Separating the fanboy from the journalist (or, "we" vs. "they")

i'm with zeke on this one. couldn't have said it better.

 

"We won! We won!"

"No, they won. You watched."

The worst faux pas I ever committed in a scrum postgame interview was when I asked a coach a question, and quoted a player saying "we need to get one of those gritty wins."

The coach answered immediately - no doubletake, thank God - and most of the other writers had heard the player say it, but to the uninformed, it sounded like I was saying "we" in reference to the team. Ugh, sick to my stomach.

That said, I have been guilty of referring to my college as "we." Don't they say at those pep rallies, "We are all Hoosiers/Hokies/Jayhawks/Blue devils/Trojans"? Or what of the moichandise that says "(Team mascot) for life"? I understand the anti-"we" feelings, but I have absolutely no problem if someone who actually earned a degree from a school says "we."

Now, if used in reference to the pros, it's always wrong.

 

Submitted for your consideration, since it seems appropriate to the discussion at hand...

Going by that rule, was Woj wrong to use "we" and "us", or to leave press row in the first place? On the contrary, I thought it was perfect. (But then, my fangirl credentials are well established, so your results may vary...)

 

OK, but if you've ever been in the crowd yelling your head off -- especially in a place like LSU, Florida, Tennessee or Ohio State, where crowd noise is definitely a factor -- isn't it fair to say you've done more than just watched?
I understand where the people are coming from, but it can be argued that fans have as much to do with a team's success or failure as any other factor. To me, that makes "we" acceptable.

Of course, as soon as they go on a four-game losing streak, those bastards become "they" real quick ;D

 

That's a great read by AD.

 

That's all you'd try to get away with? That's it? You sure? How noble.

You want to root for a team in the sport(s) you cover, don't become a sportswriter. Please, do us all a favor. That'll thin out the herd.

If you're breaking remotes over how your favorite team is performing, get help.

You want to root for the alma mater, fine. Don't cover it. And don't ever--EVER--use the term "we" to describe the alma mater. You haven't gone there in 10-plus years. You are only a check to them. You have nothing to do with the performance.

And the Wojo column is the exception that proves the rule.

 

Exactly. I had a player once come up to me, shake his head and ask why fans insist on saying "we" when they're not on the team.

 

I didn't get into sportswriting so I could root for my team.

That said: Go Eagles! Only lose to the Patriots by 10! We Suck!

 

after being in sports for as long as i have, i can't find it in me to "scream my head off" in any situation.

i'm not saying anyone is wrong, but as a personal choice, i find it in poor taste.

 

This is one of my biggest pet peeves. Unless someone is a member of the team, there's no way they should use we. I can't stand it.

I love it when people get fired up and support their teams, but that's got to be one of the most annoying things, especially if it's a member of the media. The first thing that any family should instill on their young fans is that even if you're part of Red Sox Nation (generic example) it doesn't make you part of the team.

short rant over.

 

You guys are sapping all the fun out this.

Should sports writers root for who they cover? God no.

But denying regular Joe fan the right to feel apart of something other than his blue-collar job is criminal. If the guy works at a factory all week and wants to go bare-chested to a Steelers game on a freezing Sunday screaming "We did it!" for godsakes, let him.

That's the point of this. It's a game.

 

I take a little bit of offense to this. The arguments in this thread are not mutually exclusive.

You don't have to say "we" to experience joy as a fan. You don't have to say "we" to live and die as a fan. (And, for that matter, you don't have to break remotes and carry on like an idiot to be a fan, either. But I digress.)

I get great enjoyment out of sports, both when I'm writing about them and when I'm watching them on my couch. I'm a fan at heart, and always will be. I'm also a fan of particular teams, and anybody who knows me knows that. My favorite NFL team since I was 11 years old shares the best record in the NFC right now, and I'm positively ecstatic about it. My enjoyment of sports or of sporting events is not in question.

But I don't say "we" about the teams I root for. It has nothing to do with being a journalist -- it has to do with not being part of the damn team. It's not that it's unprofessional (although it is, if you're on the clock) -- it's just that it's silly.

You can argue that fans bring a unique, intense atmosphere, and can change the environment of the game -- but so do extras in a movie. Doesn't make them part of the film crew; they can't change the script. They're just part of the set. So are fans, although we like to think we can alter the outcome. We can't. We're not out there, and we're not even on the sidelines being involved. We're just watching, and cheering, and groaning (if you're in Cleveland), and getting some kind of enjoyment or entertainment out of it depending on the circumstances. Oh, maybe we can cheer loud enough to cause a false start penalty in the same way that an extra's hacking cough can cause the director to say "CUT!" if it disrupts a scene, but in reality, it's only the players who affect the outcome, and it's only the players who are on the team.

Saying "we" is silly. Not because you happen to be a journalist -- you could change professions any day, and that would no longer bind you at work -- but because it's a delusional concept. It's insecurity, most of all. It's attaching a tangible importance to your enjoyment of a sporting event, when the only thing that's important is that you get enjoyment out of it. And if you don't enjoy it, that's OK, too.

You don't need to say "we" to enjoy sports. You don't need to say "we" to be a fan.