Published 2005-04-20T00:00:00Z”/>

Travis Souders<br>Sports Editor

<strong>Wear team pride on the outside</strong>

It’s not easy being a Lakers fan in a house full of Kings bandwagon-jumpers.

Of course, now that I’m three years removed from my parents’ house, it’s not a big deal anymore, but when your aunt, uncle, brother, cousin and dad are rooting for your team to lose, it’s hard to keep a positive outlook.

So, to counter my deficiency in team support, I had to be the household uber-fan. Sure, it makes you feel like a nerd being ultra-intense, but that makes the exciting moments so much better.

I might have gotten some bad feedback when I threw a pillow at my grandma’s big-screen TV a couple of years ago during the Lakers-Kings Christmas game, but it was oh-so-sweet being able to shout in everyone’s faces when Robert Horry knocked down the Game 3-winning three-pointer in the Western Conference finals (thanks for the assist, Vlade).

People talk all the time about how they want people to chill out during sports games, but I think intense fans are what make them so exciting. Can you imagine watching a Yankees game without the thundering of the crowd in the ninth inning? Why have a favorite team if you don’t embrace the bragging rights? What would the point of even watching games on television be?

People try to be cautious and keep fans at bay if they can because they fear what might happen. They’re afraid that another Detroit-style mob might happen or, like last week, some idiot will reach onto the field of play and make physical contact with the players. But I’ll stick to my guns on this one: don’t sell alcohol at the games, and you won’t have these problems. There’s a difference between fan enthusiasm and fan inebriation.

I remember watching a Red Sox-Giants game at The Graduate last summer, and amidst the scattered chants of “Manny” I felt like a crowd of pseudo-Bostonians was going to overwhelm me and my hot pastrami sandwich. But a couple of Marquis Grissom homers and a seven-run lead later, the Giant Nation was in full throat. Yeah, we all got it thrown back in our faces when the Red Sox rallied to win 14–9, but the point is that we had fun.

Don’t ease up on the intensity just for the sake of not risking embarrassment. If you stand by your allegiances whole-heartedly, being a sports fan will be a much more rewarding experience.

Travis can be reached at