In my house, we told the seasons in relation to what sports season it was: fall was football, winter was basketball, and spring and summer commenced a battle between days on the lacrosse field and nights spent on the baseball diamond under the lights. But too often people assume that women are not true sports fans and can be ridiculed for their interest in a team or sport.
Here are just a few of things that have been said to me while at a sporting event or while watching a game.
1. "You only like him cause he’s hot.”
I’m a long-suffering Mets fan, always have, always will. Do you think I would put myself through this obscene amount of torture just to stare at a bunch of guys butts in baseball pants?
Come on!
I mean Noah Syndergaard’s luscious locks of gold hair blowing in the wind should be one of the Seven Wonders of the World but, you know what’s more impressive? In over 184 innings in the 2016 season, Syndergaard’s four-seam fastball averaged 97.9 m.p.h. and he hit three home runs that season. Now that’s hot!
2. "Oh yeah? Name some of their players."
Ahhhhhhhh, here we go, the questioning begins. No matter what the sport or the team there is always a need to prove that you are a fan and know what you are talking about, even if it means naming the entire starting lineup. The worst is when the accuser brings up an obscure statistic or fact that you didn’t know and are labeled as a fake fan that doesn’t know what they are talking about.
3. "You're a bandwagon fan.”
Alight, let's hop on the old bandwagon…A few big-city bandwagon fans give all of us a bad name, especially when people think a championship is coming their way.
I mean stores Urban Outfitters sell distressed Yankee hats for 30$ and girls buy than to wear them around as a fashion statement rather than to show some team pride.But listen when I’m wearing my authentic, majestic, throwback David Wright Mets jersey with my fresh new era cap…. Come at me.
And yea, I’m a ‘Bama fan BUT… I don’t really have a rebuttal to that one. Greg McElroy and McCarron were really good quarterbacks and I had to relieve my suffering at some point!
4. "You only go to baseball games for the Snapchat."
First of all, how dare you. I paid 175$ for these seats. That shit is expensive and I’m on a college student’s budget. I’m not throwing that kind of money away “for the gram.” I’m out here taking stats and heckling Brice Harper's weak haircut with the rest of them.
If a picture happens to end up on the story, its because if I have the pleasure to witness greatness, and have seen the spectacle of the Mets winning a game… I’m going to share it… and maybe my Shake Shack before the game.
5. "That’s a men’s shirt sweetheart, the pink ones are over there.”
I never understood why the NFL/MLB stores had such drastically different designs for apparel for men and women. It’s marketed that men get authentic looking team apparel, women’s are often pink or mesh or so sparkly they can be spotted from a mile away.
It's not just the glittery decoration or the “women's” fit that frustrates me as a female fan its that the prices of women's fan gear tend to run higher than the men's equivalent. So when this unsuspecting drunk fan told me “the pink ones are over there”, pointing across the store, I picked up the last David Murphy (RIP) t-shirt, paid, and left the store.
