Fan Culture @ Swarthmore

The sports fan seems to be relatively overlooked in most of the literature we have read for the class due to the “mainstream-ness” of it… I, however, feel that this is not the case.  Yes, there are some inactive fans that get season tickets or go to championship games; however, is this so different from average consumers who watch episodes of shows without any real connection to the fandom?  There are a variety of subcultures surrounding sports; take fantasy sports like football and baseball.  Fantasy sports allow for mock drafts, player rankings, and fantasy games that seem quite similiar to fan fiction (in that the fans are taking the characters and putting them on different teams and created situations to see how they will fare.)  It also seemed to fit into several of the “Ten ways to rewrite a television show” that Jenkins discusses on pg. 163.  There can be a refocalization on players that a fan might feel has been overlooked by the media, as well as cross overs and dislocation in the form of different team members playing together. 

Fan artifacts such as jerseys, signed baseballs…etc often illict as much money (if not more) than some of the klingon forehead pieces that we saw on the Trekkies documentary.  The culture of the fans creates the worth of the artifact.  Even though some athletes are more widely recognized, the true fans are a distinct group.  Just as Harry Potter is incredibly mainstream– the fandoms, fan fic, slash and conventions are set apart from the average reader.   I feel that sports fandom is quite similar and worth investigation.