The Tampa Bay Buccaneers just won the title of the best team in the NFL. You would think all would be sunny and bright for the fans, right? WRONG. Those who have been Buccaneer fans for a number of years are resentful of the team’s new fans. One of the reasons is they feel the new fans haven’t suffered enough. Tampa Bay has the worse winning percentage of all NFL teams. The team did not win a game in their 1st season and only two in their 2nd. Now one would think pain is something most would want to forget. Animals run from pain. Humans have a tendency to dwell in it. Then want others to experience it. There is no logical reasoning why. But this human characteristic is evident around the world.
Another reason for the friction is many of the ‘new fans; followed Tom Brady from New England to Tampa. Now I thought this was a positive. That fans broke the norm and followed a player. We all know players are just commodities to the teams. Like fans. But even though fans are workers and the players are workers. The fans are not supposed to develop a kindred relationship with the players. Fans are supposed to identify with the role of the team. That is, to also treat the players as commodities. We are told by the franchises that our loyalty belongs to them. No matter how bad they bungle, fail, or screw up. WHY? Because loyalty means dollars and cents for the franchise.
The following of Brady to Tampa put pressure on ownership to deal fairly with the player. Something the Patriots did not do with Brady. With Brady on the team. Tampa bay generated the highest dollar in NFL merchandising. The value of the franchise increased by over 700 million dollars. In one year everything has changed. The Bucs are in the primetime slot for every game this year. They are on Coca-Cola bottles and other foodstuff items for fans. Buccaneer merchandising is everywhere for the fan. Still, there is dissension.
Whether in good times or bad. Human beings find reasons to not get along. To think they are better than that other person. We unconsciously carve ourselves up by ethnicities, races, and tribes. By eye color, hair color, and whatever else we can think of. Even fandom. Every race and every ethnicity does this. It is all a fantasy and a farce. We are all broken souls focusing on someone else. so we don’t have to look at ourselves. We need to find reasons to appreciate and like one another. We need to humble ourselves and move forward to help out where we can. Sports is a means of doing so. Sports are meant to be enjoyed. Sports can bring us together if we allow them to. Let us ALL Celebrate the Passion, the Spirituality, and the Unity of Sport together. It is a lot of fun.