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http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000039&refer=columnist_soshnick&sid=a5f7hE82YrEk
U.S. Pro Sports Fans Don't Know What a Fan Is: Scott Soshnick
March 23 (Bloomberg) -- American fans of professional sports are a contradiction, especially when you consider the word ``fan'' is derived from fanatic.
Truth be told, we sit on our hands until some scoreboard cartoon or inspirational movie clip manages to elicit a lukewarm reaction.
While rowdy fans made the World Baseball Classic a nightly exercise in sensory overload, the state-of-the-art cathedrals that house the U.S. sports leagues are more akin to sensory deprivation tanks.
``They're horrible,'' former U.S. national soccer team member Alexei Lalas says of American fans. ``There's a blase, spoon-fed generation that really has no idea what it means to have passion not only for your team but for the sport.''
Amen to that.
At the recently completed World Baseball Classic, fans of teams from the Dominican Republic, Japan and Puerto Rico stood and stomped. Flags waved. Whistles blared. Drums echoed.
``The atmosphere out there is something that pretty-much every Latin person has going on in their blood,'' said Boston Red Sox slugger and Dominican David Ortiz.
We Americans must have sedatives in ours then.
Having a Party
Contrast the party atmosphere at most international sporting events with your typical Major League Baseball, National Basketball Association, National Football League or National Hockey League yawners.
No flags. No drums. No nothing, except for, perhaps, some sort of thumping noise emanating from the scoreboard. If you're lucky, the sound system might blare a few bars of the Guns N' Roses anthem ``Welcome to the Jungle,'' which gets the joint jumping for a few seconds. Then it's back to quiet time.
Has anyone out there witnessed a British soccer game recently? Talk about a lively bunch. They're waving flags and chanting songs. And Americans wonder aloud how a 0-0 tie can be entertaining.
Fans outside the U.S. create their own fun, sort of like American college basketball aficionados.
The Cameron Crazies at Duke University do it right. Like fans at the World Baseball Classic, they stand, stomp and cheer. They pester the opponent. Win or lose, a good time is had by all. Sadly, there seems to be an expiration date on such behavior.
``In college, the fans cheer the whole game, from start to finish,'' says New York Knicks guard Nate Robinson, who played basketball and football at the University of Washington. ``In the NBA it's really laid back.''
Fireworks
A decade ago, the atmosphere at one Euroleague basketball semifinal in Munich was so rambunctious the public address announcer reminded fans in English and German that it was illegal to ignite fireworks in the arena. By comparison, P.A. announcers in the U.S. remind fans of bobblehead giveaways.
It's hard to imagine a fireworks-related announcement being necessary at oh, let's say Dodger Stadium, where the crowd is known for arriving late and leaving early no matter the score.
Unfortunately, more American sports fans aren't like Ed Anzalone. You might know him as ``Fireman Ed,'' who, from atop his brother's shoulders, attempts to whip fans of the New York Jets into a frenzy by conducting his J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets chant. It works -- for a moment.
Absent Ed, about the only action in the stands would be the occasional wave. And sure Oakland Raiders fans dress oddly, but their idea of zealous pales in comparison to their international counterparts.
Sam's Army
American fans can learn plenty from Sam's Army, the unofficial fan club of the U.S. national soccer team. Founded 12 years ago by two fans in upstate New York, the group's membership now totals several thousand.
According to the organization's mission statement, Sam's Army wants soccer fans who will ``PARTICIPATE'' at games. ``We want people who will stand and sing for the duration,'' the organization says on its Web site.
``As the Jumbotron generation came around, things switched from letting the fans generate the atmosphere to the teams making it,'' says Mark Spacone, the group's co-founder. ``The attitude nowadays is, `I'm going to a sporting event so entertain me,' instead of `I'll entertain myself.'''
NBA Commissioner David Stern earlier this season said he lamented the abundance of artificial noise inside his arenas. So dismayed was the commissioner that he suggested teams experiment with a so-called silent night.
Just the thought of all those squeaking sneakers gives me a headache.
Exchange Program
Perhaps we can organize a sort of fan exchange program. Our fans go elsewhere and, hopefully, learn a few things. It won't be easy winning converts, Lalas warns.
``It's very difficult to explain to an MTV generation what it means to go to a professional sporting event in other countries,'' says the general manager of Major League Soccer's New York Red Bulls. ``You can have all the bells and whistles you want, but when it's organized and from the heart, whether it's singing or chanting, it's 100 times more powerful than any fireworks display, dry ice or video board.''
Think about that the next time an arena scoreboard asks you to scream ``Charge.''