Buffalo Sabres

Frustration crosses junior David Snyder’s face as he avidly watches the television, his eyes darting back and forth across the screen. It’s 2017, and Snyder’s favorite basketball team, the Indiana Pacers, are challenging LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round of the NBA playoffs. Snyder grows increasingly angry as the Pacers continue blowing a double-digit lead. He slams his fist on his coffee table as they turn it over again, leading to a Cavaliers basket.

A few minutes later, the Cavaliers complete a miraculous second half comeback, capped off by a timely basket from James, sweeping Indiana and eliminating the Pacers in the first round for the second consecutive year.

Snyder lets out a groan as he realizes that it will be a long six months until he can watch his team again. For him, it comes with the territory of being an Indiana Pacers fan.

Snyder prepares for another year of ridicule from his peers, of them questioning his decision to support a basketball team from Indiana and criticizing the front office decisions of the franchise, of him having to defend himself against the world, isolated by his decision to support an outof-state, non-elite team.

According to Snyder, there are a few main types of sports fans. Te bandwagons: those who wore Warriors, Patriots, Red Sox and Capitals gear last year, and now sport Clippers, Nationals and Blues gear.

However, there is a different type of sports fan, exemplified by Snyder. Te fan who screams their head off for a subpar team. Who curses out their team’s management for every terrible trade and mind-bogglingly horrible contract. Who faces public ridicule for supporting a team that’s neither elite nor Bay Area-based.

Pacers fan Snyder is a fan of an off-beat team because he said it’s more enjoyable than supporting local teams.

“Supporting an unpopular team is fun because it makes you stand out, because you’re not just

one of those bozos who rattles on about how great the Warriors are,” Snyder said. Snyder said supporting different teams than your friends adds a more personal aspect to professional sports.

“It is more fun because if your team wins a game against your friend’s team, it’s kind of over for them,” Snyder said.

Snyder said supporting a good, though not elite, team makes regularseason wins more rewarding, although postseason success can be lacking.

“My adrenaline starts flowing, and I start feeling insanely hyped,” Snyder said. “I really feel a part of a team, and rooting for the team is just an awesome experience for me to share with myself.”

Snyder said his team is unlikely to win a championship in the near future, but has no problem with the treadmill of mediocrity.

“It’s a struggle, but you gotta a p p r e c i a t e that grind because when the day comes that the sun shines on us, I’ll bask in the glory,” Snyder said. “People think I’m crazy. Which I am.”

Like Snyder, junior Jackson Muma is a fan of a consistently mediocre team. A Detroit sports fan, Muma said he chose to be a fan of the city’s teams because he wanted to be differ- ent. Muma mainly supports the NFL’s De- troit Lions, although he is also a fan of the NBA’s Pistons, NHL’s Redwings and MLB’s Tigers.

“Growing up, everyone was a 49ers fan,” Muma said. “I wanted to be different and support a different team no matter what, even when the 49ers went to the Super Bowl (in 2013).”

According to Muma, another reason why he chose Detroit teams when picking teams to follow was his father’s home state.

“My dad’s side of the family is from Michigan,” Muma said. “So I decided on the Lions, and I’ve been a Lions fan since.”

Muma said that he faces mostly negative reactions from others in the Bay Area when he tells them about his favorite teams.

“People are surprised when I tell them I’m a Lions fan,” Muma said. “Te reaction is never positive, as it is pretty common knowledge that the Lions are pretty terrible. Tey then proceed to either ridicule them or make me feel less bad about how terrible the team is.”

Muma said that even when he begins to feel hope about his team, they often let him down anyway.

“It feels terrible; it’s really just knowing that the team will disappoint you even though you believe in them,” Muma said. “It usually happens that I get caught up in the hype or the flow of the game, but I end up disappointed more often than not.” Muma said he also finds himself frustrated by questionable front office decisions. “IT USUALLY HAPPENS THAT I GET CAUGHT UP IN THE FLOW OF THE GAME BUT I END UP DISAPPOINTED MORE OFTEN THAN NOT.” JACKSON MUMA

“Many things the team or organization does make little sense from the fans’ perspective,” Muma said. “It’s overall just frustrating to be helpless as the organization makes bad decisions.”

A recent management decision that left Muma particularly dumbfounded was the trading of safety Quandre Diggs to the Seattle Seahawks.

“His production was worth much more than we got in return, and his play didn’t warrant shipping him off for a bag of potato chips,” Muma said. Te Lions are generally not one of the worst teams in the NFL, and there have been a few things preventing them from becoming bottom feeders, which would put fans like Muma into even more potential misery. “Matthew Stafford is the best player on the Lions,” Muma said. “He’s been on the team for so many years and has often been the only reason the Lions have been competitive in recent years. He’s so devoted to the city and the game, and I find his loyalty inspiring.”

Many sports fans take relish in beating their rivals due to the history of bad blood between the teams, but Muma has become desensitized to his Lions beating their midwestern rivals.

“While it’s great to beat the Minnesota Vikings, Chicago Bears and especially the Green Bay Packers, we lose so much that it doesn’t really make me feel better because we lose the games that matter,” Muma said.

Muma said that the only thing that could make him stop being a fan would be a terrible signing or trade, worse than the Diggs mishap, or doubling down on past mistakes.

He is also frustrated that his team is toiling away in mediocrity due to no foreseeable path to Super Bowl contention.

“At this point I would much rather them just bottom out and tank, because it’s clear that they aren’t close to competitive,” Muma said. “But