior33.2 (2010): 176+. Gale Power Search. Web. 7