Fantasy sports

With fantasy sports taking over the question arises of how fantasy sports affects fandom? In the world of sports there are a few different types of fans. From fair-weather to die-hard, and in between. First you have the social fan, they are mostly in it just for the experience, they usually don’t care who wins. Next you have the focused fan, they usually support a city, not a specific team. If they live in a city, they are a fan of that city’s sports teams. Last there is the vested fan. This fan is extremely attached to their team. Their mood will depend on how their team did that day. 

With all the different types of fans, comes the reason why these people are fans to begin with. Some, are fans for the aesthetic beauty of the game. These people have a deep appreciation for the game. They either played it as children or just grew up watching the sport. The next motive is achievement. Some people feel some sort of accomplishment if they were there when say, their favorite team won a championship. They believe in the 12th man concept, that the fans have some sort of pull on whether the team wins or loses. Lastly, some are fans for the drama. These fans love a close game or a last minute touchdown to win the Super Bowl.  They’re in it for the thrill of it. 

All these different types of fans fall into different communities in the fantasy sports world. The first community is statistical enthusiasts. This community is filled with fans who are obsessed with the numbers. Their fantasy leagues are usually more complicated. This type of player could tell you whether or not to play a certain player based on his previous performance against any team. They can break down all the stats of any player and tell you whether or not they would be a good pick. The type of fan that would most likely be apart of this community would be a vested fan. These people put a lot of time and energy into their team. Something only a vested fan would do. These people usually have some sort of deep appreciation for the sport. Next you have the fan first community of players. These players like to participate in the fantasy sport but when it comes down to their fantasy team winning or their real life favorite team winning, they would much rather see their favorite real life team win. This type of fan would rather lose $300 in their fantasy sports league, then see their favorite team lose. They usually are in the fantasy league just for the love of the game or so they can follow the sport closer. This type of player could either be a vested fan or a focused fan. They could just be very dedicated to their favorite home town team or they are hard core die hard fans and would have it no other way then their team winning. These fans could be motivated by either the aesthetic beauty of the game or achievement. Next you have the homers. This group of players cannot and will not stray from their favorite team. They will stack their fantasy team with players from their favorite real life team. This way they never have to root against their favorite team, it takes their fandom to a new level I would consider obsession. No matter if they have the choice between the number one quarter back in the league or their favorite teams quarter back, they always stay true to their team. The type of fan that would be in this community would be either a focused fan or a vested fan. These fans are probably in it for the sense of achievement. They probably feel that if they pick the whole team its just another way of supporting their favorite team, and the more support the better the team does in the eyes of some fans. Lastly you have the community of players that are in it merely for the social aspect. These fans do it for a conversation starter. They’re the player that never actually pays attention to how or why they got points but they just know it happened. The type of fans that are usually in this community could be any of the three. But most likely would be a social fan, because again, they are apart of the community for the social aspect of it all. The motivation of this type of player would be for the drama. I say this because they’re in it merely for entertainment purposes so they probably have no other motivation besides that. 

Deny till you die

In the summer of 2011, Hines Ward, who at the time was a star wide receiver of the Pittsburgh Steelers, was pulled over for a suspected DUI. A serious offense for anyone, let alone a well known professional athlete, because not only are you in trouble with the law you are also in trouble with your coach, your teammates, the media, and the fans. Its understandable, when this incident made news, that fans were impatiently awaiting a statement from Hines. When they finally got what they wanted, it wasn’t what most would expect after and incident like a DUI. Instead of just apologizing, it was mostly denial from Hines. 
After reading what the news reported, fans we’re probably expecting a “I’m so very sorry, it’ll never happen again” type of statement. After all, it was reported that he had bloodshot eyes, he was slurring his words, and could not even pass a field sobriety test. Those three things just scream he was drunk. According to Hines and his manager Andrew Ree, Hines was not driving under the influence “From our preliminary investigation, we can tell you that we are confident that the facts show Hines was not impaired by alcohol while driving." This was part of the statement released by Hines’s manager. Although he also went on to say that, “Hines is deeply saddened by this incident and apologizes to his fans and the Steelers organization for this distraction.” 
Most fans just accepted his apology and forgot about it. Some were still very disappointed. Ray Rice, Baltimore Ravens running back, even took to twitter on how he felt about the whole situation. When asked about his criticism of Hines he said "I don't care if you're a Pittsburgh Steeler or a Baltimore Raven or whoever you are, if you get caught drunk driving, that's not a smart judgment." Even after all of the criticism from fans and fellow players Hines still stuck by his story and said he was not driving drunk. Which must have been enough for the judge because the DUI charges were dropped and Hines pled guilty to reckless driving. 

Troy Polamalu

When watching Troy Polamalu on the field just a few of the words that come to mind are strong, fast, and beastly.  All of those words are masculine. When talking about him off the field, more feminine words like soft, beautiful, and gentle are usually what people think of. Troy Polamalu’s image on the field is a completely different one from off the field. 

On the field, Troy Polamalu is a threat to other teams. He’s hard-hitting and a quick player. Definitely an asset to the Steelers defense since, they drafted him out of college. On the field he is not someone to mess with. He isn’t limited to one position either, after his injury in 2009 he came back and played all over the defense. He’s a threat no matter where he is  playing on the field. When you watch him play you do not think of anything but, how masculine and strong he is. Troy Polamalu on and off the field, is like day and night.

Everyone who owns a TV has seen at least one, Troy Polamalu Head and Shoulders commercial.  You don’t even have to watch the commercial to think differently of him. All you have to do is listen to his voice. After watching him on the field, that is not the voice you imagine would come from a hard-hitter like Polamalu. Something you do not associate with the male gender is a soft voice. Especially a professional athlete. Now if you actually watch the commercial he exhibits even more feminine qualities. One that everyone notices, is his beautiful, long and curly hair. This is another thing that our society uses to differentiate between genders, hair length. Troy Polamalu has longer and better kept hair than some girls that I know. With those two huge factors, it makes it easy to forget that fast, strong man is the same man with the soft voice, and beautiful hair. Especially since when he talks he’s so calm. Also another thing you do not associate with being masculine. It’s usually women who are calm. 

Beautiful hair and soft voice or not, Troy Polamalu is one tough guy. He just so happens to have a lot of feminine features, along with the many masculine features he has.

Going Against The Odds

Christmas eve of 2011, Adrian Peterson received news that he had suffered from one of the worst injuries that can happen to a professional athlete. He tore his ACL and MCL in a meaningless game against the Washington Redskins. Despite the severity of this injury Peterson did not let this get him down. Immediately he was asking the team athletic trainer “Hey, what do we do next? Where do we start? How do we get better?” He was determined to not only come back the next season but, he was determined to come back even better than he was before. A true David vs. Goliath underdog story. He had all the odds stacked against him.

Adrian Peterson underwent reconstructive knee surgery on December 30, 2011. In the early stages of his recovery his doctor told him that it would normally take around two weeks to even lift his leg on his own. He did it immediately. It doesn't stop there either. Peterson also began running on hard ground only 10 weeks after surgery. Normally it takes around three months. But just because he was excelling in rehab that did not mean he would also excel on the field. Most players coming back from knee surgery are never the same let alone the season after. So you can see with all that he has against him how he would be considered an underdog for the upcoming 2012 season. Normal recovery time for just ACL surgery is around six months. But when you add in the MCL you're looking at nine months before you can return to contact sports. Adrian Peterson did it in seven. That alone is insane. He was ready to play for the September 9th game, and he did well. He ran the ball "17 times for 84 yards." But thats not where his success ended. At the end of the regular season he ran for 2,097 yards, only nine yards short of the record. Also he received the NFL MVP award and AP NFL offensive player of the year. Two great accomplishments for any player let alone a player in his situation.

Even though the Vikings did not make it to the Super Bowl, I would still consider this a true Cinderella story. Adrian Peterson was a true underdog coming into the 2012 season and I would definitely consider him to be victorious. He not only did well for someone recovering from knee surgery, but he excelled and did better than most of the healthy athletes. Having gone through and still going through the same situation myself, Adrian Peterson is definitely a hero to anyone going through knee surgery. If a hero is a person who "not only achieves greatness on the field but also is an admirable person off of it" then he definitely falls into this category. It wasn't the work he put in at spring training or the work he did in the pre-season. It was all that he did in the off season on his own. He worked hard even when it wasn't mandatory practice. His hard work and determination to come back better than ever is a true inspiration to me and others going through this process. 

The 12th Man

Sports fans and many people with some sort of connection to the world, know what The Terrible Towel is and what it represents. For a Steelers fan, there is nothing like looking into a crowd full of waving Terrible Towels to get you pumped up for the game.

 The Terrible Towel was created by former Pittsburgh Steelers broadcaster Myron Cope. It was created to get fans excited for the 1975 playoff games. It was thought that the towel would drive the team to success, that when players would look into the crowd and see the overwhelming black and gold towels that they too would get excited for the game.

 Taking the idea of "the 12th man" to a whole new level. The Terrible Towel gives fans a different way to feel as if they have some control over the outcome of the game. The Terrible Towel was a way to get the fans even more involved than just the normal chanting and booing. In some ways it has even become the mascot of the Pittsburgh Steelers making fans feel like they're an even bigger part of the teams success when they wave their towel. The Steelers do not have a bird that can walk around to get the crowd pumped up like teams such as the Cardinals or the Ravens. We have our Terrible Towel. It represents the team and the great people of the Steeler Nation. It has become an international symbol for the Steelers. People have taken The Terrible Towel all over the world. It has been to the top of Mount Everest, to the Great Wall of China, to the Olympic games, even to the International Space Station. Fans have even gone so far as to believe that the towel has a curse that would effect anyone who disrespects it. Most fans believe in that curse given the multiple incidents where teams seasons have fallen through after a player or mascot disrespected the towel. Believing in the curse makes fans feel even more power when they wave it knowing other teams cannot even touch it. Something every fan wants is to feel like they have a large impact on how well the team does, and the terrible towel does that for Steeler fans. It symbolizes not only a community but a nation and whether you're in downtown Pittsburgh or even the beaches of the west coast if you are a Steeler fan and you see that Terrible Towel you automatically feel a connection.