Fans

Some time ago I watched a football game between two big rivals.  The teams involved aren’t important, nor is how the game ended.  I watched this game with people who were all fans of one of the teams.  Throughout the game some of them ravaged the other team’s players, coaches, and fans.  It was ugly.  At one point I tried to offer some balance, pointing out that pretty much every team has their fair share of questionable fans.  I suggested that their own team was no exception, much to their dismay.  They just couldn’t think of any fans that they knew who were obnoxious like the other team’s fans. 

That particular game led me to a little rule of thumb, which since then has proven itself over and over.  It goes something like this: if you aren’t able to identify the obnoxious fans in your own fan base, then most likely you are the obnoxious fan.