In my first two posts about The Fan Spectrum I said I am a Die Hard Fan and an Optimistic Realist. I see Gauarv Garg, my fellow writer, as a Die Hard Fan and a Pessimistic Realist. That brings me two the two types of Die Hard Fans: the Informed Die Hard and the Uninformed Die Hard.
So, you might be asking yourself but how can someone who us uniformed about a sport or a team claim to be a die hard fan? Simple: It is because they are informed about what the rules of the game are and the current news of the game but they base their opinions on how they would run the team they are claiming to be a fan of. Most Uninformed Die Hard fans that I have seen talking about teams on social media over the years make comments as if they are the owner of the team they are talking about. I believe Gaurav falls into this category of being a die hard fan.
Let’s take the example I used at the end yesterdays article about the Wild Card race about if David Ross’ job should be on the line. Gaurav has been calling for Ross to be fired since a few games into the shortened 2020 season when he was hired. Has his reasons why he would fire Ross changed over the four seasons Ross has been manager? You bet they have.
However, the moral of the story is he has told me he would hire Joe Girardi many times; the problem is as I said yesterday Joe Girardi can not manage the current generation if he could he would never have been fired last year by the Phillies. Also, let’s not forget that many sports analysts and reporters both locally and nationally have said publicly that Joe told them he does not want to manage anymore. Giving someone a job that doesn’t want it would lead to the same results if not worse results than those we’ve seen with David Ross this year.
That brings me to the Informed Die Hard fan. Informed Die Hard fans such as myself look at both the negative and positive aspects of how their team is doing and keep their opinions to those of a fan with how they share them.
Using the same example from yesterday let me start by saying that I do think Ross will be done managing in Chicago after next year. However, I am the type of fan who trusts what I hear on the radio and read online about my favorite teams while also looking at mostly the positive things. Key word there is “mostly”. When my team loses I will always blame the players for their mistakes not the coaches. I stay in my shoes as a fan.
Ross is not catching the ball in the outfield or swinging the bat or pitching to the opposing hitters. He is a newer manager that was handed the job without having to work his way up through the minors and he still shows his inexperience when he makes bone headed decisions that cause the team to lose. Thing is I still blame the players for making the mistakes because Ross is doing his best with the players who are available to him.
With that… I’m an Informed Die Hard Optimistic Realist fan. What type of fan are you?
If you cannot play with them, root for them!