Professional Rationalist Presents: Fan Amnesia

Life has become so fast paced. With technology everywhere, we have a tendency to want it all and want it right now. We want our favorite movies downloaded to our iPhones in seconds. We want to be able to buy car insurance in less than five minutes. And who doesn’t want to get rock hard abs with P90X in less time than it takes to watch an episode of “Dexter?” The same is true when it comes to athletes. We want record breaking NBA stars, Super Bowl winning quarterbacks and hockey players who can win a Stanley Cup in the blink of an eye. When athletes are able to give us these feats we love them more than life itself. We call them the best of all-time, despite the fact that they have only been on the radar for a week (Ask Jeremy Lin). And as soon as they are not performing at that top-notch level that we instantly grew accustomed too, we curse their names and toss them to the side like the first iPod shuffle or a Billy Blanks cassette tape (Ask Allen Iverson). The success of an athlete used to be determined by what they have accomplished in their body of work. Now their place in history is fickle, determined by the question, “What have you done for me lately?”

New Is Better Theory
There is this new equation that many misguided sports fans are using to determine the greatness of a player these days. The younger player is greater than the older player. People who follow this equation go around saying LeBron is better than Kobe. Or the Colts should trade Peyton Manning and draft Andrew Luck. Are people who follow this formula actually saying LeBron’s inability to get one championship is greater than Kobe’s ability to win five? Do they really believe that Andrew Luck, a guy who has never taken an NFL snap, is better than the same Peyton Manning who brought Indianapolis a championship? We currently live in a world where veteran athletes are penalized for being great for so long. People get so tired of seeing the same person perform at a high level of success that they just have to vote for the younger guy.

Peter Pan Theory
Fans feel that sports are a magical land where athletes never grow old. They are under the false pretense that the playing field is protected from ailments like arthritis, back aches and tendonitis. The stars of the game are supposed to remain 25 and in the prime of their career forever. So when a guy like Tim Duncan averages a career low of 13 points per game people begin to wonder why. They call him a bum and the two words dreaded by every athlete, “Washed Up.” Newsflash everyone! He’s not washed up, his roll has shifted. After 14 seasons and over 1000 NBA games your body begins to take a toll. If he went out every night and tried to score 20 points, he wouldn’t make it past the All-Star break. So what does he do? He coasts his way through the season, cuts down on the minutes played and makes sure he’s ready for the games that really matter…The Playoffs. No one called Kareem Abdul-Jabar washed up when he paced himself to 20 NBA seasons. We didn’t expect 2001 Cal Ripken to hit with the same precision he did in 1989. But today’s fan has no use for over the hill players hogging up the trainer’s table. They are ready to close the casket on the careers of guys like Derek Jeter and Sidney Crosby.

The Hype
We all know the story. An athlete is just a run of the mill jock until they go on a media captured hot streak that propels them into the greatest of all-time category. That is, of course, until someone else comes along and steals their media coverage. Eli Manning’s 2007 Super Bowl victory was considered a fluke by many. He was considered a guy who just got lucky. A 2012 championship and he’s called a guaranteed Hall of Famer. All the while people forget about Ben Roethlisberger who has also won two Super Bowls. Unlike any period in sports before, media coverage dictates which athletes get the love. Blake Griffin, for example, is a starter in this year’s NBA All-Star game because his dazzling dunks are on SportsCenter’s Top Ten Plays every night. Ask a number of fans and they will tell you he is one of the greatest guys to ever play above the rim. Meanwhile, people forget that the likes of Vince Carter who gave you dunk contest performances during the game! I’m excited as the next guy about the recent success of New York Knicks guard Jeremy Lin, but if there is a game where he doesn’t score a ton of points, the media is going move on to the next one.

My advice to any athlete who is currently enjoying a reign at the top is to soak it all in. Embrace the moment. Steal every penny you can from the memorabilia deals and endorsements, because soon you will start to play like an “old guy.” A new YouTube sensation will come along with a cooler highlight reel than you. At which your career is back to the drawing board as you try to figure out “What can you do for them lately.”