Casual vs Hardcore Sports Fan

[ajz20]

I'm a hardcore fairweather fan.

Cavs- Somewhere between the invested to hardcore area. I'm not super emotional about the games, but I enjoy watching and am knowledgeable of the league. A lot of my knowledge on non-Cavs teams has to do with fantasy basketball though. As the Cavs get better and better, I'm actually getting less and less emotionally invested but still love the game.

Browns- I truly hate this franchise. I watch about 6-8 games a year and used to watch all 16. I really just can't stand the way they do things.

Indians- I flat out DGAF about this team anymore.

I don't spend any money on merchandise for any of these teams, but will go to 2-3 Cavs games a year if they're good.

How long are you willing to drive to attend the games? I thought you lived pretty far.
If the Browns get a franchise QB in april do you think you will go back to watching all 16 games?
Also when the cavs lost in game 6 were you not upset at all? I recall you were pissed after game 5 vs Boston in 2010. Have you changed since then? Just curious.

 

[Chris]

IMO, I think you need a third tier in there, purely based on my own experience.

Tier 1: Hardcore fans

This is me as a Cavs/NBA fan. I can tell you most of the Cavs historical roster, can rattle off the top 9-12 players of every team in the league, tell you the players' play styles, strengths and weaknesses, do the same thing with each team, pay a couple grand each year on season tickets, have League Pass, and play in two fantasy leagues and Fan Duel most nights.

(On second thought, I think I have a problem...)

Tier 2: Invested fans

This is me as an Indians / Browns fan. I follow each team, watch basically every game, but I couldn't tell you anything about more than 1/3 of the league with any kind of detail. I'll go to a couple games a year between both. If I miss a game, I won't go back to catch up with it. (Whereas if I miss a Cavs game, I'll watch it a day or two later)

Tier 3: Casual Fan

This is, like, my dad. Doesn't watch on a regular basis, but when we are good he'll watch the important games. Might even go to a game or two. Might buy a T Shirt. Can leave a game for a quarter of the action and not feel like he missed much. But is excited for the city when they are doing well.

This is decent. I'd say I fall somewhere in between Tier 1 and Tier 2. I just don't have the time in my life to make watching basketball or any sport a full time job. But my interest level is certainly on that plane.

 

[The Oi]

How long are you willing to drive to attend the games? I thought you lived pretty far.

I'm an hour forty five east of Pittsburgh, so about 3.5-4 from Cleve. I have family in Cleveland, so if I'm visiting them I'll go to a Cavs game. I wouldn't travel to Cleveland primarily for the game. I'll just go if I'm in town. Ask me 10 years ago and I'd have gone just for the game.

If the Browns get a franchise QB in april do you think you will go back to watching all 16 games?

Yes. Because they'll win games and be entertaining. I enjoyed watching them win or lose when Hoyer was QB, because they weren't embarrassing on offense.

Also when the cavs lost in game 6 were you not upset at all? I recall you were pissed after game 5 vs Boston in 2010. Have you changed since then? Just curious.

I have changed. I care a lot less than I did 5 years ago. Priorities change. I still post here like an asshole and enjoy it, but the games affect me a lot less.

I wasn't really that bummed out, no. I was honestly just so entertained by the team once they got their shit together that I was just along for the ride. Once Love got hurt and Kyrie was confirmed out, it was easy to just sit back and appreciate how amazing LeBron is as a player and respect the effort the Cavs put in. What disappointment I had occurred when Kyrie was confirmed out.

 

[Tornicade]

So do you only watch games when the team is good? Do you become more invested based on how good the team plays? Are you willing to spend money on tickets only if the team is performing? Also do you think the majority of fans are more like you then the hardcore fan?

Ive watched over 300 cavs games in the last 4 years. I dont buy tickets cause its not economically feasible.. is money investment your definition of a hardcore fan?

I also between two forums have about 14k post about the team. I enjoy following the sport and have no desire to be labeled as a hardcore fan.

I have my cowboys, my Cavs , My wildcats and my Buckeyes and while i once was a big baseball fan I never reinvested myself after the last strike.

Do i have my car painted in one of my teams colors with a big logo? nope. do i have a sports room like my woman has for her nascar.. not at all. I just dont get the point of the discussion.. I wouldnt name my kid after a team player. which some folks do. I dont care for watching games at the arenas, I dont have a Buckeye bus or have my house painted with the big O.

My dog animals arent named after teams.

I dont gamble on these teams.

I consider those guys hardcore fans.

Meanwhile i dont think it matters. I have found people really knowledgeable about the game at all levels of fandom.

the whole topic just reeks of elitism

some people dont care about stats or bother to remember them. does that make them less a of a fan? dont think so.
is a guy in the stands cherring delly when he gets a loose ball any less of a fan than a guy who cheers delly when he gets a loose ball and knows that delly is making 1.4 million on a one year deal..
dont think so
is the guy hosting game watching parties in the comforts of home any less of a fan than the guy sitting in 20 defree weather cheering his team on with a bunch of strangers..

seems more of matter of how they enjoy their experience of being a fan than how much they are a fan.

 

[WellYouNeednt]

This thread is like trying to decipher between if some is a dickhead or a complete asshole.

 

[godfather]

I consider myself a very bipolar fan.

I refuse to go actually watch the games live. If the team blows, I'll usually just turn into a hater at some point where I watch to enjoy complete misery upon them.

If they cross me by doing something I just don't like, they become my sworn enemy, then I wish un-Godly, and horrifying things I would never wish on a person in my life.

When they give me rare pleasure, I feel a tickless down my spine that makes me giddy. hehe

I wish horrible things on all teams and players we encounter during the games regardless of what mood the particular team has put me in.

The Browns always have me on between suicide watch, and make me very prone to aggression, depression.

The Cavs give me a lot of ups and downs, but I feel a lot more joy, peace, and restful with them.

Indians break my heart the most. But now, I don't really give that much of a shit about them anymore.

I'm a crossbreed between a psychopathic, heart bleeding, angry, happy, sad, fan weathered, sadistic, and a very ill-mannered fan.

I'm a very nice and calm person overall. But I probably should be locked in a cage, and have a clock work of psychiatrists and neurologists working on me when it comes my state as a fan.

This is why I don't go out and public anymore when I watch the games. I lock the doors, keep the phones off the hook, turn off the iphone, handcuff myself to a chair so I can't do unbodly harm to the house, and watch the games.

 

[ajz20]

Taking this in a different direction with the help of Stereo what fan group college or pro has the most tier 1 fans in your opinion? I mean the most passionate teir one fans willing to spend big money and a ton of their free time following the team.
NFL-Packers, Cowboys, Steelers
(Browns were in this category 20-25 eyars ago IMO but no more)

NBA- Lakers (20 years ago I would have said Celtics) Now I say Spurs

MLB_Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals
-
NCAA B ball- Kansas Duke, Kentucky
NCAA Football- Alabama, Oho State (20 years ago Notre Dame) (Oklahoma perhaps?)

 

[ajz20]

IMO, I think you need a third tier in there, purely based on my own experience.

Tier 1: Hardcore fans

This is me as a Cavs/NBA fan. I can tell you most of the Cavs historical roster, can rattle off the top 9-12 players of every team in the league, tell you the players' play styles, strengths and weaknesses, do the same thing with each team, pay a couple grand each year on season tickets, have League Pass, and play in two fantasy leagues and Fan Duel most nights.

(On second thought, I think I have a problem...)

Tier 2: Invested fans

This is me as an Indians / Browns fan. I follow each team, watch basically every game, but I couldn't tell you anything about more than 1/3 of the league with any kind of detail. I'll go to a couple games a year between both. If I miss a game, I won't go back to catch up with it. (Whereas if I miss a Cavs game, I'll watch it a day or two later)

Tier 3: Casual Fan

This is, like, my dad. Doesn't watch on a regular basis, but when we are good he'll watch the important games. Might even go to a game or two. Might buy a T Shirt. Can leave a game for a quarter of the action and not feel like he missed much. But is excited for the city when they are doing well.

I want to add Tier 4. Bandwagon Fan (pays no attention at the start of the seasons- When the team makes the playoffs buys tickets from scalpers for big money and starts watching the games. More of these IMO then most realize.

 

[Cratylus]

Cavs - Tier 1
Buckeyes - Tier 1
Browns - Tier 27
Indians - Tier 6039

 

[ajz20]

Cavs - Tier 1
Buckeyes - Tier 1
Browns - Tier 27
Indians - Tier 6039

Osu is so much fun to watch right now, it reminds me of the 95 tribe but on an extended number of years.
If we can get a franchise qb I think the Browns will get many of their fans back to tier one again.

 

[gourimoko]

Cavs - Tier 1
Indians - Tier 2
Browns / OSU - Tier 3.

Didn't used to be that way... Until around 2006 I was a Tier 1 Indians fan, but, I just can't stand how the MLB is run..

 

[ajz20]

Cavs - Tier 1
Indians - Tier 2
Browns / OSU - Tier 3.

Didn't used to be that way... Until around 2006 I was a Tier 1 Indians fan, but, I just can't stand how the MLB is run..

Just curious Gour, how long ago did you live in NE Ohio. Surprised you have OSU so low.

 

[gourimoko]

Just curious Gour, how long ago did you live in NE Ohio. Surprised you have OSU so low.

I left in 2010 I think... OSU is low because I'm in my thirties, didn't go there, and just don't really care for college sports. I say that as a former college athlete.

I'd rather watch the NFL or NBA for one; there are too many teams and it's tough to keep track of the ever-changing rosters; the quality of the sport is obviously below the pro leagues; and I have some ethical issues with the NCAA and their virtually free workforce.

However, when I lived in Ann Arbor in 2007-2008, I'd put OSU @ Tier 2 because there were so many opposing fans trashing my state that I had to get hip. But never any higher than that.

To me growing up, it was all about the Browns.. Then the Indians and Cavs. Then an adolescent and a young adult, I became an avid Indians (and baseball fan), especially the more I played the sport. In 2005-06, my passion for baseball and basketball kinda flipped largely due to the Cavs franchise being revitalized. I was always a Cavs fan, since the Price era, but 2005 was when I really got back into it.

Since then, no other sport has really compared.

 

[ajz20]

I left in 2010 I think... OSU is low because I'm in my thirties, didn't go there, and just don't really care for college sports. I say that as a former college athlete.

I'd rather watch the NFL or NBA for one; there are too many teams and it's tough to keep track of the ever-changing rosters; the quality of the sport is obviously below the pro leagues; and I have some ethical issues with the NCAA and their virtually free workforce.

However, when I lived in Ann Arbor in 2007-2008, I'd put OSU @ Tier 2 because there were so many opposing fans trashing my state that I had to get hip. But never any higher than that.

To me growing up, it was all about the Browns.. Then the Indians and Cavs. Then an adolescent and a young adult, I became an avid Indians (and baseball fan), especially the more I played the sport. In 2005-06, my passion for baseball and basketball kinda flipped largely due to the Cavs franchise being revitalized. I was always a Cavs fan, since the Price era, but 2005 was when I really got back into it.

Since then, no other sport has really compared.

Ann Arbor to Cle to hawaii to Phillipens to LA/ in a 6 year span? damn
I thoght I moved around a lot! have lived in DE, NC and FL since leaving NE OHio.

 

[gourimoko]

Ann Arbor to Cle to hawaii to Phillipens to LA/ in a 6 year span? damn
I thoght I moved around a lot! have lived in DE, NC and FL since leaving NE OHio.

Haha!!

Cleveland
Washington D.C.
New York
Detroit
Ann Arbor
Chicago
Orlando
Miami
Honolulu
Manila / Ilocos
Los Angeles

All cities were I've taken up some form of residence for at least 3-6 months (Atlanta just missed the cut-off).

And I cannot fucking wait to get back to Hawaii...