Fans, Do Your Job!!

Posted by Jeffrey Wank on April 29, 2009

Being an NBA fan is a job. It is like a bad internship, where it is one that you pay for. When you buy a jersey, a T-shirt, a hat, or some limited edition D-Will kicks, you are paying for the right to be a fan and a expressing your fantasticism. Certainly when you pay $100 to go to an NBA game, you are paying to be a fan, and being a fan is a job. When you pay for tickets, especially if you can afford the close ones, you have a job to do. Your job is to shout, scream, cheer, heckle, boo. Your job is to motivate, intimidate, and alleviate. Your job is to make the home team feel like there is no place like home, and the road team feel that their team bus should just keep running.

In Game 4 at Energy Solutions Area, I feel the Utah fans did not do their job. The first half the Jazz fans were being Jazz fans. If people ever thought Mormons were quiet, polite religious folks, then they have not been to a game in Utah. In truth, Utah fans are known as being the toughest, loudest, and sometimes the cruelest ones in the NBA circle. They are real the sixth man and a big reason why the Jazz dominate at home year after year. They usually put the “energy” in Energy Solutions, but during the second half of game 4, with the Jazz season at risk, the Utah fans put the “zz” in Jazz.

When the Lakers went on a run in the 3rd, the rowdy Jazz fans went quiet and the out-of-place Lakers’ fans in SLC were the ones on their feet and being shown on TV. I was more bothered by the fans silence than by the team’s performance. Sometimes the ball doesn’t bounce the player’s way. The only consistency on the NBA court is the inconsistency. The only thing that can and should be consistent is the voraciousness of the fans, especially Jazz fans. If Brewer’s side-spin free-throw is not going down, cheer for him louder. If Millsap gets rejected by Bynum, give the Paperboy the encouragement to take it into the belly of the beast the next time. If Deron or Andre miss wild pass, stomp and shout. The decibel meter should break no matter if they are winning or losing.

It is easy to cheer when the team is doing well–diving, dunking, and driving. It is easy to be a frontrunner, but the team needs the cheers when they are down by 20 the most. That is time to get off your hands, open up your vocal chords, stand up, and stomp your feet. It is not time to start looking for the exit sign or complain about Boozer or Sloan. When you attend a game and you are taking the seat away from someone else, so it is your responsibility to do your job as a fan. Cheer louder and show the team that no matter what happens in the game you want them to give 100% effort at all times and you will give them back 100% effort at all times. If you are not going to do that, stay home and let someone more deserving do the job and pay for the right to be a fan.

| Tweet This | Share on Facebook | Join the discussion in our Forums

Win Or Go Home? Not Yet…

Posted on April 16, 2008

0 comments

Jazz Fever and its Cure

Posted on October 2, 2007

0 comments

Random Tweets: Jazz vs. Real Madrid

Posted on October 11, 2009

1 comments

A Nasty Piece of Work

Posted on September 26, 2009

5 comments

Manufactured Jazz News Weekly: Vol. 1

Posted on September 22, 2009

2 comments

8 Comments

Mary on April 29, 2009 said:

I agree, I think the apprehension of the second half set in, and as the Laker fans got louder, the Jazz fans got quieter. The fact that so many people got up to leave at the 5 minute mark was a serious showing of disrespect for our team who have had such a hard year off the court as well as on the court. It’s bad enough when folks bail at 2 mintues (win or lose) but to start out so early was horrible!

Part of it is that a lot of the folks that come to the play offs are not the ones that come all season long… whether they are corporate guests or whatever, they seem to be a bit more fair-weathered than the season-long diehards!

Annie Whittaker on April 29, 2009 said:

You know Jeffrey, I usually would agree with you about the apathy of the crowd. Not this time. I was at that game, and during the third quarter, I believe that we were all stunned to silence. Speaking of apathy, I think there were members of the Jazz who displayed some of it during the entire third quarter and most of the 4th of game four. People tried to cheer, and get some momentum going, and every time they did, one of our team passed directly to the other team or took a jump shot after one or less touches of the ball. In summary–we were treated to a jr. high level of basketball during the second half–only it cost a lot more to be there. Please see my post on EFFORT from last week. Yes, Kobe was on fire that night, but I’m not talking about just getting beat by a better team, the game four loss would sting a lot less if it had only been due to Kobe Bryant playing out of his mind.

Thank goodness for Ronnie Price and Paul Milsap in game five!

Don’t get me wrong, I was heartbroken at that loss, and the team’s inability to get out of the hole that they kept digging. My friend and I stayed during the great exodus of Jazz fans, and we felt even more horrible for having stayed. Another friend who never leaves early put it this way. “We left because we didn’t want to be there with the Laker fans when the Lakers won.” Yes the Laker fans are that bad. The majority of Laker fans who were sitting near us were asses (can I write that?). I’m sure there were plenty of well behaved Laker fans at the game, I just couldn’t hear or see them due to the 3 ring circus being performed by the others.

Nancy Thompson Mahler on April 29, 2009 said:

Great post Jeffrey, you are saying what I’ve been saying for years!!

Lisa on April 30, 2009 said:

Annie I agree with 100%. I was at that game and for the second half there wasn’t anything to cheer for. I also stayed hoping for more life out of the team. And the Lakers fans were that bad.

Jeffrey on April 30, 2009 said:

“I was at that game and for the second half there wasn’t anything to cheer for.”

This is my exact point… Even if there is nothing to cheer for, you still should cheer. That one voice in the crowd can make a difference, so imagine 18000 voices at once during a low point in the game.

Eddie Rodriguez on April 30, 2009 said:

It’s really hard when you know you have no chance against a bitter rival! I HATE laker fans and believe me they hurd it from me on game 4. I was there watching the game in the upper bowl and the LAKER FANS that were sitting by me, definitely understood how I felt about the situation. When the JAZZ are losing hard and in the playoffs its hella rough and what KOBE did literally stuck a dagger in everyone’s heart. We HATE him and he HATES us and GAME 4 he got the BEST of US. Next summer eh. GO JAZZ!!!!!!!!!!

Linda McFarland on April 30, 2009 said:

Jeffrey…….I agree with your blog. The team does need us more when they are behind than when they are winning. I think sometimes we get the idea that we need to yell as 0ay for what they are doing rather than cheer to make them work harder. Does it always work that way. Most likely not. I was to the first game at home and used more energy than I did in a week when I was working. I was at home the second game and I have to admit that I was sooooo tired that I couldn’t even get excited. I was completely worn out. Does that make me a bad fan? I don’t know. I know that a true fan sticks behind a team come win or lose but doesn’t the athlete have a responsibility to us? It is like the question of which came first, the chicken or the egg? This season is over, done, caput. Now we need to place our trust in the Jazz management and coaches to give us a team that can stay together, play together and keep from getting injured. I love my Jazz.

Pelon on May 01, 2009 said:

“Paperboy”- Love it!

Leave Your Comment

How do I get an avatar for my comments?
It is easy and completely free. Just go to Gravatar.com and sign-up with your email address. Gravatar is globally recognized, so your avatar will show on every Gravatar-enabled website or blog.