The Stormy Fan-an ode to transplanted Sox supporters

Published Oct. 27, 2005

I rarely feel the need to write an op-ed piece for our section, especially on sports. But as a person who grew up cheering for those perennial losers, the Buffalo Bills, yet lacked a baseball team, I came to have a soft spot for my adopted Red Sox and for the legendary Fenway, where I had one of my first dates with my boyfriend, Roger. The local contingent at Emerson is surprisingly outnumbered by students from across the States and international students, but they are vocal when it comes to trying to measure up to their adulation for the Sox. I felt I had to stick up for those of us who, like enthusiastic immigrants, were only a generation away from becoming rooted Sox fans, and deserved patience and solidarity, not a knee-jerk rejection. Trivial in its scope? Maybe. But as I wrote:

"I may not know the latest score, but as a writer I can understand a compelling metaphor. The best sports teams are the ones that are metaphors for the towns and cities they play for, that inspire those parts of the country that are defined by their graceful losses and please their fans regardless of the score."

Lead paragraph(s):

I have an issue with the "fair-weather fan" bashing I have seen in Boston in the past year, and specifically Lauren DeLong's "Fair-weather fans frustrate" article in last week's Berkeley Beacon.

Sure, everyone loves a winner, but anyone who roots for the underdog knows the losers are much more endearing. There's a mind-altering disease that old-school Red Sox fans are high on these days though: let's call it Hub-centricism.

The disease is defined by memory loss: now that the Sox have won and are the center of the sports universe, the "die-hard" fans believe it has always been thus, that there wasn't a time where crowds applauding fruitlessly was believed to be the cure for the Curse of the Bambino.

Now that we've all cheered and we've all cared, not sharing the Red Sox is unsportsmanlike, especially when a real supporter should believe that the best thing for the team is a more-the-merrier attitude-whether they win or lose.

I guess you could call me a stormy-weather fan. I think that teams whose loser status is legendary are the best to join. These organizations will roll out the welcome mat for anyone who roots for their cause...