The Stormy-Weather Fan

Looks like there's a storm a-brewin'.

E'rybody else has gone and found shelter,

but I reckon I'll keep on walkin'. It might just

get better eventually.

There's a nasty misconception about my beloved city of Atlanta. It is one of long standing, but it has recently been put on blast on the interwebs by an infamous (as of last Friday, anyway) journalist at ESPN, Rob Parker. Let him tell it, Atlanta has the worst sports fan base in America. The city is full of fair-weather fans who jump ship the moment things go ever-so-slightly not-North. The "fans" are too preoccupied with other things -- say, for instance, guzzlin' sweet-tea and eating Pork BBQ (I prefer ribs) -- to care about the fact that their sports teams have been performing at a respectable level as of late.

This sho is some good sweet tea. So good I don't

e'en care to look at the huge flatscreen above me

to check on the Falcons game...

I was all kinds of vexed at the foolishness I read in Mr. Parker's article, having the audacity to site piss-poor fandom as a reason why my beloved Falcons didn't deserve to win a playoff game, much less a Superbowl. I was enraged that anyone would talk about my city and my sports teams like that. However, I do have to admit that I'm angry partially because there is a substantial amount of truth to that article. There are indeed some fans here in Atlanta who have given him plenty of ammo for the extended clip he emptied on us. It hurts my soul as a fan to watch a Hawks game and hear the "fans" (I'm going to be using that term as loosely as bowels after collard greens) chanting "MVP" for the star player of the visiting team. I get tired of going to sports bars to watch Falcons games and seeing more people wearing jerseys and paraphernalia of the other team (I know this is due to Atlanta being a city full of transplants, but it annoys me no less). Despite my slight preference of football over basketball, I've been to much fewer Falcons games than Hawks or Braves games, but at the handful that I have been to, I am yet aggravated again by the fact that at kickoff, there are either an embarrassing amount of empty seats, and or too many visiting fans in the stands. I just can't stand the thought of the "fans" in this city allowing other fans to take over and embarrass our city when it comes to sports.

You may be able to tell already, but I pride myself on being true to my city's sports teams. I know, I know... I haven't been given much reason to up until the past decade or so, and even then some would argue that much with me. Thing is though, I believe in being a true fan --a stormy-weather fan, if you will -- not a fair-weather fan. I feel that if you're going to be a fan, be a fan at all times, not just when it it's convenient. All those people who became Heat fans once a certain Akron, Ohio native took his talents to South Beach? All the Clippers "fans" that we didn't even know existed that are coming out the woodwork now that CP3 is in LA? Y'all can miss me with that. I've been on the same bandwagons for years, even back when those bandwagons were in serious need of an appearance on "Pimp My Ride." (Is that show still on?)

Why did I choose to become a fan of Atlanta sports? It all got started about 20 years ago. It was 1992, and I had just moved back to GA after two years in NY. I was just starting to get into sports at the time and figured I should root for the local teams. It's stuck with me ever since. Hey, I guess I was naive back then and didn't now any better. And for some reason, I've always had a soft spot for the underdogs. Anyway, I figure, I've been on this trip so long, I'm not gonna turn my back now, or ever. When my Falcons and Hawks finally taste the gold, I want to say that I was there through the bad and sad times, not just when things were looking good.

Though not as bad as in the past, being a fan of Atlanta sports can definitely put your faith to the test. Not that I hadn't been through it before, but one such trial came on Sunday afternoon, "Wildcard Sunday". My Falcons suffered a humiliating loss to the New York Giants, only scoring 2 points the whole game, and none of them from the offense. They had flopped in the playoffs for the 3rd time in 4 years, once again failing to do any damage in the postseason. Once the game was over, to Twitter I went. Not to vent my frustration or curse my team as some other "fans" were known to do, but to make it known that I was still behind my team, 100%. I tweeted that, win or lose, Superbowl or 1st pick of the draft, I would support my team, and dared anyone to say something about it. Of course, someone did; a self-proclaimed Falcons fan "since before I was born" accused me of "sugar-coating" the inexcusable loss.

I explained to said fan that my saying that I'm dedicated to my team was not in any way synonymous with sweeping a loss under the rug. I also stated that regardless of the teams performance, I was not going to badmouth my team. During this argument, I thought about all the things that I've seen and heard other "fans" do that made me shake my head in disgust. Many of these things are what make me almost agree with what Rob Parker had to say about the A-T-L and its sports fans (don't get it twisted; I still think #RobParkerIsAnIdiot). Make no mistake, I am in no way the authority on fandom, nor do I proclaim to be the perfect fan, but here are just a few of my convictions that I hold to as a supporter of my teams; things that I am not going to do to my team...

First of all, I am not going to attack our players. Twitter has created a whole new dynamic to fandom, making players (and other celebrities, for that matter) accessible to the general public. This can be both a good and a bad thing. In regards to the latter, I've seen just how disrespectful, evil and nasty some people can be, people who claim to be "fans." This is in no way exclusive to Atlanta sports fans, but I've witnessed it here first hand. Now, I'm not saying that I've never had negative opinions of any players or coaches (a certain offensive coordinator comes to mind at the moment). What I am saying is that a true fan should not be blowing up our players mentions on Twitter, telling them how much they suck, cursing them or threatening them. I seriously doubt that a player would consider someone a fan if he received a nasty-gram in his Twitter mentions from them. What our teams and individual players need from us is support and encouragement. I'm not saying that we should coddle them and fake like everything is strawberries & cream when it's really not. By all means, please have your opinions of our teams, players and coaches; negative and positive. However, anything negative and disrespectful should be kept to ourselves and far, far away from our players' Twitter mentions. It is highly counter-productive to tear our players down. I compare such a thing to a man coming home to a nagging, ball-busting wife or a woman coming home to a demanding, belittling husband. Our teams and players don't need that kind of negativity from home.

Second, I am not going to give up on my team until all hope is lost. By this, I am referring to individual games and the current season. Whether watching the game with friends and other fans, or reading the Tweets of others, far too many times have I seen people just give up and go to pieces over one or two bad plays. Honestly, some people just need to keep their cool and stop being so dramatic. Football games are 60 minutes, basketball games are 48, baseball has 9 innings. Anything can happen in any given game, and no game is won or lost off one play. I mean, we all get frustrated and have our "what the heck were you thinking?!?!" moments during games, but come on... The reactions I see from some people lead me to believe they are expecting perfection for the entire duration of a game, and anything less dooms us to another loss. Sometimes I just have to make myself stay away from twitter during games. I'm allergic to needless drama, and some of the "fans" provide plenty of it. People really don't realize how it makes us look as a fan base when they go off like that. People do the same for a season: one or two losses in the beginning and folks are ready to fire all the coaches and plan for a top-10 first round draft pick. (Now, in hindsight of the Falcon's season, I can understand the coaching part, but work with me here.) Again, I'm not saying I'm the perfect fan or that I never get worried, but dang, where is the faith for our teams? Can we please stop acting like the fat lady has already hit her high notes and shattered all the windows after every tough loss or early struggles?

I will wrap it all up by saying this: being a true fan does not mean ignoring a team's flaws and shortcomings. It's not being blind to the weaknesses. It's not a failure to acknowledge the things that need to change. I'm not saying any of that. I do believe that being a true fan does mean supporting, encouraging and standing behind your team in spite of everything that I just mentioned. Being a true fan means believing your team will prove all the nay-sayers and haters (ugh... how I hate that word) wrong. Being a true fan means being there regardless if they're 16-0 or 0-16 (I pray we never drop that low). I know for a fact that I am not the only true Atlanta sports fan. I'm glad I'm not by myself, but if I had to stand alone (there are times I feel that I do), I will. I will continue to proudly rock my Falcons #22 "SMOOVE" on Mondays, even after the Falcons lose. I will continue to weather the ridicule of my friends, family and co-workers as a result of my undying love for my teams. I will continue to be the change that I want to see in Atlanta until and well beyond the moment Rob Parker is forced to eat his words with a southern-style sweet-tea chaser. If I have to, I will be Atlanta's only "Stormy-Weather" fan.

F.I.L.A... Forever I Love ATLANTA. WHAT.