FANATIC: A person marked or motivated by an extreme, unreasoning enthusiasm, as for a cause.

Yes, it is true that the word fan is derived from shortening the word fanatic. I can attest to the connect between the two words.

More than 24,000 crazed, otherwise healthy people packed themselves into the Carrier Dome at Syracuse University last night to watch Syracuse sneak away with a basketball victory over The University of Connecticut. That may seem like a huge number for a midweek game between a highly-ranked team and one struggling to get any attention.

But it's only a shadow of what is yet to come. Tickets for the upcoming SU/Villanova game have been sold out for a week, and it is estimated that more than 34,000 people will return to the Carrier Dome to scream, eat Dome Dogs, abandon their usually civil proprieties, and demonstrate their most outrageous orange-colored attire. These attorneys, physicians, engineers, librarians, postal clerks, bartenders, CEOs and maintenance workers will scream together, embrace wildly even though they don't know each other, and posture for national television in garb and and decorum which may embarrass themselves when it appears on the sports page of their hometown newspaper. They are fans/fanatics. Nothing can stop them...except an occasional weak season.

There is something about being a sports fan that borders on insanity. It can be a temporary suspension of propriety, emboldened by a need to express one's devotion to a simplistic cause. But no matter how intellectual I can be about seeking the root causes of sports fanaticism,there remains something indiscernible...something raw and primitive inside a sports fan that emerges when donning an orange sweater, trudging blocks of city streets to get from a parking spot to an uncomfortable three hour seat, eating outrageously unhealthy food, consuming beverages which one convinces himself taste good, and releasing primitive behavior that has been forming for days prior to the game.

Fanaticism isn't restricted to sports, and it isn't always fun. I will reserve my Tea Party parallels for another posting. But for one evening, having driven six hours to get there, I found myself re-embraced by more than 24,000 best friends whose names I don't know, and who have never heard of me. I became a fan. I wasn't nearly as outrageous as most of my "friends" were. On a scale of 1-10, with one being boring and 10 being eligible for institutionalization, I was about a 2.

What fun, in the midst of economic, political, global issues that boggle the mind, to pull out my orange sweater and scream until my voice was raw. And now, back to normal....

Dictionary Credit: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved
Photo Credit: : www.flickr.com/photos/brianeden/3305398518/

BOO: an exclamation of contempt or disapproval

We went to a basketball game last night that should have been a resounding victory for the home team. Throughout the game the home team led by a serious margin and played like champions. In the closing minutes of the game the style of play evaporated and the visiting team took advantage of it. Regulation time ended in a tie, and in overtime the visiting team prevailed.

The large, otherwise supportive and festive crowd booed.

It was a surprise to hear the sound coming from the previously ecstatic crowd. I saw the coach of the home team stare into the crowd several times, as shocked by the sound as we were. It occurred to me that boo is a word that describes a sound of disapproval from a gathering of people who wish to remain anonymous and ambiguous.

I’m not sure which message the booing sound was supposed to convey.

*Did the crowd want the home team to know that they didn’t like them anymore, having been let down by the loss?
*Was the crowd booing the coach, the team members, the officials, or the other team for having embarrassed the home team?
* Was the boo an intentional sound, thought out and chosen as a means of expressing displeasure, or was it spontaneous, coming from the depths of disappointment and unable to be contained?

It doesn’t really matter. The booing was effective. It sent a negative message to the team and the coaches. “This was not a good outcome.” I’m sure that the post-game comments from the coach made sure that the team members knew that they had let the crowd down. That may not be the only object of the game, but it counts for something. Several thousand people gave up an evening, spent good money, and came to the game expecting a quality performance. They got it for most of the game, but then had it snatched away in the last few minutes as the home team became overconfident/sloppy/unresponsive…you choose the right word.

I’m not sure why I’m writing about this on this somber Sunday morning, except to note that while I was not one of the persons who booed I felt the same disappointment and discouragement with the outcome.

However, I think booing is cruel; it pierces the already deflated hearts of the players. I suppose some people think it might rally them the next time. I’m not sure that it works that way. But while I slept peacefully this past night, I’ll bet the coach and at least some of the players on the home team tossed and turned, hearing that awful sound in their heads.

On a scale of importance in the larger scheme of things, I might rate this issue a 2 out of 10. But, as I have said before in other blog postings, the smaller issues matter. They may be vaporous, lasting only for the season of one day, but they can be long-lasting in the memories of those on the receiving end of the issue. I'm not judging those who booed. In my heart I was one of them.

Definition: Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
Photo Credit: Copyright © 2009 CBS Interactive Inc.

RESOLUTE: Firm or determined; unwavering.

In order to make a New Year’s Resolution, one has to be resolute. Firm, determined, unwavering. Otherwise, a New Year’s Resolution is just a faux promise, with no intention on the part of the maker to carry it out. If that feels harsh or judgmental, welcome to the crowd. I know just how you feel.

I tried to imagine the 5 New Year’s Resolutions that President Obama might make today. The list I created, it turns out, has more to do with what I want him to resolve, but maybe…just maybe…there is an overlap.

1. Stay focused on issues you believe in. There are all kinds of people out there trying to convert you to their beliefs, couching them in promises, threats, and bribes. You were elected to carry out promises made from your own beliefs. Stick to them.

2. Keep playing basketball. One of the endearing qualities that voters saw in you was the energy and youthful glee that you exhibited when doing something you really enjoyed. No need to duplicate the bowling episode…that didn’t have anything to do with you. And if golf is something that gives you pleasure and lowers your blood pressure, play golf. I don’t care what your critics say about it; I know that you are working hard, putting in full days and nights on the job, and fretting a lot over your responsibilities. Keep the basketball in your repertoire of required activities. You’ll live longer.

3. Don’t stop thinking. There is a huge, unbelievably strong anti-intellectual element to our population today. They would have you engage in regular knee-jerk reactions to events and ideas. They are nostalgic about the eight years before your election. Your mind is crisp, clear, informed, and it makes you articulate. I love that about you. Take all the time you need to study big issues, and when you have made decisions, spell them out in a way that shows that you understand the concepts and have developed some passion around them.

4. Keep having dinner with your family. They keep you focused on the real things about life in America. And they need you just as much as you need them.

5. Don’t forget to laugh. Laugh at Dick Cheney and Rush Limbaugh. Laugh at the birthers and the tea baggers. They are laughable. Laugh at those who think the decisions you have to make are simple and don’t require time and advice from experts. Laugh at a good movie every now and then. And laugh when Bo gets antsy.

You may notice that I made this list without mentioning health care, the economy, Guantanamo, the War in Afghanistan, or the sad state of education in our country. I don’t know enough about those things to be able to advise the President on the correct answers. He, however, has the ability to speak to each of them intelligently. If he keeps my 5 suggestions, and if he is resolute about approaching them daily, I believe the year 2010 will turn out to be just fine for Barack Obama…and for the rest of us in the USA.


Photo Credit: http://www.gettyimages.com/Editorial/Frontdoor/SportsIllustrated

Dictionary source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.