Analyzing Colts Fans

Analyzing Colts Fans

During the semester, I have been researching Indianapolis Colts fans as my subculture topic. For about two months I analyzed a group of three fans in their apartment as they watched the Colts games on television. During the games, I studied how the three reacted to good and bad plays and to what measure they cheered for their team. I also interviewed the three to get information for my research. Next, I found some problems surrounding the Colts organization and brought them together into a public document. I wanted to see how the fans would react to the problems and how much passion they had for their team. Then, I discussed the psychology of the fan in my annotated bibliography to help get a feel for the kind of person a fan is and how they are different from regular people. Hence, all this research is to help justify my overall goal. The main argument for my subculture is that Colts fans are a unique group and these fans are different from other fans in every sport. Nonetheless, through the research this goal is obtained.

The subculture I have chosen is the fans of the Indianapolis Colts. During my research, I analyzed a group of three friends because they all share a great passion for the Colts. Their names are Casey Sexson, Nick Maynard, and Cory Benton. All three have followed the Colts from their childhood years until present. They watch the games every Sunday and avidly follow the team during the week. The three also follow the history of the Colts and they all have their favorite memories. Casey's favorite memory of the Colts was not a game or a play. It happens to be when the team selected Peyton Manning to be their future quarterback. Nick's best recollection happened when Vanderjact kicked the winning field goal against the Denver Broncos during a playoff game in the snow. Cory's favorite memory happened last year when the Colts made it past the first round of the playoffs with a great victory over the Kansas City Chiefs. Moreover, Cory's tie with the team goes even further. His dad, Richard, happens to be head of security for the team. His dad attends every game, home or away, and every Colts function. Richard has many good friends on the team; one happens to be running back Joseph Addai.

Though they cheer for the same team, Casey, Nick, and Cory react very different. Casey is the most flamboyant of the group. He cheers loud during bad plays and cheers louder for good plays. Casey is also an aggressor. He will take his anger out by hitting Nick, the wall, or the couch. He is very fun to watch. Nick is the most upbeat of the three. He never gets down during the bad moments of the game. Nick leaves hope and he will try anything to get it. For instance, once he got down on his knees and prayed to God for a successful field goal attempt. Cory, on the other hand seems to be a very disturbed person during the games. He is a big fan of cursing a lot. He will insult Casey, Nick, their mothers, and the team. He is always negative. Cory will say, "Now it is time for the Colts to choke," during an upbeat moment for the team. Nonetheless, analyzing these three was a good and humorous experience.

A very big reason I decided to work with football fans is because I think football is a great emotional and mental tool at examining the character of a person. The easiest thing to do in life is quit. Yet during football, players can't quit and they always give it their best effort. The players go through ups and downs in the course of a season and how they react to what happens because of those ups and downs is a definition of their character. A parallel to the players is the fans. Fans to an extent endure what the players do. Thus, they have to ride the good and the bad times. It is easy to quit being a fan if their team is losing, yet the true fanatics never quit cheering for their team, just like the players never quit during a game. The fans also put in the same emotion whether it is happiness or frustration as the players do. I think the fans' character is judged just as much as the players' character during a football season. Nonetheless, the opportunity at seeing how much character a person has, I think is best perceived through the sport of football; thus, my decision to follow Colts fans is really an attempt to find out how much character those fans have.

Being a fan also helps a person physically, mentally and socially. Physically, a person who is a fan happens to be healthier than someone not interested in sports. Fans also suffer less depression, loneliness, and alienation than non-fans. Vancouver psychologist Saul Miller explains, "It is healthy to put your heart and soul into a team and ride the roller coaster with them during the season. It is healthy to have outlets where you can invest your emotions" (1). Mentally, being a fan serves as an escape from everyday life. Fandom provides entertainment and allows people to relax. It gives the fan a way to put their jobs and other tasks on hold for a couple of hours to spend time rooting for their favorite team. People can also improve their self-esteem and their image by becoming a fan. Christian End states that there are two types of ways to boost personal esteem and image: BIRG (Basking In the Reflected Glory) and CORF (Cutting Off Reflected Future). BIRG fans attach themselves to a successful team to make them look successful. They feel that if the team is successful and because they are affiliated with the team, outsiders will look at the fan as also successful. CORF fans disconnect themselves from a losing team and say, "There is always next year." These fans give hope for the remaining of the losing period but set their looks in upcoming years for the future success of the team. Socially, becoming a fan involves positives as well. People become fans to help create personal and social image--both that relate individuals to others by similarities or categories they have in common. Being a fan also links age groups together. Fandom gives a chance for young people to meet old people and vise versa. Fandom also gives those a chance to get involved in sports when they might lack the talent or ability to play. Nevertheless, becoming a fan gives people the chance to better themselves as an entire person; fandom fulfills the wants and needs of people and it improves the physical, mental, and social aspects of a person's life.

After studying how psychology creates a fan, I can now assess Colts fans and how they act and behave when compared to other fans. Indianapolis fans are very passionate, loyal, and respecting fans. While analyzing a group of three Colts fans, I found that they were very fervent about their home team. During the game, the three would shout, yell, clap, and give high fives to each other. After good plays, the guys