Old fan, New fan, Good fan, Bad fan: Childs book or babbling from Curly (#40)?

I’ve seen some ridiculous posts in my time here, but recently I’ve seen the most asinine discussions I’ve ever been witness too. At what point does someone become a Rocket fan? Does a person become a fan after one game, one season, one decade, multiple decades, or perhaps one becomes a fan when they purchase as much memorabilia from the local retailer as possible? Better yet, is one eternally enshrined a fan because of their ability to jump from one stat sheet to the next, every time someone enquires about the assist to turnover ratio of a particular player? Perhaps if I work to have the most posts on a team forum, I’ll be acknowledged as “the biggest fan”.

Webster’s definition of a fanatic: is one marked by excessive enthusiasm and often intense uncritical devotion

Webster however didn’t attend a professional or collegiate sporting event (some little league games can be included here as well). The fanatic can be both an inspiration for their dedication to their team, and then turn around and be a complete embarrassment to that very team and those supporting the good guys. Same can be said for fanatics on this forum. There is a fine line between arguing opinions and personal attacks, just as there is a fine line between being a fanatic and being a person that is a devout follower and can still accept criticism of said team without making an embarrassment of himself or those they claim to be representing.

I have been following the Rockets since the mid 70’s, attending games, purchasing memorabilia and attire, defending “my team” and idolizing players. I can run through stats, individual game memories, tell you the attitude of previous teams and the attitude of the fans following those teams year by year, and go into what we were chanting at midcourt during our championship runs against the Lakers and Celtics in the 80’s and again the Knicks and Magic in the 90’s, how much I can’t stand losing to Utah and Seattle in the playoffs with the best of them. I can tell you firsthand accounts of on court discussions with Rocket players and opposing players but I won’t, I can tell how much heavy The Mailman is when he lands in your lap and how good it feels to “deliver” a knee blow to his package as he gets up, but I won’t. I could also tell you how Horry was more interested in the dance routines (and particular dancers) during timeouts than he was with what was being said in the huddle. And when did “we” call him “Big Shot Bob” or “Big Shot Rob” or whatever it is, I don’t remember ever calling him that? Oh yea, Julius’ fro..best seen in a rearview mirror because it was definitely bigger than it appeared on TV. But that might start to show what a “true fan” I am and that’s not what it’s about.

With the help of a little invention called the computer and this thing that Al Gore invented a while back called the internet, I am able to scroll back through time and have all those memories at my fingertips. One day while I was searching for some irrelevant player statistic or picture, I can’t remember but I think it had to do with “The Whopper”, I discovered this little discussion board and decided to create a profile and start talking Rockets.

The opinions were many, and the discussions were intense. There were trade proposals, coaching changes, game play philosophy differences, starting lineup arguments and our share of “insider” information that was both deadly accurate and not even in the arena, we learned to take it with all with a grain of salt, and interpret the difference between what we wanted to “believe was true” from what was “probably true”. We had our doubters then of who was an “insider” and who was throwing statements out there to see if they would stick. After years had passed, despite the spirit of the page, I noticed a change in attitude as more “fans” of the Rockets decided register thinking that it’s more important to prove others wrong than it was to have an intelligent discussion about each other’s “opinion”. It got to a point that I pretty much stopped posting as I was spending too much time filtering out the personal attacks from actual Rocket chatter. You will notice that my post total is behind what some would think to be that of a real fan, however I tend to believe that we have two eyes, two ears and only one mouth for a reason. Some of the vets on the board will confirm that I wasn’t a “huge” poster back in the day and by no means was I an insider, but back then content was more important than quantity.

With every forum, especially one that is as great as this one has been for over a decade, it is going to continue to grow in size and membership, and while some of the discussion has been diluted with ridiculous trade suggestions, starting lineup, and banter about our offense and defensive philosophies, there is no room for drivel about what a Rocket fan is or who is a “new” fan or “old” fan. If being member #40 makes me “old school” and a “true Rocket” fan then I guess that’s what I am. If I joined today, would I now become a “new fan” and be shunned by someone that thinks they are a “Rocket Fan” just because I have a not so nice thing to say about a former Rocket player, coach or towel boy? With the addition of international players, we have also seen an increase in international “members”, each with their own opinions and their ability to surf the net for information that we don’t see, mainly because it is in a different language. Translations can be a very tricky thing, especially if someone inputs their own verbiage in with those translations. We also have to remember that sometimes there aren’t direct translations and the translator will put in whatever seems to be the best fit. I am not going into the actual content of the responses, other than to say sometimes greater leeway needs to be allowed before responding with personal attacks or knee jerk responses to discount what has been posted.

Being that this one post has more words in it than I’ve posted in the past few years, I’ll end by stating that please don’t presume because I’m member #40 I can be grouped me in with your “old fan” statements. I have my own opinions, and they aren’t close to yours. For that matter, if I’m member #40 does that make anyone #41 or higher a “new fan”, or less of a fan than I am…just curious?

Don’t discount my post total for being less of a fan or that I’m “not here”, I’m just more interested in reading what others have to say than I am “reading what a great poster I am”. I’ll add relevance or humor where I deem necessary, and occasions like this I’ll get on my soapbox when I get a little red assed.

To the newbies: As always, welcome aboard
To the contributors: Thank you
To the post monkeys: Keep the faith

Founding Fathers/Admins: As every “To My Wife/Bride” birthday card likes to reiterate, "I might not always say it or show it, but…"

 

touché

 

That might be how they spell it in Baytown. Come on what kind of Stooges fan are you? It’s Curley. Didn’t we have this discussion about eight years ago? Maybe I’m not the true Stooge fan, or I tapped Enter before realizing what I had done and decided to just stuck it out all these years.

 

Just kiddinging. Thought I might make a corrective post with totally inaccurate information. Won't do it again, left a bad taste in my mouth.

Larry and Moe are doing well, thanks for asking DD and pirc1.