I was thinking the other day about how much I love the Chargers and hate the Faders.  It’s simple; I like to hate on other sports teams.  Is hate ever a good thing?  Yes.  It is.  And now I bring you my defense of hate (in sports.) 

It makes me feel good to have loyalty to my team and fellow fans.  Part of that loyalty is to stand against anyone who spreads negativity about San Diego sports.  Let’s face it, we have never won a superbowl nor world series and don’t even have a pro basketball team anymore.  Almost by necessity we have to be a little bit forward sometimes when people bread negativity about the Chargers.  It’s also a great outlet of a lot of repressed anger. 

There are a lot of emotions that go into the football fan: anger, happiness, anticipation, joy, optimism, disappointment, aggressiveness, relief.  In the same realm of emotions are defense mechanisms which can motivate us.  Repression is a defense mechanism that many people use to cope with reality and maintain their self-image.  Another defense mechanism people use in called sublimation.  It involves taking emotions that you cannot point at the proper target and using that emotion in a way society deems appropriate.  For example, someone with a background of physical trauma may channel those emotions into playing a physical sport, or becoming a surgeon who spends all day cutting into people.  I let go of a lot of my emotion through sports.  It feels good and society says it’s ok.

Yet, one thing I love about DaBolts (besides being a talented writer) is that he is very diplomatic about other teams.  No repressed emotion coming out there.  I haven’t heard him sat nary a cross word about anyone else.  After the broncos fans trolled us to death after Mr Hoculi gifted the game away, he played policeman but did not join in the fray.  He’s like President Obama in his quest for post-partisanship.  But because he has to deal with all of us who could spend days talking about out contempt for the faders or Mr Cutler, I think he may keep some of his more cross words to himself.  For all I know he has a Tony Soprano underneath that we don’t get to see. 

            All this emotion helps us to yell when we’re on D, cheer when we score, and boo when the situation calls for it.  Incidentally, those jeers also make Mr Rivers tell us to shut up.  Something all Charger fans have in common, especially here, is heart.  We fight even after we lose.  Anyone who remembers the late 80’s can testify to that.

So maybe both sides are right.  There is a time for raw emotion and a time for discourse.  I’m glad we have both here in our community.  But remember to let your emotion out.  Be great fans.  Remember that Al Davis has a drive to be hated and we should help him out. 

In closing I want to say: I hate the Faders, love the Chargers.  I hate the broncos, love this blog.