Every sport undergoes changes but I'm referring not to the sports themselves but to the way in which fans consume sports. Sports persons and sports teams have always been under pressure to perform and of course to win but I don't think there has ever been a time - like now - when only winning would satisfy people (although I don't deny winning is important - I'm not stupid you see) and when winning is the know all and do all of following a team. This leads me to the thought that sports fans are becoming more and more like ordinary consumers. While the relationship between a sports fan towards his/her team is more emotional, that between a consumer and a mainstream brand that sells products/services in more transactional. The sports fan and the ordinary consumer manifest themselves in all of us (who follow sports), but it seems to me that the former manifestation is moving uncomfortably closer to the latter.
The modern sports scene seems to me to be engulfed in ridiculous "short-termism" with instant results expected and patience being considered a not so virtuous route to success. Fans want results, which is fine, but things have reached a point where everything else that distinguishes sport from any other "product" is being overlooked. It's almost like saying, "I'm paying to watch you play, so I'm entitled to expect you to achieve this or that as a minimum" just like saying "I paid for my broadband, I now expect it to work". I wonder sometimes if it was the same earlier and just less evident because of the limited number of outlets for fans to express it through. To a large extent social media has made it possible for every Jack and Jill to vent out frustrations in the way they see fit and this has led some people to shape the opinions of many others. I don't believe that social media is the root cause though.
I feel the mainstream media has played a major role here. There are hundreds of newspapers, magazines and websites competing for our eyeballs and they are willing to write absolutely anything to get our attention. Responsible journalism does not exist any more. Opinions are formed and discarded in the blink of an eye, one day someone's a star the next day the same person's a total failure. For example Phil Jones was being compared to Beckenbauer and 3 weeks later he was being criticized for his failings. My immediate thought was "Come on, the fellow is 19 years old. Give him a little time." Similarly Alex Oxlade Chamberlain, another exciting prospect after scoring on his Champions League debut, has been praised endlessly. I won't be surprised if we see a "The Ox in Crisis" blog sometime soon. The causes of this trend are many and this space is definitely not enough to go into detail but it's just a thought that I wanted to put out.
People will say almost anything to "sell" their opinions and too many fans take the bait. I'm well aware that I might be looking at this through Arsenal tinted glasses and also after looking at selected sources but I still think its definitely a trend that is present at some level and one that could ruin the essence of sport which is about the lows as much as it is about the highs. I'm in a world of my own and a full blooded encounter on a football pitch is enough to set my mood up (or down) for a weekend. I'll let it continue like that rather than fret too much about the rest.
Time to get geared up for the derby game then. Oh and whoever wins, it will not signal any shifting of the scales to one side of North London. It's October for God's sake. That can only be decided at the end of the season. Here's hoping that RED is the colour that dominates this afternoon. Speak later!
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