I spend alot of time at high school football and basketball games (what else is there to do here on the weekend) and have heard my fair share of unkind words and comments from fans over the years. To me a fan is someone who cheers for their team and its players and can yell at the refs occasionally when calls do not go your way :) A fanatic is someone who yells at opposing teams players and coaches and parents and is usually ignorant (as in uninformed) as to what they are saying. I try not to get too caught up in it all, but will admit that my competitive nature sometimes gets the best of me. I've even had the chance to have a "discussion" with an opposing team's parent after I heard him say for at least the fifth time some not so kind remarks about one the high school football players. Of course, being from a town that is known for its religious beliefs, that somehow always gets thrown into the conversation, even if it is not relevant to the "discussion". This past weekend the girls basketball team that I help coach played in a game against a town that is close by so of course there is some history between the two teams. The history being that we've been beating them since grade 8.
There was a fanatic, er fan, sitting across on the other side of the court, yelling at Steve and then she got going on his wife who happened to be sitting close by. It is just amazing to me that a middle aged woman can behave like that in public. Anyways we beat them by 26 and I am sure there will be more fun when we play them again.
This town that we happened to be playing in has some fond memories for me from high school. I was reminded of a little incident with Captain Cougar and some fans in the "barn". That was a crazy night. Basketball in Southern Alberta, you gotta love it!!