Why do we care so much?

[InChiefsHeaven]

I've actually done a lot of thinking on this the last few years, and really the last few months.

I've been a Chiefs fan my whole life, though nobody in my family is. Back in the 70's my dad bought a poster for me and my brother's bedroom. It was a picture of an end zone pile up with the Chiefs and the Raiders. I guess I decided I liked the guys in Red, and I've never looked back.

I dealt with kids literally making fun of me in the 70s and 80s because the Chiefs sucked so bad. Then the 90s happened, and I guess it was redemption time, though it still ended in no championships.

I keep a schedule every year, I write the scores and my thoughts on the games. I just looked at the 2006 one where we lost to the...Colts...and read the final note I wrote: New Years Resolution...stop caring so much about the Chiefs...

...and for the most part, I have, a little anyway. I don't get nearly as involved in the draft as I used to, and I've actually had to miss a couple of games on TV because of other things going on...something that would have been unthinkable back in the day, when a loss meant literally 3 days of pissy-ness from me.

So I ask myself...why do I care so much? There is not one thing I can do to change how the Chiefs do play to play, game to game, season to season. And yet, I BLEED Chiefs red, hope reigns eternal every offseason and by the time the season rolls around, I'm feeling pretty good about our chances.

The question is...why oh why do we care so much about something that...at the end of the day, has no effect on our lives in any way shape or form, except the affect we allow it to have on our psyches.

This week, as I sit in anticipation of another Chiefs playoff game, and I think over in my head how great it will be if we win...I just wonder...why do I care so much?

Thoughts?

[OlineDline]

Originally Posted by Dayze

I get excited for the games. and if they win, awesome. If they lose, pfffft.
i stopped caring about losses long ago; probably 206/2007 time frame.

if they lose, it sucks for about a half hour, but then I go on about my day/business. I've got my own shit to worry about to let a bunch of millionaires, a majority of whom, likely don't care if they win or lose to the degree a lot of die hard fans do.

I guess I'm just don't care about losses anymore. They suck, sure. But oh well. I enjoy the hell out of the wins, and don't let the losses effect me too much.

polar opposite from what i was like circa 1990 - 2006. Even a 'win' didn't really satisfy me all that much because I was always finding something on the team to worry about etc.

QFT

It's a hobby. Easier if you have things in your life already that are far more important than sports entertainment. I think that's why younger fans get more heated. It's a bigger part of their life.

It starts moving down the pecking order when you get older and you can just enjoy the wins and forget the losses.

[bowener]

Because life is pain and I enjoy a distraction from it. Ironically, the Chiefs usually cause more pain. Also, humans are social animals, and being part of a collective group of other individuals makes me feel good. Also, socially acceptable moment to get drunk enough to piss myself. And social acceptable to scream at other humans who aren't part of my collective. And when we are all together screaming as loud as we can, I like to speak into the deafening roar that I love Barbra Streisand, and in that brief moment, I can be truthful and at peace.

[38yrsfan]

My son and I spend time together watching the Chiefs. Good games or bad we still get together for the next one, often b*itching about the refs or talking chit about opposing teams. Donks are a favorite, Elway is such a tool, makes it easy.

I like the team but that didn't mold my character or provide role models to follow or admire. Son is the same - has his favorite players but doesn't let it define his character.

I find being a consistent fan and not a band-wagon add-on for teams having success a more meaningful characteristic of personality. Loyalty ranks high.

IMHO

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by OlineDline

QFT

It's a hobby. Easier if you have things in your life already that are far more important than sports entertainment. I think that's why younger fans get more heated. It's a bigger part of their life.

It starts moving down the pecking order when you get older and you can just enjoy the wins and forget the losses.

Age and temperament definitely factor in for me. Although the state of the team, particularly at QB, has drawn me back in.

With Smith, I was pretty much done after year 3, going into year 4. Then they drafted Mahomes and re-ignited my fandom.

[fan4ever]

Losses used to ruin my Sundays.

Then I stepped back and put it in perspective.

My mantra now is if the Chiefs don't win, they weren't the better team that day...shitty calls and all.

Helps quell the pain.

[vonBobo]

The illusion of success and transference. Have you ever wondered why fans refer to the team as "we", "us", etc?

Google sports fan psychology, but be warned its not the romantic "bleed red" crap we want it to be.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by vonBobo

The illusion of success and transference. Have you ever wondered why fans refer to the team as "we", "us", etc?

Google sports fan psychology, but be warned its not the romantic "bleed red" crap we want it to be.

I've pretty much always referred to the Chiefs as "them" and "they". Is that a good sign?

[Nzoner]

Originally Posted by dlphg9

I remember my brother and I went to the last regular season game in 2006 against the Jaguars and I was 16 and he was 14. It was my very first Chiefs game and it was just me and him. Driving around to get into the stadium can sometimes be a pain, but imagine being a 16 year old kid from rural Missouri and had only driven in the city a handful of times, now that was stressful as hell.

I remember that day like it was yesterday. Mom had made us biscuits and sausage patties that morning so that we could make breakfast sandwiches before the game, so that we didnt have to spend any extra money at the game since it was so expensive and our family was pretty poor when I was a kid. So we get to the stadium without any problems and the Chiefs pretty much dominated the Jags. The score made it seem like the game was closer than it was, but the Chiefs were up 35-24 with less than 6 minutes to go. The Jags scored with 5 minutes left, but they never got the ball back.

So if you all remember the 2006 season, then youd remember that the Chiefs needed like 3 teams to lose (Bengals, Broncos, Titans) and they had to win to make it into the playoffs. Well I remember when we were at the game a group on people sitting several rows back started to erupt and go crazy. Well word got to us pretty quickly that Shayne Graham from the Bengals missed a 39 yard field goal that would have won the game and they were going to OT. Well the Steelers got the ball first in OT and scored in the first 3 plays. So we leave the game and start our drive home, it took us like 1 and a half hours to get home.

By the time we had left 3 of the 4 things we needed to happen happened (Chiefs win, Patriots beat the Titans, Steelers beat the Bengals). The last thing we needed to happen was the 49ers needed to beat the Broncos. This was the Alex Smith led 49ers. When we got home the Broncos were up 13-0 and right around half time. I thought ok well ill just take a nap, since I was tired from the long day and I had a feeling that the Broncos were going to win. I wasnt even terribly mad, because I knew going into the day that the chances the Chiefs were going to win the wild card were pretty slim. At least I got some brief excitement from the brief dreams of making the post season.

So I wake up from my nap and to my surprise its the 4th qtr and omg the 49ers are up a TD! Could this really be happening? My brother and I shared a room and he had fallen asleep too so I wake him up to watch the end with me. So if you all dont remember, the Broncos tied the game and force overtime. OT is a shit show and no one is able to move the ball and im just thinking after all of this excitement none of these ****ers are going to score and its going to end in a tie and Im pretty sure that meant the Broncos are in. But as fate would have it Alex Smith leads the 49ers down the field and the 49ers kick a FG with 2 minutes remaining in OT to beat the Donkeys and send KC into the playoffs.

After the 49ers won I jumped up out of my bed and started running around the house and yelling like a crazy person. Everyone knows that we did nothing in the playoffs and got our asses kicked by the Super Bowl champions the Indianapolis Mannings.

That was the only Chiefs game I ever went to with my brother and he passed away 4 years after that. Its one of my favorite memories with him. Just my brother and I among 70,000 other Chiefs fans on one of the most exciting days that I can remember.

You can have so many special memories that would have been just another day if it hadnt been for the Chiefs. I just had to look up my earliest memory of the Chiefs and all I knew was Pete Stoyanovich made a long FG at the end of the game to beat the Broncos. It was week 12 of the 1997 season and I was only 7. Broncos were up 22-21 after horse face drove the donks down the field and Elam kicked a FG to put them ahead. Rich Gannon gets the ball back with 2 minutes left and drives down the field and sets up Stoyanovichs 54 yards FG as time expires to beat the Donkeys at Arrowhead. I remember that day because my uncle who is a huge Chiefs fan gave me the biggest high five of my life to that point.

So thats why I care. Without this team I would never have those memories.

That was New Year's Eve,I'll never forget being in KC and being on a bar shuttle(on our way to a party) and listening to the Broncos game.

[big nasty kcnut]

Because it give us a common support with other people.

[Demonpenz]

The only reason I get out of bed is to buy tickets and garb for my sports teams. It is all worth it when you win and you know all those days of hard work paid off.

[jimidollar]

Why do I care so much? I have no idea. I have been a fan since 1987. My stepdad used to take me to games. We lived in Kansas at the time. In the summer of 1990, we moved to Texas. The 1990 season reaaly kicked my fandom into high gear. Following the Chiefs gave me a connection with what I had left behind. Plus, the team was good.

Fast forward many years later, I'm just a man following his team. I have no family that follows the Chiefs, nor do I know another living human being in my area who likes them. I have lived in the same area for the past 28 years and have never seen another Chiefs fan. When they win it all, I will celebrate alone in my living room. That's just the way I like it.

[vonBobo]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

I've pretty much always referred to the Chiefs as "them" and "they". Is that a good sign?

Well, to be fair to all chiefs fans, they haven't given us a lot to be proud about.

[DJJasonp]

For kansas city - I think there's a "band of brothers"/community aspect to it that you dont necessarily find in all cities (especially so-cal).

It's a bit tribal - and given the fact that most of the fans have some connection to KC (rather than "the pats are good, they're going to be my team")....we've all grown up together and experienced highs and lows (and several donkey punches) as a tribe.

Also- with KC - there's an underdog "little guy"/chip-on-the-shoulder mentality as well (being it's a "small" market, etc.).

I have family (on the wife's side) that are raider fans. They live in Arizona.

I'm not saying one way is better than the other - but for us chiefs fans, it seems to mean more (for all the reasons I listed above).

[Dark Horse]

For me I think it may be at least partially a way to maintain a foolish child hood dream. I idolized Willie Lanier and wanted to play in the NFL. When the reality set in in high school that maybe I wasn't great or even good at football. All I had left was to live vicariously through the Chiefs.

[dlphg9]

Originally Posted by Nzoner

That was New Year's Eve,I'll never forget being in KC and being on a bar shuttle(on our way to a party) and listening to the Broncos game.

Before Mahomes that day was probably the happiest Id ever been about the Chiefs.