Yep, I did it this week. I jumped squarely on the NBA Indiana Pacers bandwagon and it is rolling nice and smooth. I have done this before with the Colts, but last season it got kind of bumpy, okay a lot bumpy, and I jumped off. We shall see what the new quarterback does before I decide to get back on or not. But at the time of this writing, the Pacers won Game 2 in Miami and it made me pay attention to the bandwagon, but by winning in Indianapolis for Game 3 and taking a 2-1 lead in the serious, I am cruising again.
Other than IU, I will support any Indiana sports team, mostly from afar. But when they are winning, I will have more than a passing interest. I won't do this with any other state like some of the kids at my school (if Duke is good, they back Duke, if UNC is good, they back Carolina, if U of L is good they wear U of L t shirts). So many don't like people like me when it comes to supporting athletic teams (usually the ones that say "WE lost a tough one last night") because they have been up and down with their team through the good and bad times while people like me with the Pacers and Colts, start paying attention when the team is successful. I apologize to those people who associate with a team so much they actually believe they are on the team, I understand it can be frustrating (see me with IU fans), but it is who I am.
At least I will admit it. I love Indiana sports, but just don't care as much when those teams (Colts and Pacers) aren't as good. You think I am alone? Check out the Colts season tickets and attendance last year after Peyton Manning was out. Yes, I do hold myself to a higher standard, but I just don't feel the need to pay attention to what is going on when I am trying so hard to be a father, husband, teacher, and the other things I am doing with my life. Yes, that sounds incredibly selfish but when it comes to supporting a team or not I am because it is about escaping the real world which can be really tough sometimes. I mean look even at the average high school event, the more those teams win, the more people show up for the games.
When those teams that I like (I do like them) are being successful, it is nice to be able to take my mind off the daily grind and pay attention and live vicariously through these athletes. I mean, who wants the Heat to win? Ok, yes there are some people who do and are adament about it, I know. I know little, but I know enough to watch and see how they act on the court. I see how they seem to have little respect for their coach, and I see how they have been hyped to be the greatest team of all time (it seems). Let them win one (1) title then maybe we can talk about them in the same breath as Bird's Celtics, Magic's Lakers and Jordan's Bulls, or even West's Lakers, Russell's Celtics or Dr. J's Sixeers or maybe not.
What bothers some people is that bandwagon jumpers will try to act as if they have been fans all along. Kind of like the IU fans this winter....where did they all come from anyway? That is one team I haven't jumped off and wore my IU clothing through the down years. But suddenly, IU fans were everywhere and to be honest, it was nice to finally have a reason to wear those clothes again with pride. And I am doing my best to look the other way at the 50 year old man wearing candy stripe sweat pants that I know two years ago was talking about never watching the Hoosiers again.
In the grand scheme of things, does it really matter why a fan supports a team? Nah. Sports should be a release for people like us, fans. We should be using it for escapism and really, who cares if someone started liking the Pacers now or not? Who cares if the Colts fans raise and dwindle with wins and losses? I think what's important is that we have these sports teams around that have had success so that we can get away on a little mini vacation from time to time while these teams play and win.
