When I was a kid growing up in southern Illinois, I was a Cardinals baseball fan. The players were the same year after year. The loyalty to the team was mostly a function of endearment and familiarity with the players.
As I grew older and moved to other states and free agency took over the game, I found my loyalty slipping.
I hope the same thing is not happening to college basketball.
It is hard being loyal to an institution when the members are in a revolving door.
There are as many reasons to be a fan of a Team as there are the number of fans. There is a likewise number of reasons why a fan might lose interest.
For me, being a fan is a Two-Way Street. First of all, you have to get something out of it or you wouldn’t be a fan of that team. You forge some kind of personal connective narrative. But as you offer your time and interest and money to a Team... They need to respond in kind with trying to be very successful and treating you as a fan with respect. As we know, it starts at the very top of an organization and filters its way down to the game time product.
Most all Teams except for a tiny few will move-and-down the charts with the changing fates of recruiting and the coaching profession. But it is the fans interest that keeps things level – again, as long as the Organization is trying its best. If and when They don’t do that it’s hard to find a reason for fans to keep pouring interest into the Team.
Players and Coaches will always be a revolving door. It is the passing on of interest in a Team from generation to generation that is the heart and soul of the sports relationship.
That’s one reason why Illini Nation is so optimistic these days. Even though the last two years have given us little to be happy about in the Tournament, we sense that the right guys are at the wheel and we see the on-court product getting better overall. And 'Our Team' is getting some National recognition again.
We give them our passion and They work hard and get better and reward us with their best efforts. That’s how it is supposed to work.