Day 399 – My name is Roger and I am a Bandwagon Fan.

Anyone who knows me, understand that I am just not a sports guy. I played some sports as a kid but that was about it. I never found passion in sports. I know that as a guy that may seem a bit abnormal but, it is just the way I am wired. I have friends that can tell me where a certain player went to college and high school of half of the NFL. I suppose that is useful knowledge for a sports fan but, my head is filled with other things.

Having grown up in Seattle I understand a few things about sports in this town. For one of the largest metropolitan areas in the country we have not had the best luck with sports teams. The Sonics in 1979 and the Seahawks in 2014, I think are our only championships. Of course there are the 1995 Mariners that all Mariners fans hold onto.

Seattle is a true melting pot of people and cultures. People from all over the country land here for work mostly. Lots of backgrounds and lots of fans of other places. It is not unusual to seen a significant number of opposing team’s jerseys at any given event. I heard a story from a friend that works in the tech field and his co-workers were surprised to hear that he actually went to a Seattle school and was born here.

In the past few years I have come to realize that the rest of the country has some deep hatred for Seattle sports and for us as fans in particular. Any comment regarding Super Bowl 49 will no doubt talk about the Seattle Bandwagon Fans. A bandwagon fan is someone who has become a fan simply because everyone else is. They are not “die hard”.

SO WHAT!?

Do you think that ANY NFL owner cares if the person occupying the seat in the stadium is die hard or not? Do you think the quarterback can hear the screams of the die hard fan over everyone else in the stadium? The truth is that Bandwagon fans, as they are called are good for business. They are good for other things too.

When a local team starts doing well like the Seahawks for instance, it creates a sense of community. Something that seems to be getting more difficult these days as Facebook becomes how we interact with each other. A team that is doing well is common ground for people to engage on. Everyone feels good and there are positive feelings all around. It is a rallying point at which we tend to leave all the negative crap somewhere else and come together under the same flag. (with a 12 on it of course)

I was born right here in the Puget Sound. I remember the Centennial of our country and the year the Seahawks franchise came into existence and when they played their first game. I have a picture of my brother and me in Seahawks pajamas on Christmas morning of 1976. I have been in the Kingdome and took a break at work to watch it be demolished. Because I don’t watch every game and I cannot tell you where our long snapper went to college I would be considered a Bandwagoneer by most.

Fine I will take it. I would rather be that than a bitter sports know it all elitist that thinks they are better than everyone else because he was a fan first. What he is that tickets and merchandise is way more expensive now that the team is doing well. This is probably the same guy that complains when no one is in the stadium watching the team either.

Sports are entertainment and I think some people forget that and take it way to far. Think of how awesome some peoples live would be if they put as much effort and brain power into themselves as they do their favorite sports team.

Hey, Mr Die Hard, wear your own jersey and get a life.

 

Day 19 – Potential doesn’t have a very long shelf life

First off I have to say . . .

SEAHAWKS BABY!!!

I am mostly a fairweather fan, by definition I guess. I don’t know all the players and where they came from and the stats of their rookie years but I can say that I have lived in Seattle 42 of my 44 years. I watched Jim Zorn and Steve Largent. I remember Chuck Knox and the Boz. So dont give me any crap because I am not an encyclopedia or watch every game. I am proud of this home team and I consider myself a fan. Because everyone is exhausted from one of the most stressful games I have watched I know readership may not be up, but it is a new day and so I write.

In church this week we talked about service more specifically servanthood. I was in a drama that spoke on potential  and talents, gifts that are given to us. Some times we use them and sometimes we don’t. I think of people I know and put them into two camps. When you are in conversation about someone I feel like you will either say, “They are really talented.” or you will say, “They sure have a lot of potential.” I try to live my life as a talented guy. I try to put forth the effort all the time to use my gift and use it as talent. I cringe at the thought of someone talking about my “potential”.

The parable of the talents as told in the book of Matthew we learn of three servants who are given according to their ability a measure of talents. The first two servants used the talents to increase the original measure and the third buried the talent given to him. When called by their Master to give an account the last servant was punished for not using what his Master had given him to increase the original measure. God gives us all gifts and abilities. I believe He gives them to us for a reason. I want to be one of the first two servants in the parable that is rewarded for being a good steward of what has been given to me. My talent is what God has given me, what I do with it is my gift back to God.

I wonder sometimes when I think about that guy I know that, “has so much potential”, does he know he has potential? Does he know he has been given a gift? If he does, why isn’t he using it? See the thing is, is that potential does not have a very long shelf life. It has to be nurtured, it has to be used and exercised or it will never be developed into talent. It will just be potential, rotting in the ground somewhere.