Fanarchy

Today was supposed to be a Pro*file but I wanted to do this instead--sorry, Johnny. (One more day, buddy.) I'm thinking (hoping) this one might hit a nerve or two. That's not why I'm doing it but I wouldn't mind if it went that way.

I'm curious as to what makes a person a fan. I don't mean the usual stuff; schools, alma maters, hometowns, city or state pride or family tradition. I get all those. And I'm not talking about the Johnny-Come-Lately fanboys or the bandwagon jumpers. Not just any kind of fan. More specifically a fan of a paintball team. What makes a person a fan of a paintball team?

I sorta understand idolizing certain players. When they play for successful teams or their names appear (appeared) routinely in all the magazines and are featured in gear catalogs or advertisements it's easy to see that name recognition alone plays a role. Then there's word of mouth and those featured on paintball DVDs. And I suppose the same applies to teams at least in some measure but liking a player is different from favoring a team. (Don't argue with me, it is. It just is.)

But here's where I get lost. Most paintball fans seldom if ever actually see their "favorites" actually play and compete. How can you be a fan under those circumstances? And when rosters routinely change you're no longer, necessarily, a fan of the same players even if the team name goes on. How does a paintball team merit fans? I'm seriously interested in how y'all might explain paintball fandom. The one thing I know it isn't about is good paintball. (Which holds true in other sports as well.) The reason is most fans, dare I say most players, have--at best--only a passing acquaintance with the qualities of performance excellence. What I mean is most fans don't know good when they see it. They know flashy. They only see the highlight reel. How does the self-identified fan choose one team over another when they have so little to go on? How does that work?

What is the strange alchemy that creates the paintball fan?

World Cup

I don't know about y'all but I can hardly wait. Weeks of preparation and the culmination of a whole year's effort into one long weekend of paintball. Looking forward to it. I'm hoping once the event gets started I'll stop receiving 400 freaking email blasts a day from the PSP. You know it's getting out of hand when you can't remember the last NPPL blast you got--okay, it was about HB 2010--but still.

Fanarchy

I have succumbed to the temptation of the so-called follower link. (SEE: We're All Meeting at Waffle House)
The result is located just above the Archives well down the sidebar and as you can see I still reject "follower" so in it's place I've created the far more moderate and lovably ironic Deadbox Puppet Army. One good thing about it is that it's also a link to info about the member(s) which is a tasty bite of technological sweetness that only required a couple of mouse clicks. [Check out Numero Uno, the soldier of misfortune, PBAgenda.] While there will be no followers here there really won't be much of an army either. The Deadbox Puppet Army is for those of you who have a hard time following orders. Who have the urge to bite the hand that feeds you. Who aren't big on fads or fashion and who find the myriad of other paintball armies just a little bit sad. (No, kids, not your paintball army--those other guys paintball armies.)
No followers. No puppets. No army. Fans of the View, awesome. If that's you then you're welcome to join the fanarchy.