Football… America… Fuck Yeah

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The self-proclaimed bitch goddess is back and there’s a few things I want to get off my chest this week so this rant may seem a little ADD.  I’m going to get into patriotism and lack of respect in sports, homer fans, fair weather fans, and bandwagon fans, but it all comes down to one thing…

PRIDE

I am not what anyone would consider a patriot by any stretch of the word, I hate the football team (lying cheating pieces of shit), I’ve never served my country, and I don’t display the American flag anywhere in my home or car.  I do however love the freedoms granted to me by the constitution, I love consumerism and capitalism, and I love football.  I have a deep respect for our service men and women even when I disagree with our leaders choices in foreign policy, and I always vote, and for the record I vote in a swing state so it actually counts.

I recently returned from a fantastic vacation.  Like every girl with Philly roots, I’m required to make the occasional summer pilgrimage to the Jersey shore.  Growing up I was fortunate enough that my family owned a summer home in Wildwood, New Jersey and it will always hold a special place in my heart.  No where else I’ve been gives me the same sense of calm and relaxation.  Wildwood is like a place apart, very little changes there, aside from the people now being glued to their cellular phones the setting is identical to when I was just a tiny girl being carried on my daddy’s shoulders.  One tradition in the city of Wildwood is the playing of the National Anthem every day at 11am.  Wherever we were when the song came over the speakers on the boardwalk, we would stop what we were doing and stand in silence.  My father would remove his Boston Red Sox hat (he is a Philly man who was transplanted to Connecticut and a total homer fan, but we’ll get into that later) and place it over his heart and everywhere you looked everyone else would stand and do the same.  This past week when I was there, I saw many people showing this same level of respect I saw as a child, but also I noticed several more completely oblivious that the song was on.  Maybe they have forgotten what those that founded this country went through to give us the freedom to enjoy beach paradise vacations, maybe they forgot the spirit of liberty that the city of Philadelphia just a short drive away represents. Maybe they’re unhappy with our current government, I don’t know and quite frankly that has nothing to do with sports so for now I’m not going to care.  The point is it reminded me of a lot and made me start to think how much of America is embodied in sports, especially football.

Let’s back track to a few months ago.  The day of the Kentucky Derby and the Mayweather versus Pacquiao fight I spent the day at the Presque Isle Downs Casino near Erie, Pennsylvania.  I wore a fabulous hat worthy of the derby, drank mint juleps, watched Frosted lose me a nice chunk of change, and scored seats in the VIP clubhouse to watch the fight.  Throughout the day I kept a consistent level of buzz going while dancing from slot machine to slot machine waiting for the race and then after for the fight and I was hyped and ready to root for Money Mayweather (yeah, I know he beats women, but hey, I’m a sucker for big sports personalities, charisma excites me) by the time the fight was ready to start.  Prior to any sporting event, it is customary to play the National Anthem.  I was shocked and appalled that when they started to play it including myself only three people rose from their seat.  The majority of the crowd continued to eat their half price appetizers and sip on their drinks while remaining engaged in their conversations.  I’ve been to several sporting events in my life time and never had I seen this level of disrespect.  Even in the bar on football Sunday the majority of the patrons silence themselves for the few minutes it takes for the song to be sung.  At an event that is live peer pressure dictates that the vast majority stand in the stadiums, but if you pay attention you can still see hats on and quite a few mouths moving.  I know this has become a country where we can all basically do what we want as soon as we want to but don’t forget how we got that way.  The National Anthem should be a few minutes to respect the men that gave their lives to preserve our freedom to enjoy sporting events.  So I ask all of you, this coming season whether you’re at the game in person, watching at a bar, or from the comfort of your own couch take three minutes out of your life to show respect.  I assure you those oh so important notifications on your phone will still be waiting for you once the anthem is over.

There was also the disrespect shown at one of the last practice sessions before the start of the NFL preseason.  Cowboys fans and Greg Hardy funded a banner to fly over the Eagles, poor timing had the banner go across during the National Anthem on a day that was set aside to honor our service men and women.  Trust a violent fuck like Greg Hardy (I never said I was consistent) and the Cowboys to do something so outright and blatantly classless.

Throughout most of the world, football is referred to as AMERICAN football, although I know a few Europeans that like to cause trouble and refer to it as “hand egg,” but anyway, remember the spirit of America when you’re about to watch a game.

Let’s bring it back to pride.  The 32 teams in the National Football League represent our cities or regions and just as many of us take pride in our country, we also take pride in the places we are from.  A lot of us show this pride through the teams we root for.  In pro sports, the Philadelphia Eagles represent my roots and will always be my greatest love, the Red Sox represent my upbringing in New England, and the Cavaliers represent the new life I’ve made here in Cleveland.

So the different fan types and what pisses me off.  A homer is someone who will root for their home team no matter where they move to.  Both of my parents have grown into total homers.  About the time I moved to Cleveland my mother moved to Baltimore.  She now has more purple in her wardrobe than emo kids have black.  To be fair, I’m not entirely sure she actually understands the game of football and aside from Flacco I really don’t think she could name another player on the Ravens.  For her, football represents a chance to get together and drink with her friends, it’s a fun time out and gives you a reason to yell and cheer.  I can’t find fault with that.  My brother finished his high school career with a bunch of kids with Pentagon employees for parents, he fell in with the wrong crowd and is now a Redskins fan.  I’m hoping he’ll age a bit and come to his senses.  Eventually we all outgrow those impressionable years and move on from our mistakes.  My father on the other hand disowned the Eagles about the time I was born and we moved to Connecticut.  Although we still kept up with them on television he even went so far as to buy a Patriots Starter jacket.  Several years ago he moved somewhere out in the western snow country and all of a sudden became a Packers fan.  What the fuck.  Recently he’s retired and bought a house in Georgia, I’m waiting to see how long it takes to see selfies in Falcons gear.  This I can’t quite wrap my head around.  I live and die by my team.  I’ll stand behind them through losing Brian Dawkins and DeSean Jackson and every other move that sounded insane when I heard it.  Homer fans drop their old teams faster than a girl drops her boy toy when she finds out he has herpes or Giants jerseys.  What does that say about a person’s loyalty?

Now before anyone goes off and calls me a hypocrite considering I adopted the Cavs when I moved to Cleveland, let me explain.  I really didn’t give two shits about pro basketball before I came here.  I loved the sport but I was always a college girl.  UCONN all the way, the pride of Connecticut.  The year after I moved here we drafted LeBron and the excitement was a bit contagious.  I started catching games and thought, hey this is kinda fun.  I kept up with the team with LeBron, without LeBron, and again with LeBron.  I also have developed this huge crush on Kevin Love so even more reason to watch the games.  Kevin, if you’re reading this I’d love to meet you at Crocker Park for some coffee, Tweet me @kellieruttar I’m your biggest fan.  So umm anyway, considering I had no previous loyalty on the pro court, I let myself slide on this one.

There’s also the fair weather fan.  You know, when it comes down to it, I really can’t get too pissy at these guys.  I’m a fair weather Buckeyes fan, I admit it.  I honestly don’t really give a shit about the school or even the team, I’ll always be a UCONN girl.  The poor people of Cleveland never get to win anything with their pro teams.  I thought for sure the Cleveland curse would be lifted this year with the Cavs but alas it wasn’t to be.  Fuck you Steph Curry.  I was also too ecstatic going back a few years when my Red Sox beat out the Indians in the play offs for their spot in the World Series which we won.  I almost didn’t survive that night at the bar, but hey, it’s good to have big male friends who don’t care about sports to get your back when you’re the only one in the place cheering for the winning team.  The moral is, Cleveland is a sad, sad place for sports fans.  The Buckeyes give these poor bastard Browns fans something to be excited about.  My fandom of the Buckeyes has less to do with Urban Meyer and his team and more to do with the energy and excitement winning the National Championship brings to the city.  So I watch, and I cheer, and I celebrate, I’m happy for my neighbors.  It is also a lot of fun to type OH- and see all the people respond with IO!  Never let it be said I’m not easily amused.

Now we get to the group that really pisses me off: the bandwagon fan.  I’m going to go back to my vacation for a moment.  After my time in Wildwood I took a jaunt down to Redskins country to go to an amazing party with a bunch of NFC fans down at the National Harbor near DC.  This get together was for a bunch of top class trash talkers to get together, have some drinks, rep our teams, and let loose.  It was an awesome time.  The next day driving home slightly hung over, I came to a realization.  Not a single one of the people there representing the Cowboys had any ties whatsoever to Dallas.  I don’t even think the majority have ever been to Texas.  How the fuck can you love a team when you’ve never even seen their stadium?  I may never have had a Philly area code, but I’ve been to the Vet and I’ve been to the Linc.  I spent considerable time in and around the city both when my grandparents were still living and after.  Not a single one of the Cowbitch boys can claim any allegiance to anything even remotely close to their stadium.  You want to know the real kicker?  Do a little experiment for me.  We are all unfortunate enough to know a Cowboys fan.  We may not like to admit it, but we know them, they’re like cockroaches hiding in the slums of every city.  Next time you’re near one resist the urge to take an immediate shower and ask them a few questions.  Ask who their baseball team is.  Seriously, do it.  Unless you’re a reader in Texas, you’re going to get one of two answers.  You’ll either hear your local team or the New York Yankees.  I’ve done my research, Cowboys fans outside of Texas love the Yankees.  I know 90s retro is in style and I’ll never give up the music of that era, but the number of people who cling to the teams that dominated back then is staggering.  When it comes to basketball they’ve stepped into this millennium.  Ask that same Cowboys fan their basketball team and you’ll hear either the Cavs or the Heat.  Again, not a single one of these people have ever been to Cleveland (because honestly, why would they want to?) or Miami.  It baffles me how many people can be on the Cowboys bandwagon when the team hasn’t done anything in years.  Last time the Cowboys were actually good, I was wearing a Catholic school girl skirt not because it looked hot but because I was in braces and doing my math homework.

Prior to a couple of years ago, how many of you knew a Seahawks fan?  Now they’re everywhere too.  It’s like a plague, it just keeps on growing.  I think if it weren’t for the cheating we’d be seeing Pats gear everywhere too.  Now I know my Eagles have an amazing team this year, have you caught the footage of Sam Bradford?  Holy shit he’s scary good and our receivers make him even better.  Our secondary is the sole reason we didn’t win the division last season and that is vastly improved as well.  We’re going to go far if everyone can stay healthy.  I’m saying that as both a fan and as someone who lives football year round.  I read more football news and watch more film in a week than most casual fans do in a year, it comes with the territory of what I do.  I love it, it’s part of who I am.  I love my team and I love the sport.  Your average bandwagon fan is not like me.  I don’t want my team to start picking up bandwagon fans.  I see the Cowboys bandwagon in action daily and nine times out of ten they’re totally ignorant.  You try to start an intelligent discussion about football and you hear but we have five rings!  Yes, but who was your quarterback when you got those rings, what teams did you beat, who was the coach?  The response to that typically involves something to do with my team and fellatio.  Bandwagon fans give all true fans a bad name.  I know Eagles fans from all over the country and from all walks of life and the one thing we have in common aside from a love for the team is passion and knowledge.  If we win the Super Bowl we’ll start accumulating that bandwagon scum.  Don’t get me wrong, I still want that Lombardi, but don’t start liking my team just because we’re going to kick your ass this year.  Get your own team damn it.

Sexism is alive and well in our society, sad but true.  There is a certain type of football guy that just can’t wrap their head around a girl knowing more about the sport than they do.  When out while representing my team I’ll occasionally run into these neanderthals.  They seem to feel the need to test my knowledge by questioning me on off-season moves, asking me my opinion on this player versus that player, or whatever.  I know my shit, I usually hear the ever sexist reply, “wow, you know a lot about football for a girl.”  I mean seriously?  You don’t think girls can love sports?  What the fuck rock do you live under that you think following football is only for dudes?  Some of the most knowledgeable fans I know are women and not just Eagles fans, I know some Giants girls that can talk football around most anyone.  Holy shit they are even letting us officiate now!  Fuck off assholes and fetch me a drink.  I never really think of myself as having a chip on my shoulder being a woman in the male dominated field of sports writing.  In life I’m a pretty girly girl.  I like heels, hot clothes, and eye shadow.  I just also happen to be an avid football fan who writes about the NFL.  When I’m conducting interviews with draft prospects, writing serious article on thasportsjunkies101.com, or doing guest appearances on the radio I conduct myself professionally and I’m told I convey my knowledge well.  The true fans and my colleagues in the industry respond to that.  I don’t want that rant to let you think this is a common thing.  It happens just often enough to piss me off, airing my grievances with the sports world is why I write this particular column.

The thing that scares me about bandwagon fans is they will not be able to talk intelligently to these football fanlier than thou guys that are out there to prove they know more than everyone.  Right now Eagles fans have the reputation for the most hated fans in the NFL.  We’re hated because we never give up.  We’re passionate and loud and we’ll debate circles around you.  What happens to that reputation once the bandwagon fucks start representing and giving us real fans a bad name?  I would give almost anything for a Super Bowl ring, but after the party dies down, I’m not looking forward to the effects of the bandwagon.  I’ll take it though.

Bringing it back around again to pride.  The homer fans do have pride although they may not have loyalty.  Their pride is in where they live.  They allow themselves to be so taken in by their communities they adopt those teams, we can’t fault that.  The fair weather fans also have pride.  They will tell you they are a fan of their team even when their team is losing, they just aren’t really watching until it’s exciting.  They are probably not fans of the sport they are just taken in by the moment of their team winning.  This is okay, we’ll take them.  The bandwagon fans on the other hand have no pride, they also have no loyalty.  These are the guys that give sports fans a bad name.  If you want to pick a team because you love a player, go right ahead, that’s cool.  If you want to pick a team because you feel a connection to their location even though you’ve never been, I guess that’s okay too.  If you want to pick a team because they’re popular or their winning then go fuck yourself.  Find your own connection be it from your location or your roots or whatever, but find it because it’s yours not just because it’s the thing to do.  While you’re at it, get your ass off your seat and take off your hat when you hear our nation’s anthem this coming football season.  Be proud of your country, be proud of your team, and above all, find a reason to be proud of yourself.

Catch my interviews, opinions, and NFL news and insights on thasportsjunkies101.com, for the NFL season you will also be able to catch me weekly on Tha Takeova Show brought to you by Tha Sports Junkies101 Sports Radio.  You can also find me on Twitter @kellieruttar or like me on Facebook Kellie Ruttar TSJ101.  You can also find me ranting here on goingfor2.com while checking out the latest in fantasy and sports news.

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