Can Fans Make A Difference?

The roar of the crowd can sometimes be a good thing and other times it can be very distracting. The cheering and booing, we believe as fans can have an impact on the game and can make a difference, but does it really?

There are several ways fans are trying to make a difference in sport these days, which ones actually do, well that is for you to decide.

1. The Vuvuzuela – the ever present buzzing you hear while watching World Cup games. The noisemaker is distracting to everyone watching at home, so one can only imagine what it must be like on the field. Players cannot possibly hear each other, the referee or the coach for instruction. Soccer players have long been exposed to singing and chanting in the stands but this is different and not in a good way. Effect: X-Large

2. The Fan Rally – the rally is becoming more present in trying to get an idea or thought noticed by a team or particular player. We have seen an abundance of fan rallies trying to get certain NBA free agents to choose a new hometown, or stay in their present city. Miami has organized meet-ups for Dwayne Wade and New York and Akron have both mobilized itself to support the signing on Lebron James. Nothing in Toronto for Chris Bosh though…guess we are tired of rallies after the G-20. Effect: Small

3. Fan Club – although not that popular in North America, the fan clubs or supporters clubs in Europe and South America are very strong and organized. These supporters can often control many of the decisions that happen within in a team. These can include which players to sign, if a coach should be fired or even if the ownership should change (see Manchester United and Liverpool). Effect: XX-Large

4. Blogs/Media – the North American version of the supporters club. Fans take to message boards and writing comments in newspaper articles to show their displeasure (normally) with a certain decision that a team or management has come to. Unfortunately, many of the blogs (this one included) have a small reach and therefore cannot sway management decision making like the supporters. Effect: Small

5. Cheering – the old fashion approach to the fan making a difference. Two great examples that this can still work happened this year. During the Grey Cup, fans of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, known as the 13th man, took over the stadium in Calgary to the point where it was basically a home game for the green riders. Unfortunately, during all the cheering and effort to distract Montreal from kicking a game winning field goal, the team didn’t notice there were actually 13 men on the field. It cost them the championship. The other example was during the NBA playoffs. ESPN columnist Bill Simmons started a twitter account call @CelticsChants – where he posted cheers for fans to start during home games directed at opponents. These were successful and turned going to games at the TD Bank North Arena something similar to going to games at the old Boston Gardens. Even though Simmons didn’t tweet anything during the actual finals, Boston fans gave us the great “Ugly Sister” chant directed at Lamar Odom for marrying the “other” Kardashian. Effect: Medium to Large

6. Getting Naked – popularized in the movie Major League, getting naked is certainly a way to get the attention of your team. For fans of the Paraguay World Cup, your super fan (pictured above) and model has agreed to take it off if you win the tournament. Betcha everyone has a new team to cheer for now…



One thing many of us don’t think about while participating in all this is how it actually affects the athlete. Are they sad that they are being picked on? Does it make them happy because by being booed at an away stadium means they are doing well? A couple of incidents have occurred that let us know that the fans voices are being heard.

Near the end of a lackluster season with the Toronto Raptors, Hedo Turkoglu was booed on the court for giving less than stellar performances. Coupled with the fact that he had sat out games because of the flu and was later seen enjoying the Toronto nightlife with teammates caused a fan backlash and he was booed while on his home court. During the summer, Turkoglu did an interview with a Turkish media outlet and in not so many words said he would like to leave Toronto because the fans didn’t respect him. He wondered openly how they could boo him on his home court. The other similar incident happened after England’s second game of the World Cup vs. Algeria. A disappointing performance for England, that led to a 0-0 draw and put the team in danger of being eliminated. While leaving the field the team was booed by supporters who had traveled from afar to see their country play. Wayne Rooney, arguably the best player on England and one of the best in the world left the pitch and turned to camera and cursed the fans for booing the team and said it didn’t help at all. Well, you know what Wayne – play better and we wouldn’t boo….

How do you express your fandom? Can you see yourself as part of a supporters club or would you just rather go to games and clap clap clap