I need to be a better fan

[Greg Pappas]

It's not always easy to look in the mirror and be disappointed, but when it comes to watching sports, whether that's the O's, Ravens, or Terps (for me) I see less of a fan than I should be.  I spend too much time worrying, complaining, and over-analyzing things, and now realize that I'm not actually enjoying the games.  At least not nearly as much as I should.  I mean, what's the point of being a fan if you're not?  I'm envious of so many others, who see the games for what they are... games.  Go O's!  Go Ravens!  Go Terps!

[Chelsea_Phil]

I am the same way as you, and I think there are many like us.  You just have to deal with it.

[Orioles Jim]

If you figure out how to be a better fan, let me know!  I'm definitely interested in learning myself!

[tntoriole]

19 minutes ago, Greg Pappas said:

It's not always easy to look in the mirror and be disappointed, but when it comes to watching sports, whether that's the O's, Ravens, or Terps (for me) I see less of a fan than I should be.  I spend too much time worrying, complaining, and over-analyzing things, and now realize that I'm not actually enjoying the games.  At least not nearly as much as I should.  I mean, what's the point of being a fan if you're not?  I'm envious of so many others, who see the games for what they are... games.  Go O's!  Go Ravens!  Go Terps!

Fan is short for “fanatic”.  If I am not overthinking or worrying, then some might mistake that for me not caring and seeing it as “just another game” when it is , in fact, a life and death cage match every night and day.  At least when we are in a season that means something. During the lost years, I would not get near as intense lol

[ChosenOne21]

Thank you for saying that. I think there's a lot of people here who need to hear that. Watching people in the game thread basically begging the baseball gods for more runs so they could relax when we were up by four in the seventh inning and have one of the best bullpens in baseball just makes me sad. This is probably the best Orioles team in two and a half decades and so many people don't seem to be enjoying it because they're STILL convinced it's all going to come crashing down.

[CallMeBrooksie]

A fan is irrational by definition. There's no such thing as a "good" fan and a "bad" fan. Just consume the entertainment however you most enjoy it. 

For me, that means being fair-weather. If the team sucks, I'm not watching. It's not enjoyable or entertaining to me when my favorite team has very little chance of winning. There's no honor or superiority in sticking it out as a fan purely out of some twisted sense of duty.

I'm not going to go rooting for other teams... I just stop watching MLB baseball altogether unless there's some new and compelling storyline that I want to check in on 

[Malike]

25 minutes ago, Greg Pappas said:

It's not always easy to look in the mirror and be disappointed, but when it comes to watching sports, whether that's the O's, Ravens, or Terps (for me) I see less of a fan than I should be.  I spend too much time worrying, complaining, and over-analyzing things, and now realize that I'm not actually enjoying the games.  At least not nearly as much as I should.  I mean, what's the point of being a fan if you're not?  I'm envious of so many others, who see the games for what they are... games.  Go O's!  Go Ravens!  Go Terps!

Took having a child with a terminal illness for me to realize that sports are not life. I enjoy every game, I don't feel anxiety when the team loses or is down in games, which is probably why I am normally too non-emotional in the game threads. I enjoy each game because it's not life, it's a game.

[ShoelesJoe]

Normal baseball fan: Can't you even let me enjoy the moment?

Me: The moment’s over. 

[Orioles Jim]

9 minutes ago, Malike said:

Took having a child with a terminal illness for me to realize that sports are not life. I enjoy every game, I don't feel anxiety when the team loses or is down in games, which is probably why I am normally too non-emotional in the game threads. I enjoy each game because it's not life, it's a game.

Thank for you for posting this, it’s great perspective. Hope all is well with your family.

[Malike]

2 minutes ago, Orioles Jim said:

Thank for you for posting this, it’s great perspective. Hope all is well with your family.

Thanks, appreciate it. I would like people to know I'm certainly not looking for sympathy, life is great for now which is why it's hard for me to be upset about things like baseball! Just weird how my perspective went from sports are life and full of anxiety to, well, sports are a game, life is what gives you anxiety

[scbalt52]

Easier said than done but yeah we could all improve on this. The baseball season has 162 games. Every single team is going to make boneheaded plays, horrible grooved pitches down the middle, bad baserunning mistakes, etc. Luckily, one moment over the course of the season is very small.

You almost have to learn how to be a fan of a good baseball team, we haven't had a lot of practice lately!

When you look at where we are by weeks and by months, it's truly incredible. This very well could be the best team we have, record-wise, in this 5-10 year competitive window. That is not meant to be a depressing comment. It's meant to say, please enjoy this ride! And we all think/know we can get better! (Scary...for the rest of the MLB). Being good/bad on paper doesn't mean a thing.

You can't be a fan that overreacts in baseball (I am still a lot). You've got to enjoy the highs and ignore the lows that are going to happen. 

If the Ravens lose 3 in a row, their season is in trouble. If the Orioles do, that's a standard poor week of baseball for most teams (hasn't really been for us, keep it going!). 

Baseball is awesome, we are awesome. We see the flaws and the boys keep winning. Let's see how long this thing can last. I hope to see you all at the parade later this fall!

[oriolefan1035]

I have a friend like this. Literally cannot even talk to him during games any more. I put him on mute until the end of our playoff run. The Orioles are a lot of fun this year and if folks are sucking that joy out of your life, you gotta cut them out.

[TopGunnar]

I’ve calmed down considerably once I realized  we’re having a special season. Around late July. I still get worked up over some stuff though. We’re on pace for 100 wins after losing 100. We truly need to enjoy this 

[waroriole]

I go through cycles with it. I’ll tune out when they go through long losing streaks (not this year) or if a game is out of hand early, I call it a night. Sometimes it’s hard to appreciate things while you’re living through them. 

[Orioles Jim]

Sidenote, the first time in my life I ever uttered the F-bomb was over Jeffrey Maier (I was 7).

I’ve been pretty much doomed since then.