# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Webster's defines a "fan" as an enthusiastic devotee, follower, or admirer of a sport, pastime or celebrity". It also defines a "fan" as "an instrument for producing a current of air". Judging what I read about sports throughout the year in magazines, newspapers and on social media sites, I can assure you that both definitions are true. Many people associate "fan" with the word "fanatic", which is defined as "excessive enthusiasm and often intense uncritical devotion". Again, simply be so bold as to criticize someone's favorite team, and you'll quickly find this definition to be accurate.

So what is it about fans that bring them such an emotional connect with a sports team that is only "theirs" because they happen to live close to that team? I know that I live in Colorado, and the fans of the Denver Broncos will stop being your friend and talk down to your children if you dare to say you don't like them.

Michael Cuddyer played 11 seasons for the Minnesota Twins before joining the Colorado Rockies in 2012. In his last year with Minnesota, he was selected for the All Star Game. Yet when he joined the Rockies, fans all over the state were heard to announce one very big "huh?" In his first season with the Rockies, he hit 16 homeruns, with a batting average of .260. Fans responded to that with a collective "yawn". Then in 2013, he moves up to 20 homeruns, 84 RBIs, and a .331 batting average, and suddenly his jerseys are on every back and he's in the All Star Game. And his 20 homeruns get him in the Home Run Derby.

So what happened over the winter that caused fans that really couldn't care any less about a player to suddenly start worshipping him like he was the 2nd coming of Barry Bonds? Are the fans really so shallow that they only support a player when he's playing well? Are they fans of the team? Or fans of the players?

There are fans that paint their face and body for games; even if they are watching them from home. They get their cars painted in the team's colors. They have invested more in their team uniform wardrobe than they have in their children's education. They have basements covered in pictures and collectors memorabilia. And they are willing to sit in a thunderstorm or blizzard at a stadium to watch a game they could be watching from the warm comfort of their couch.

Did you know that there are fans that get dressed in the uniforms of their favorite football team and travel to New York to attend an announcement of the drafting of a player for their team? That there are fans that actually modify their bodies with tattoos of either a team's logo or a player's name? That there are fans that will actually get into a fight with another person who is wearing a shirt that indicates he likes a different team?

I was at a Denver Broncos game one time when they were playing the Buccaneers. I was wearing a Tampa jacket and hat, and nobody bothered me. However, in the 1st quarter a guy walked below us wearing an Oakland Raiders hat. There was such a negative reaction from the fans that the police had to respond and escort him away from the area. Seriously? Nobody cared that I was wearing the hat of the team the Broncos were on the field playing, but someone with a Raiders hat is threatened so badly he needed police protection?

Just this past weekend a man wearing a NY Jets jersey punched a woman in the face who was wearing a New England Patriots jersey, and the Jets had WON THE GAME! Of course, this pales in comparisons to fans that take to the streets after their favorite team wins a championship so that they can flip over cars and start them on fire. Nothing says "we won!" like a riot and looting.

I know that I am a fan of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Miami Dolphins, the Atlanta Braves, the Colorado Rockies, the Colorado Avalanche, the St Louis Cardinals, the Detroit Tigers and the NY Mets. Confused? I was born in the Tampa area, and the Braves were the closest team to us at the time. Plus Ted Turner put them on TV's around the country, so following them was easy. I've lived most of my adult life in Colorado, thanks to the Air Force, so I've adopted the Rockies and Avalanche. My father was from Missouri, and taught me to love the Cardinals. I keep his memory alive by watching them play. And Howard Johnson, a school mate that went on to win two World Series rings, won one with the Tigers and one with the Mets. Oh, and I also used to be a fan of the Edmonton Oilers, LA Kings and NY Rangers in hockey, and if you know the career of Wayne Gretzky you'll know why.

Wait, there's no basketball teams listed! Get over it. I hate basketball.

In college sports, I love Florida State, Florida, Miami, Colorado, Air Force and any team from the SEC that is playing for the National Championship.

Oh, and I also want the Colorado Rapids to win the soccer championship.

The thing about me is, with all those teams there isn't one that I say "we" when talking about them. I want them to win, but I don't care if they lose. The Buccaneers are 0-fer the season and it just doesn't matter. I know I should get all excited about one of these teams at some point, but I simply don't. My life and self-worth are not associated with the success or failure of a group of athletes that I have never met.

I also take great joy in making fun of other sports fans. I do this simply because I don't understand a "fanatic". I absolutely love sports, but I don't place any of my own self-worth in the success or failure of someone else. I know whenever I say something about someone's favorite team; their favorite retort is to say something bad about the Buccaneers. Heck, one said something bad about the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team. Do you see them on my list above? The Buccaneers could finish 0-16 and I'll still wear my #90 Gaines Adams jersey. He died far too young, but I wear it because one of my closest friends in my life gave me the jersey as a gift.

So please, by all means love "your" team. At the same time, stop being bothered if I don't. Heck, stop being bothered if I say something bad about that team. And just remember that I love my mother. I love my brothers and sisters. I love my children. I love my wife. Talk bad about them, and you can get me to engage. I don't love any sports team or player. I am not emotionally invested in any of them.

And when I say something bad about a team, I am talking about the team, not one of their fans. I don't like John Elway. I will always believe he is one of the most overrated quarterbacks in NFL history. And not one word in those two sentences has anyone's name except John Elway. If you disagree with me, so what? I still believe it.

Comments

comments

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Webster's defines a "fan" as an enthusiastic devotee, follower, or admirer of a sport, pastime or celebrity". It also defines a "fan" as "an instrument for producing a current of air". Judging what I read about sports throughout the year in magazines, newspapers and on social media sites, I can assure you that both definitions are true.

# data[].attributes.body
https://3rdworldlit.wordpress.com/2013/04/17/juxtaposition-in-persepolis/

# data[].attributes.body
New and unusual or experimental ideas, especially in the arts, or the people introducing them.

# data[].attributes.headline
Discuss the context of the word in Persepolis (label it)  This is in chapter 1 after Marjane's mother protests the veil and has her photo published in an Iranian newspaper and dyes her hair. 

# data[].attributes.subject
Discuss the context of the word in Persepolis (label it)  This is in chapter 1 after Marjane's mother protests the veil and has her photo published in an Iranian newspaper and dyes her hair. 

# data[].attributes.headline
  Ask a question (this is your own brain asking about either the text or the term).     Examples: What about Marjane is avant-garde? or How did Marjane reconcile her two sides expressed in the panel?  Did she?  What makes you think that? 

# data[].attributes.subject
  Ask a question (this is your own brain asking about either the text or the term).     Examples: What about Marjane is avant-garde? or How did Marjane reconcile her two sides expressed in the panel?  Did she?  What makes you think that? 

# data[].attributes.headline
Here's where one of your fellow students answers the question you raise. 

# data[].attributes.subject
Here's where one of your fellow students answers the question you raise. 

# data[].attributes.headline
Everyone gets to raise at least one question.  

# data[].attributes.subject
Everyone gets to raise at least one question.  

# data[].attributes.headline
Decide as a group which discussion developed from this list of five vocabulary words and the subsequent exercise is best and present the word, the explanation and the discussion to the class. 

# data[].attributes.subject
Decide as a group which discussion developed from this list of five vocabulary words and the subsequent exercise is best and present the word, the explanation and the discussion to the class. 

# data[].attributes.headline
P.S.  Don't forget to finish the exercise for Avant-garde.  

# data[].attributes.subject
P.S.  Don't forget to finish the exercise for Avant-garde.  

# data[].attributes.body
Noun: a person filled with excessive and single-minded zeal, especially for an extreme religious or political cause.

# data[].attributes.body
This word appears in chapter 2 where Marjane's mother and father are talking about the burning of a movie theater that was perpetrated by religious fanatics.

# data[].attributes.headline
Question:                               Why is Marjane such a fanatic about Western Culture?

# data[].attributes.subject
Question:                               Why is Marjane such a fanatic about Western Culture?

# data[].attributes.body
moral or cultural decline as characterized by excessive indulgence in pleasure or luxury.

# data[].attributes.body
An immoral or corrupt person

# data[].attributes.body
An Immoral or corrupt person

# data[].attributes.body
Required by a legal, moral, or other rule; compulsory.

# data[].attributes.body
This word appeared in chapter 1 when Marjane revealed that it was required to wear the veil at school.

# data[].attributes.body
In chapter 3 the demonstrations began to get violent. The police fired shots into the crowd while the crowd threw stones at the police.

# data[].attributes.body
How did Marjane deal with these obligations?

# data[].attributes.body
How much progress were the demonstrations making towards change?

# data[].attributes.body
Marjane's mother is avant-garde because she's alwasy trying out new things like clothing despite the constant fear of being arrested for it. -Geovanny

# data[].attributes.body
Throughout the book, Marjane is constantly rebeling against all the rules set in place towards the veil.

# data[].attributes.body
Western culture is popular in Iran because of the oil industry.

# data[].attributes.body
The oil industry was thriving in Iran, which led to an increase in western culture in Iran. Marjane was influenced by this culture and became a fan of it.

# data[].attributes.body
In the beginning, the schools now require the girls to wear vales. The leader compares capitalism to decadence.

# data[].attributes.body
She did not respond well to the veil because she was constantly rebelling against the demands of the regime.

# data[].attributes.body
The demonstrations were not making progress because they kept on fighting.

# data[].attributes.body
No, the demonstrations were not really making a difference to the government because they were not budging.

# data[].attributes.body
Marjane has always grown up in western culture since it was forced upon the Iranian people.

# data[].attributes.body
How does stopping capitalism effect Marjane?

# data[].attributes.body
Throughout the book, Marjane is constantly rebeling against all the rules set in place towards the veil.

# data[].attributes.body
How does marjanes obligations shape her attitude
throughout the book

# data[].attributes.body
In what ways would an increased Decadence changed the narrative of the story?

# data[].attributes.body
What Avant-Garde ideals presented in the book influenced Marjane

# data[].attributes.body
How were Fanatics relevant in shaping the story of the book?

# data[].attributes.body
Would marjane have been considered a degenerate?

# data[].attributes.body
She often rebelled against her obligations in private, while obeying them in public, although not always to the fullest extent.

# data[].attributes.body
She was a fanatic because she saw it as a way and path to a better life that she longed for.