Basking in Reflected Glory
The sports fan can often be described as passionate. They make a considerable emotional and in many cases financial investment in their teams. I myself run websites about my two favorite teams, investing a lot of my time and providing myself with a hobby that I draw enjoyment from. With every win, there is a high. With every loss, a low, but life goes on and you hope the next week your team gives you that high again.
With that emotion, I sometimes find myself taking my sports too seriously, and the emotions of the game getting the best of me. Fans love to feel they have some impact on what their team does. The age of the internet has produced an army of armchair quarterbacks and fans who declare this guy is a bum, or that guy should be fired. There seems to be a point where fans become almost delusional in the effect their comments have on the team they cheer for.
Take this recent quote that appeared on Lionbackers.com following a Lions victory, where a fan states that Wally Buono should thank the fan website for the success of the team versus the Saskatchewan Roughriders last Friday.
“Seems to me he can thank most of the Lion’s loyal and concerned of fans for having lit a collective fire under his arrogant, complacent butt, and started listening to what we have been saying for years about Javier Glatt playing on the outside rather than in the middle. You can be sure that media just saw what we had to say, as a political football and ran with it so to speak.
Notice how well Javy responded to being shook up and demoted, by responding with a whale of a game at the WILL position, and was instrumental in a critical turnover spelling off JoJuan at his old starting spot as a bonus. Who says the armchair critics don’t have something to contribute to this team.
It’s called tough love, careful and reflective analysis, something you’ll never get from Rod Black and Glen Suitor and their bland nauseating lip service.”
Not only does this “fan” claim some credit for the win on behalf of the site he posts on, he himself takes a personal shot at the coach with his comment. Is this a fan, or an individual pumping up his own ego and self-esteem?
A study done in 1976 (Cialdini, R. B., et al. (1976). Basking in reflected glory: Three (football) field studies. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 34, 366-375.) clearly demonstrated that people associate themselves with positive outcomes of others even when they have no clear connection to those outcomes. The study showed that after a win by their chosen teams, fans would use words like “we” after a win and “they” after a loss. In other words, they take pride in being part of the victories, but distance themselves from the losses.
Football is the ultimate arm chair sport. Missed blocks, bad penalties, interceptions, all provide fuel for the “expert” fan. This isn’t to say fans don’t deserve to have opinions or can’t talk about the plays or mistakes they observed in the game. But often they cross the line from being a fan to being abusive towards players and coaches. Throwing out personal insults, or inferring that they have all the answers. Some of them even promote fellow fans, claiming they should be hired as coaches in place of the professionals hired by the team. Yes, I’m serious.
A common cry from those basking in this glory of others, is that the players don’t care or that they aren’t trying. That is one of the most ridiculous things a fan can state in my opinion. These players are professionals because they do care, they’ve dedicated themselves and their bodies to playing football. With one missed play they can lose their job.They can be here today and gone tomorrow.
We as fans need to remember that to us this is entertainment, not a right of passage to rip and insult players when we see fit. We may think we care as fans but to the players and coaches, this is their every day life. To be a true fan, you need to stick with your team through thick and thin. The memories that sports have left imprinted on our lives will always remain, and they are a gift from those that provided them. Let’s all remember that sports is not life and death. It’s a vehicle of entertainment that we all get to enjoy.
Our kids look up to players as heroes, and we as adults get our emotions sent on a roller coaster ride that takes us to great highs and crushing lows. Enjoy the ride, because in the end it’s just a game.
Interesting post Brian. Yes, image management among sports fans, via BIRGing as you’ve described or CORFing (Cutting off Reflected Failure) has been a topic of interest among social psych researchers. We must have observed the same types of posts at the beginning of last season, because I made a post about it then: http://www.bclionsden.ca/theden/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=512&p=3192&hilit=birg#p3192.
The poster quoted above is very venomous against Wally and, more than suggesting Wally’s decisions may have been influenced by fan suggestions he is outright convinced of it, despite its implausibility to most reasonable individuals. He goes on to suggest Wally should be showing some gratitude for it. This in itself would be an interesting topic to study – the perception among sports fans that they have some decision-making control or contribute in some way to coaching decisions. Control (in addition to autonomy, freedom and independence) is a core human need.
On the other hand, control is a lucrative product for sports teams and for-profit fan forums such as the one this quote was drawn from. People who don’t generally derive feelings of control in their own lives will fork out all kinds of money for a quick fix. So, as far as a sports team or for-profit fan forum is concerned, let the fans think they’re running the show as long as they’re paying for it.
I think you mean “reflected” glory, not “reflective”. Reflective means pensive, contemplative, as opposed to the idea that a team’s success reflects on it’s fans. That’s reflected.
OK never mind…….I see it’s been changed!
I suppose I should feel flattered that you are so incensed by my comments @lionbackers.com you felt it was necessary to put me in my place by making me the butt of your disgust and ridicule. Glad to see I was such an inspiration to you that you feel compelled to do an editorial centerpiece on attacking me outside of confines of your old forum boards.
By sighting my comments in the way that you have, you yourself in your pompous zeal have drawn attention to them in your stinging rebuke. Instead of ignoring and dumbing them down you elected to recognize their validity, and in your sanctimonious superiority feel the need to trash their honesty by comparing my ego to that of the coach’s.
Let us examine the courage it took to make these statements public and why it was necessary to draw attention the fact the changes alluded to became necessary in the 1st place.
1. The mention of comments made on the misguided use of Javiar Glatt at starting middle linebacker for the Lions by Buono, @lionbackers.com, were made public for the last two years and attention was drawn to them by a third-party and very well respected reporter of the Vancouver sports media, and not just some rambling backhanded, off-the-cuff statements made by me you wish your web visitors would take for “Brian’s gospel”.
2. Were it not true that many others besides myself for years had been calling for those exact changes made by coach Buono in last Friday night’s game, (he doggedly did the opposite for years) then maybe you would have a case why everyone but Wally could see why “it wasn’t working” but himself, and a leg for you to stand on when it comes to laughing off my comments as vein, and contemptible and deluded.
Read for yourself what one of your own members wrote on Suzeq’s thread
“Does Wally deserve to be thrown under the bus?”
Re: Wally claims not to read his own press.
“This is a load of road apples. You always hear this from athletes, coaches, politicians, etc. “I don’t read the papers”, “I don’t listen to the open line shows” blah blah blah. Don’t believe it for a second. These guys all have very healthy egos, and no one has a healthier ego than Wally. He knows exactly what is being said about him and his team at all times. He can’t officially acknowledge that, of course, but anyone believes that Wally doesn’t read the Sun and Province and doesn’t have people checking out sites like this one, they are awfully gullible.”
3. You and those who have commented on your editorial seem to take an unwholesome pleasure in an attempt to discredit the truth, anxious to condemn my statements, and fearful lest my words are believed.
4. You draw attention away from your own website that conversely piques the interest in your competitor’s you yourself defected from, and risks loosing you even more interaction than your own narrow membership already has.
Why don’t you have the courage of your convictions and make public your views @lionbackers.com where my reactions to the media comments were made in the 1st place? Even on your own forum you attempted to draw attention to the fact you posted this editorial by the same title, and to date it has drawn 42 views and one comment???
I get that you worship at the alter of Wally Buono, that nothing that the savior of the Leos does can be questioned or challenged, and that because he is the leader you and those like you, will follow him blindly unto death if necessary.
This only proves to expose your own irresponsibility to be discerning, and demanding of the excellence he is so laughably lauded to regally process, but instead you empower him with a carte blanche attitude in his own infallible unaccountability to the fans he is touted to supposedly serve.
I wasn’t incensed at all, I found the study interesting, and cited your comments which are readily available on a public forum that you choose to post on. I had originally not posted a link to it, but the site owner insisted I do so. If you have a problem with that speak to him.
I’ll let the reader respond to your insults and accusations about myself and my site.
With all due respect I think that, rather than incensed, one is left both dumbfounded and intrigued by your comments Pigskin. Do you really believe that Wally Buono takes direction from fan recommendations on a message board or the press? Because it’s that outrageous belief that’s left us scrambling for explanation in the literature. Although your colourful comments were singled out to highlight Brian’s point, to be fair, I suspect you’re not the only one who feels they’ve assumed a virtual advisor position.
Does it not seem reasonable to believe that Wally Buono had long ago entertained the personnel moves and coaching decisions you and your colleagues have suggested over time? Chances are rather high don’t you think that if a fan has thought of it, a professional coach has thought of it? So the notion of the change is likely there, what about the implementation? Are you and your colleagues aware of all of the obstacles that may stand in his way? Are you aware of the internal organization politics involved? The systemic implications a move may have at a particular time and all the other factors that Wally deals with day in and day out? Don’t you think that sometimes a coach may have to wait for those kinds of factors to line up favourably before he makes a move? Fans lack insight into these behind the scenes factors, and it’s that large disconnect that makes their “expertise” (and the notion that Wally relies heavily on their expertise) suspect.
It’s hard to interpret the meaning of some of your other comments above, but it’s clear that you are upset that your claims are being challenged. However, any public commentary is subject to critical thought and discussion, don’t you agree? Two things motivate commentary on your claim that Wally is taking direction from his fans. First, respect for our coach. Anyone who feels they need to “light a fire under his arrogant, complacent butt” is going to get my attention. That man has done a lot for the team that I love and want to see succeed, just as much as (I assume?) you do. You’re hostile, and that draws critical attention. Second, a fan claiming to provide direction to a professional coach is just flat out unreasonable in my eyes. It’s one thing to wonder out loud if Wally MIGHT have been influenced IN PART to fan suggestions. It’s quite bold to express conviction that he DOES listen to fan suggestions, and that he seeks decision-making counsel from the fanbase.