There are two types of football fans: die-hards and casuals.
Die-hards live and breathe football. They love the home team, but they watch college ball and other pro games as well. They study the opposing teams in the week leading up to the game, they keep up on injuries, they know the stats of potential playoff contenders and they have a fantasy football team.
Nobody can call or invite them to anything on Sundays because they have a standing date. They always have a decent supply of snacks and beer on hand, so you can drop by; just shut up because the game is on.
One little girl in fourth grade at my school is a die-hard. I was not aware of this; she’s a quiet kid in class. But I happened to see her get ready for recess, and it was like watching the Hulk suit up.
Every recess, she gets her coat and all on, then pulls on a Patriots jersey over all of that. She checks herself out in the mirror in her locker, pulls down the No. 12 hat just so.
At this point, I swore I could hear the theme song from Shaft start.
She pulls out her football, slaps it hard a few times in her palm and struts — not walks — down the hall, like, “Yeah! Let’s do this!!” She looks as though she will push you down the stairs if you get in her way, so kids in the hall give her a wide berth.
On the other hand, casuals watch the game on Sunday, but they are just as happy reading about it the day after. They get excited around the beginning of January and are not interested in pregame shows, fantasy leagues or even having a few bucks on the outcome of a game.
Die-hards love the Super Bowl, and the Patriots’ fans are supreme, devoted, die-hard fans. They are lifers. A lot of them my age started when the team stunk, and now they are in their gravy-and-glory days.
Once the Pats made the Super Bowl, the casuals were sporting their gear under blazers, on their ears, etc. Not all die-hards wear outfits and fan gear. Many won’t buy it for themselves, but everyone else will, because any item of clothing, eating utensil, golf equipment, car accessory and crap men use in the garage can be Patriot-ized.
You can be Brady-ed from head to toe with headbands, backpacks, sneaks, socks, you name it. Some fans may have had strong feelings that lay dormant in their daily lives who are now sporting the team colors every day.
A guy who seems like a casual can really be a die-hard if watched closely enough or plied with enough beer (after work, naturally).
Another advantage of the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl is that the die-hards and the casuals can converse freely. Finally, they can talk about football nonstop with no pushback.
Those who are casually interested defer to the die-hards for advice and opinions. They never tire of it. In reality, the die-hards think the casuals are idiots who have no idea what they are talking about, but it’s better than hearing about the latest installment of some stupid show on Netflix.
Following a team is different for so many people. Things happen that you don’t expect.
For example, I was walking through a fifth-grade classroom last week and caught the end of a conversation that ended as soon as they saw it was me coming. It was about a betting pool.
The lookout did his duty and shut it down. “Iceberg dead ahead!” he said. I was on my way out the door and turned to see them scramble to cover the papers up and look innocent.
I’m thinking about my approach: hard-nosed or soft touch? Middle school boys are sensitive, so I will use humor. Their faces change as they try to assess my mood from my body language, which I am trying to make as calm as possible. I do this because I have been told I can come off as Where Fun Comes to Die by two liars who used to live in my house.
But before I could go over and say a word, the teacher hurried over with a hey-hey-hey-what’s-going-on tone. I turned back to head out thinking, “Cool, she’s got this.”
I was just at the doorway when my brain catches up with my ears on what happened next. She rushed right over and spoke to the group in a loud, strong voice, with urgency to get their attention, but … not to reprimand them or suggest they take this activity somewhere else.
No. She hustled over there with another idea in mind. She saw what they were up to and exclaimed:
“Ooh, a pool! I want in. What’s the spread?”
Deb Beaupre writes periodically on sports from the parental point-of-view despite the fact that she once referred to uniforms as costumes. She lives in Meriden.