Fans

As I was walking through downtown Crawfordsville this morning, I was standing at an intersection, waiting on a red light, when a guy approached me and asked, “What’s wrong with the Pacers?” As is the case with a surprising number of people that ask me this question, he didn’t even wait for me to respond. He simply walked with me for two blocks, sharing his theories, which were rather vacuous – why is it that so many fans think other teams are frothing at the mouth to snap up the five players at the end of your bench in exchange for their best guy? – and ill presented. Still, I appreciated his interest and passion. Who, other than a sports fan, would intercept a stranger, walk two blocks with him, and automatically assume that said stranger had any interest at all in his opinion?

Sports fans fascinate me. I hold them in high regard, if for no other reason than I don’t have a job without them. On the other hand, they baffle me. Jerry Seinfeld once said it best: we root for laundry. Most fans don’t know any of the players or coaches, so they have no personal connection and no logical reason for their loyalty and allegiance. Still, they’ll experience incredible highs when their team wins, and suffer through incredible lows when their team loses.

Even more baffling to me, they will hate Player A on Tuesday when he plays for the Patriots (or Knicks), but love him madly on Wednesday when he’s traded to the Colts (or Pacers). They’ll dismiss a player’s foibles and legal issues as long as he helps their team win, but if that same player slumps and finds himself benched, they’ll take the moral high ground the next time the guy runs into trouble. They’re fickle – I don’t recall anyone objecting to Ron Artest, Jamaal Tinsley, or Stephen Jackson when the Pacers had the best record in the NBA – yet absurdly loyal. I suspect Reggie Miller or Peyton Manning could walk into any downtown bank, pull a gun, and walk out with a bag of loot, and more than a few fans would blame the teller for the heist.

So, no, I don’t really understand fans. But I don’t mind it when a guy (or gal) approaches me and wants to talk about the Pacers. Fans are our livelihood, I appreciate their interest, and always try to treat them with respect. And it’s flattering to be recognized and praised for your work.

But is it really too much, assuming the fan has interest enough to approach me in the first place, to ask that the fan know that I’m not Kevin Lee?

Thursday’s Journey: Romney to Lafayette

Mileage: 16.2 (tje average distance covered each day on this journey will end up being 16.58. So Thursday will be, more or less, just another day at the office).

On the iPhone: iPhone is idle. Chris Denari, our TV guy, will join me on today’s march. No need for music. No need, really, to even talk. I’ll just listen to Chris for four hours. There’s a reason that he’s in broadcasting.