The way fans recently reacted to Andrew Luck and Novak Djokovic felt legitimately ugly in a way fandom is never supposed to be ugly, writes williamfleitch
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck after announcing his retirement on August 24. Photo: Justin Casterline/Getty Images I’m not friends with any professional athletes. Are you? I’m not sure it’s even possible. First off, and this is probably the biggest thing, they are always training: It is difficult to talk a buddy into grabbing a few whiskeys with you on a random Tuesday night when they’ve gotta be up at 3 a.m. for the first of their seven workouts tomorrow.
I’ve never met him, of course. And I don’t really desire to. And that’s the sports-fan-to-athlete relationship. Profound, lasting, vital, and entirely one-sided … and entirely empty of actual human connection. He is important to me. But he isn’t important to me. Those biographical details should humanize him to me, but they don’t really; they’re more like trivia; they’re proof I’ve been paying too much attention, but not proof that I actually care.
Now, let’s unpack that reaction a bit. The Colts, more than any other NFL franchise, have been blessed with perfect quarterback fortune over the last two decades. They were bad enough in 1997 to draft Peyton Manning No. 1 overall and, because they drafted one of the best quarterbacks of all time, were excellent for 13 years, winning a Super Bowl along the way. Manning missed the 2011 season with a neck injury, which meant the Colts were terrible again, which meant they got the No.
Even using the callous calculus of the fan-athlete relationship, this seemed to break a contract. Being upset that your team has lost its franchise quarterback is perfectly reasonable; being angry at him, to instantaneously forget all the joy he provided you, all the joy you experienced with him, for taking care of his physical well-being felt boorish … flat-out mean.
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