Commentary: Casual Fan Is An Oxy-Moron

Die-hard Hokie fans enjoy a reputation of being every bit as knowledgeable about the game as they are loud.  They pack Lane Stadium week in and week out.  They know when to jack up the decibel level to disrupt the opposing team’s playcalling.  They discuss strategy, personnel and recruiting on message boards to stay up to the minute on the latest news. They know just how big a game is and how to celebrate accordingly.  The atmosphere created by the die-hard fan prompted ESPN to label Virginia Tech the second scariest place to play in college football.

But this year more than any other I have noticed the die-hard Hokie fan being replaced by something that could threaten the school’s reputation: the casual fan.  Fan is short for fanatic; there’s nothing casual about that.  The relative ignorance of the casual fan compared to the die-hard is woefully damaging to the gameday environment.

Both kinds of fan look the same for the most part, which makes it hard to distinguish between them as they tailgate and enter the stadium.  However, the casual fan has a tendency to show up for the game wearing a color other than Chicago maroon or burnt orange.  Die-hards don’t just wear school colors to the game; they coordinate.  Boston College shares maroon with Virginia Tech as a school color.  A real die-hard recognizes this and wears orange to prevent any confusion as to where his/her allegiance lies.  And a true fan would never come to a game sporting Tech gear in non-Tech colors (you ladies in pink, I’m talking to you).

Even if the casual fan arrives at the stadium in the proper attire, their presence becomes immediately obvious when the game kicks off.  In the stands you’ll hear someone turn to another and ask, “Which one’s Tyrod?” or “Is the team we’re playing any good?”   These are the ones you see rattling their keys on third down while the offense is on the field.  It is the casual fan that boos his own players.  You don’t have to like the coaches’ decisions on who plays and who sits, but the die-hard fan knows that there is a place to air that displeasure and in the stands is not one of them.

Pay attention in the fourth quarter.  Casual fan is the first to leave the stadium if the game is out of reach.  For a late game on a weeknight like this one, I can understand getting a head start on the traffic.  But these people will up and leave a 10-point game with eight minutes to go.  It shows they have no confidence in their team’s ability to pull out a win and no desire to support the team’s effort to come back.  It is embarrassing to see.

More embarrassing though, is the conduct of the casual fan when a higher-ranked team comes to town and loses.  You’ll start to hear chants of “Overrated” break out.  This is the worst cheer in sports.  It diminishes your team’s accomplishment by saying the opponent didn’t deserve its spot in the polls.  The same jerk chanting “Overrated” will then jump the railing at the final whistle to rush the field in celebration. Which is it?  Did your team just win a huge game or did you just beat a team that was over-hyped? You can’t have it both ways, casual fan. 

A victory over BC tonight will almost certainly prompt the storming of the field despite a multitude of reasons as to why it shouldn’t. First off, both of these schools enjoy a top-ten BCS ranking and though Tech comes in a few spots lower, the Hokies are still the Vegas favorite in this matchup.  You should never rush the field if you are the favorite.  Second, the last time the Hokies beat the Eagles was two years ago on a Thursday night.  It’s not like BC has some incredible win streak going against Tech.  Running onto the field for beating an in-conference foe just sounds dirty to me, especially when your program has a history of being succesful.  That type of celebration should be saved for the moment in the season when you clinch a championship or defeat a rival for the first time in a good while.

There’s a saying in sports that die-hards know very well that goes “Act like you’ve been there before.”  Well, Tech has been there before, having won an ACC championship and appeared in a bowl game for over a dozen straight years.  Casual fans are ignorant or apathetic to that fact, which explains their behavior.

The only remedy is to convert the casual fan. Educate them, help them see how their actions hurt the game environment. You have the power to do so. After all, you wouldn’t have read this far if you weren’t a die-hard.