Why I struggle as a Thunder fan
Posted: May 28, 2012 Filed under: sports, Thunder | Tags: chiefs, oklahoma city, royals, thunder Leave a comment »I’m not going to lie; there is a part of me that despises Thunder fans.
You could make a strong argument that this town is one of the luckiest towns in the history of professional sports and I have no problem admitting that any bad feeling I harbor is the direct result of jealousy. Just a year since moving from Seattle, the Thunder quickly became one of the league’s premier squads and a few years later they are competing for a title and building a foundation to be a title-factory over the next several years.
I can’t help but cringe whenever I hear a Thunder fan talk about how tough that first year was when OKC went 23-59. The next few years I heard fans talk about how “patient” they were and how the recent success was a reward for their loyalty during the “hard times.”
As a Royals fan since the early 90’s I have no problem telling you that few sports fans understand patience and loyalty like I do, especially fans in Oklahoma City who were given the greatest sports gift in the history of sports gifts.
I also struggle with Thunder fans because I don’t see the history that I often associate with my own sports fandom. When, or more appropriately if, the Royals ever become a successful postseason team and (God willing) can win a title in my lifetime the success will be sweeter because it will include memories of a half empty Kaufman Stadium in the middle of August, road trips to road games with my father and the thousands of innings I have watched in my lifetime. Likewise, if the Chiefs ever win it all I will think back to reading the Chiefs preview section inside the Sunday Kansas City Star with my father, cursing at the TV and the fact that even the day of my sons birth was spoiled just a bit because of the 47-7 trouncing the Chiefs took from the Bills.
If the Thunder wins it all this year or next what history will go along with it? The most devote Thunder fan can only claim a history of a few years and since I started watching the Sonics in Seattle a few years before they came to OKC can I claim a deeper history with the team than most? (The answer is no, I can not)
The final reason I carry some resentment to Thunder fans is that I have a hard time justifying relocating a team, especially one that was loved in Seattle. Thunder fans tell themselves that the Sonics were never supported, that they played in an empty arena and the city never paid attention to the team. None of that is true and they were just statements made to justify the move. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad the Thunder are here but in the same way our nation is build on the blood of the innocent, the Thunder have a dark history that you can’t ignore.
Now, for all the reasons that I struggle with Thunder Nation I do have a plenty of reasons to love this franchise and in many ways it’s a team that is tailor-made for me.
I have a deep love for the Midwest. I have lived out west (and loved it) and have often contemplated just up and moving to New York (which would probably only take a week to convince my wife to do) but the middle of this country is my home. I love its oddities, the beauty that is hidden in plain sight and the chip we have on our shoulders. Besides Chicago, our cities are considered small markets. Places like Minneapolis and St. Louis would be considered mega markets if they were on the coast, but since they are thousands of miles from the nearest ocean they are put in the small market category.
Growing up in Kansas City you are taught that the rest of the world has a negative view of you. People who have never been to your city view it as a wasteland that is more farmland than urban. KC has a chip on its shoulder and is the poster child for the injustice that exists in the big market vs. small market battle.
Oklahoma City has some of the same characteristics. Its residents may not be as bitter but the image of the city to the rest of the world is nearly the same as KC’s. When it comes to the major media outlets and the head offices for pro sports leagues, success in the Midwest is despised. The NBA is a little better than the NFL and MLB in this area, but when the national spotlight shines on two small market clubs its viewed as a potential ratings nightmare. If that’s the case, I say “good.” If the rise of a Midwestern team hurts the pocketbooks of fat cats in New York and LA then all the better. I’m ecstatic with the thought that Oklahoma City could become a dynasty franchise in one of professional sport’s smallest markets. Beyond a doubt OKC is one of the greatest stories in professional sports over the past decade.
Maybe part of my resentment comes from the fact that I don’t know how to handle winning, especially when it’s from a team that I have only been following for a few years. However, I remind myself that I’m in the same boat as everyone else.
I’ve always been taught that titles are something earned with not only great play on the field but a generation of torture by fans. Or, at least it’s the only way I know. At the end of the day the Thunder are a fun team to follow and for this self-deprecating sports fan that’s just something I have a hard time accepting.
I follow the Thunder closely, root for them and look forward to bonding with my son in the Chesapeake Arena, but the team’s success makes me feel uncomfortable. I want a championship this year and believe this team has the tools to compete for one, but I have to admit that as the Thunder let last night’s opening game in the Western Conference Finals slip away I felt more frustrated, yet also more like myself.
My journey in becoming a Thunder fan
Posted: April 23, 2011 Filed under: Thunder Leave a comment »
Oklahoma City Thunder fans have become well-known for packing their arena for home games and producing a lot of noise.
I didn’t grow up really paying all that much attention to the NBA. I do remember watching some of the playoffs, especially some of the famous Chicago Bulls teams in the 90’s and was always knowledgeable enough to discuss the subject with friends, but it wasn’t a league that was high on my list. I was more of a college basketball fan, especially growing up in the land of Kansas, Mizzou and the Big 12. The Big 8 and then Big 12 Basketball Tournament was always a big event each year in Kansas City and I really didn’t have an NBA team close to home that I felt like I could root for.
I never lived in a NBA town until I moved to Seattle. I have always thought its somewhat important to support the local teams in the town you live in and as I got to know the Seahawks and Mariners, I also began to follow the Sonics. I went to a game or two and would watch on TV, follow the team storylines in the paper and got to a point where I knew more about the Sonics than I ever did about any other NBA team. It wouldn’t be accurate to say that I was captivated by the league and the Sonics, but I enjoyed it.
A couple of years after moving back to Kansas City a lot of talk began to surface about the possible relocation of the Sonics. The team had been sold and it was obvious that the new owner wanted to move the team. There was some talk about Kansas City as a potential destination since it had just opened a brand new downtown arena, but with the owner from Oklahoma it seemed obvious that he was set on moving the team to his hometown. I followed the drama of the Sonics’ new owner and his push to move the team. I would read about the ordeal in the Oklahoma City and Seattle newspapers, and understandably both had different takes on the issue.
In Seattle no one wanted to see the team leave. The Sonic were the only professional sports team that had brought a championship to the city and it was a team that had created a friendly rivalry with nearby Portland. There was support for the Sonics, at least as much as you would expect for a team that had not won in recent years. The owner claimed that he wanted the the city to build a new area and while I don’t think the city was against the idea, most of the city did not want to spend millions of dollars on another sports facility. The Mariners and Seahawks had recently built their own tax supported palaces and the people of Seattle had just felt like they had already given enough.
In Oklahoma City the city of Seattle was cast as a town that did not care about the Sonics and that the team would be better off in another town. It was like the team was a child up for adoption, Oklahoma City was the prospective adoptive parents and Seattle was the biological mother. It was a lot easier for OKC to just criticize Seattle in an effort to justify taking a team away. I don’t blame Oklahoma City. It’s a pretty horrible thing to take a team away from another city and you have to tell yourself that the team is better off with you in order to validate the action. Maybe the team is better off in Oklahoma City. You sure can easily make that argument, but I just think Seattle got an unfair image. In a state like Oklahoma where conservatives complain about using tax dollars unwisely, Seattle was ironically being blamed for not wanted to spend more of its tax dollars on a new arena when the one it had was actually pretty adequate.
Just a side note: I hope Oklahoma City keeps the Thunder forever, but what happens in 10 years if the team enters a long losing stretch? If crowds drop, which would be completely understandable, and the team wants some tax payer supported improvements to the arena that the city is not big on, will another city come calling for the team? I’m not saying that will happen, but its not like the Sonics didn’t have a pretty solid foundation in one of America’s largest markets. My point is that if a city like Seattle can lose the Sonics I’m not sure which teams are really safe from possible relocation talks, especially when a period of losing sets in.
Anyway, the team moved to Oklahoma City, which not being from Oklahoma City at the time, I thought was kind of a shame. I had a one year relationship with the Sonics and figured that was the end of the story. However, a few years later I find myself in Oklahoma City with the opportunity to rekindle a relationship I once had with the franchise.
After living in OKC for almost one year and having a chance to watch the Thunder this entire season I would consider myself a fan, but not yet a fanatic. Here is why: because for me sports teams are very personal things. I have less respect for people who just pick a team to root for and have no special ties with the team and I can completely relate to those that grew up with a team as a member of its family. For me the Royals and Chiefs are two teams I grew up with, used as a way to relate to my father, were the teams that I pretended to be playing for in the backyard, and Kauffman Stadium is one of the best memories from my childhood. Thunder fans are passionate and fanatical, but to be completely honest, I still find it odd that a city can be that in love with a team that has only been here for a few years. I don’t mean that as an insult, in fact, I would use it as a complement to the city. The town has completely embraced the Thunder and is already putting itself out there as one of the more supportive fan bases in the league. Of course its easy to be a fan when your team is winning and the Thunder have quickly emerged as one of the league’s most successful teams with some of the league’s best talent. Fans will say they deserve the success after a year of losing when the team first came to town, but one bad year is hardly a test of patience. Someday the Thunder will hit a lengthy slump. It’s just a fact for nearly every team. When that time comes we will see a true test of patience, but until I am proven otherwise, I will believe that this city will continue to be very supportive.
As for me, I am still learning to be a fan, still in the early dating period with the Thunder. I know the team pretty well, have a firm grasp for the players and coaches and follow the team rather closely. But if the Royals rank as a 100 on a scale for my passion the Thunder probably haven’t cracked the 25 mark, yet. However, this season has been a great first date and the playoffs are no doubt headed in the right direction. I don’t mean to imply that it will take winning for me to completely accept the Thunder, but it sure helps. I’m particular about the teams I let into my inner circle and the Thunder is making a strong case.
I can appreciate the passion of the town and I love the way that even though the Thunder are one of the league’s best teams, they still carry with them an underdog mentality as one of the smallest markets in professional sports. I like the unselfish play that many of the players seem to embody and, I will admit, I have at times been caught up in the team’s marketing ploy as a an active member of the community.
I am a Royals, Chiefs and KU basketball fan; three teams that have been with me for over two decades. It is a new, and sometimes fun, experience letting another team apply for a spot on that list.
