Quite frequently, those who do not follow a team, or follow sports will routinely ask what’s the purpose of it?  I hope to at least provide my reasons for following a team enough that I flew half way around the world to watch a team that’s rebuilding lose in a foreign country (in an ostensible “home” game).

Humans, all of us, are social animals.  We find ways to find connections to other people that we don’t know.  We find ways to build communities out of disparate backgrounds, ethnicities, religious beliefs, and locations.  This very site stands as a proud example of that.  We’re a community, like it or not.  We help each other out, and have managed to keep a hobby website going for years.  This is all without any backing, and using only user submitted material (which is nearly always needed, the maw is hungry).  

In things tied to immutable characteristics, tribalism can lead to very bad outcomes.  We have examples of this every time there’s violence or discrimination based on it.  Some of the worst atrocities are caused by such superficial differences.  So, how to funnel this need for tribalism into something that can be used as a pressure release valve?  Subcultures are one way, but that way leads to some issues of their own.  Look to Antifa, the KKK, the boneheads (racist skinheads), and hell… even the skinheads themselves (ask some mods if you can find any).  In the USA, sports and sports fandom serve as a pressure release valve.  Helping to bleed off the need for tribalism in a way that (outside of Philly) are usually non-violent.

Every fan knows, in their heart of hearts, that we have minimal impact on the game, and that minimal impact only if (and only if) you are at the event in person with a critical mass of like-minded fans.  Why do those of us who follow perennial losing teams such as the Browns continue to follow them?  It’s a part of us, we follow the team, we cheer for the players, we hope they do well.  Part of it is a sunk cost fallacy as well, I’ve been a Browns and Indians fan since I was a small kid.  I’ve been subjected to more garbage football and baseball than most have.  I keep coming back for more, because there’s no feeling like sitting in the seats at a bar or stadium, and cheering with hundreds or tens of thousands of fellow fans.  At that moment we are a tribe.  We will defend our own, we will enforce codes of conduct on each other, we have shibboleths, signs, and colors to identify each other.  

It’s being a part of something bigger, as someone who was an outcast for most of my life, the first time I really felt like I belonged somewhere was my first time in a ska punk pit.  All were welcomed with open arms, rules were generally built by consensus (and differ by location), and you’d recognize people and greet them, even if you never knew their names.  

A similar thing happens in sports fandoms.  The local I go to watch away games has a dozen or so regulars, and probably triple that in those who drop in from time to time.  We recognize each other, we’ll discuss the coaches, the bad decisions, and how if we were in charge, we’d have won (again, we all know this is likely untrue, but it’s a fun discussion to have).  Out of those people, there’s just a couple I know by name, and that’s usually after sitting next to them for several games.

I’ve dropped in and out of both the Indians (much more so since the name change) and the Browns over the years (it really wasn’t worth watching during quite a few years, we knew what the outcome would be), but still keep an eye on the box scores and standings.  Even then, if the team makes the playoffs, then it’s back to watching the games.  Even then, I keep the gear and shirts, I could break it off, but then I lose a community I still have a connection to.

On the trip to London, when we were all gathered, the general questions were not how long you were a fan, that didn’t matter.  The questions were “Season tickets?” and if yes, “What section?”.  Even for those that didn’t have tickets, the statement was always, “Hope to run into you at a game.”  Even more so for the fans who were from somewhere else.  

There’s a bonding in shared pain.  Last season, on my way up to the game, I saw a young guy having issues trying to figure out the Rapid station.  As it’s my usual travel method to the games, I helped him out.  Speaking to him, he was a fan from Portugal, who had saved up to come to his first (and potentially only home game).  He picked the game (against the Giants), as it was one we were expected to win.  When we got to downtown, I gave him some guides as to places to look for tailgates and pre-kickoff food and drink.  The Browns lost that game, and while I didn’t see that guy again, he’s one of us now.  He’s a Clevelander.

Because that’s what the communities are built on.  The hope for something that we couldn’t attain by ourselves.  I was on the younger end of the group that went to London, 95%+ were older than any player on the field.  We have no way to make a difference on the field, but when the other team is trying to run plays down in the Dawg Pound the noise levels can be loud enough to prevent the team from getting a play off, costing either a time out (3 per half) or a penalty (5 yards, unless that would put them in the goal, at which point it’s half the distance to the goal).  That’s the small contribution we can make to the team, and to the fans at home.

Even with the loyalty and tribalism, it’s kept in perspective.  We’ll trash talk each other’s teams, make terrible jokes about their players, and mock their fandom rituals.  You don’t make it personally, and you don’t take it personally.  I’ve seen only a handful of fights at games, usually caused by an… “overserved” fan for the visiting team deciding to start trying to make it personal.  Security usually comes by quickly to grab those assholes and escort them to the holding cell or eject them from the stadium (with the potential for a lifetime ban from the stadium or sport in total).

Some members of the teams embrace the fandom back, coming over to London were two ex-Browns players, Josh Cribbs and Joe Haden.  Both were gracious, kind, and patient with the fans.  I heard stories of each of them buying rounds for tables of fans on the trip.  They were signing jerseys, hats, shirts, and more for fans, while posing for selfies and pictures. Maybe it’s the fanbase, maybe it’s the players, maybe it’s just having a community that seems important to the players who have played, sweat, fought, and suffered physical injuries for us.  This is the fanbase that took an internal defense chant and grew it into one of the most notorious fanbases in the league.  

All of this is moving away from the main thrust, why is an outlet for tribalism important?  If there’s no safety valve, other tribes and subcultures will form up.  They may not have the benefit of not being directly involved in the contests and struggles that their group forms around.  That way quite frequently leads to violence of one kind or another.  Gang fights, ethnic cleansings, civil wars, and some of the worst atrocities in history were caused by one tribe against another.

I would much rather be able to call the Ravens and Stillers a bunch of filthy cunts who should go 0-17 than deal with that.  I’m not asking anyone to decide to pick up the mantle of a local team and start waving their flags and colors, because that’s not the point.  It’s about finding a common cause, and a common enemy that exists only in the abstract.  While I may hate the Ravens, I would be appalled (and I believe I’m in the vast majority in this) at any Browns fan attempting a violent attack on any of their players, coaches, or staff.  Besides, there’s always next year… believe it from a Browns fan.

If you decide this is something you want to delve into, learn at least the basics of the game, watch a couple, and see if you can follow.  At that point, if you’ve got no pre-existing tribal connection to a fanbase (family, locale, schooling), then I would suggest picking a middle of the road team and making them yours.  If you go this route, I would also suggest you make sure that there’s a local bar/restaurant that caters to that fanbase.  Get a t-shirt for the team, and go to that bar/restaurant, strike up a conversation with the people sitting next to you, cheering alongside you.  You may find a new community to become a part of.