Rumpus columnist Steve Almond, an unwavering Oakland Raiders fan, writes for The New York Times about being a true sports fan, specifically a fan of a floundering team:
“As I prepare to immerse myself in another season of ill-fated devotion, there is a question I can’t shake: Why? Not why do the Raiders keep losing, but why does anyone follow an incompetent, perpetually failing team? It’s a question that resonates across an entire nation of fanatics, from the frigid Cheeseheads of Wisconsin to the yodeling herds of Texas, from the mile-high multitudes to the bellowing masses of New York.”
