Reject Consumerism, Embrace Haterism

**Not Really a Rockies Based Post**

Recently, to my own detriment, I’ve been scrolling Instagram and TikTok accounts that focus primarily on sports discussion. Right now, due to the playoffs, it is NBA and NHL accounts but occasionally I’ll get some insane NFL stuff or some goofy MLB memes popping up.

Throughout all of these reels containing podcast clips, front facing camera rants, half heartedly edited highlights set to public domained music, and slideshows of “Top 5 Players I Could Take To The Post Right Now” I’ve slowly begun to realize the sports content chasm we face as a country right now. The entire point of sports fandom has shifted away from enjoying the game or appreciating the players to…watching some guy you’ll never meet get mad about the Lakers. The games are being consumed as a way to create further content and that content is consumed simply to create an internal reaction to it. Not to the game, you’ve long forgotten how the game made you feel. To the content.

The TikTok account “JokicJoeStar” is a favorite of mine and in March he made a video posing the question why nobody talks about Giannis’s 2021 Finals run. You know, the NBA Finals where Milwaukee was down 2-0 before their 2-time MVP literally took over and sent Deandre Ayton to the netherworld. The one where Giannis dropped 50 points in a close out game 6. A legendary performance for a surefire NBA Hall of Famer. But people seem to refuse to want to talk about it. A lot of the comments were banter or hater comments, replies like “only did it once” or “fraud”. That’s fine, that has always existed. But a few comments stuck out to me, many referencing Kevin Durant’s tweet about how NBA Fans don’t actually like the NBA. I nodded along. It’s mostly true, but I don’t know if it is all the way true. Fandom has been warped by media (both social and traditional) and it’s not because people just one day suddenly decided they didn’t like watching sports anymore. I have deeper thoughts.

The Rot of Individualism

This isn’t just going to be a rant about the purity and undeniability of the science of socialism, I promise, but there is no doubt in my mind that American Individualism is impacting every cavern and cranny of the days we live. This has begun to include sports.

Take the social media accounts I’ve bravely endured the last few months as one prime example. Over the course of just an hour of scrolling these, the algorithm spit me four or five sports podcasts, a few more “creators” that were using editing and music to create takes, and multiple people that simply stream themselves watching the game and reacting ridiculously. I don’t really care about what quality of the content here, I know that the way young people consume things is different than me and I’m not here to argue that my way is better. But the sheer number of these things is overwhelming.

The idea of individualism that thrives within American ideology is one that begs us to monetize or commodify our interests. Chasing fame and fortune, if you are not gifted with the talent in art or sports, is fruitless unless you become a professional personality. Social media only exacerbates this path that has always been rampant in American Culture. It also removes the barrier to entry. So instead of a few people on sports talk radio, we get 30 people making the same video.

Or, for another example, take local Denver T-Shirt Company and Bar masquerading as a media platform, DNVR. Immediately after Jamal Murray hit a buzzer beating game two shot over Anthony Davis, the latter took to the press stand and uttered the words “Jamal Murray made a shot” before storming off. This was a huge moment in Denver sports lore. The best professional basketball team in the city’s history just downed one of the most historic franchises with a hero shot. There was hardly room to breathe or react before DNVR posted a t-shirt design of the moment. And there lies the rub.

Sports are part of a person’s identity. This is undeniable. You can be annoying if it’s too much of your identity but it is always part of you. Fandom of professional sports are a large part of that. You are intertwined with a community. DNVR has made this their brand. They are hoping that when you think of sports, you think of Denver sports, and when you think of Denver sports, you think of DNVR. But to so very quickly design and push a shirt based around an iconic moment feels so blatantly patronizing I don’t know how anyone can stand it. Sports are part of you and I don’t blame anyone for wearing clothes that represent that part (I do it too), but why must we monetize the entire experience of being a fan? Why must we wear a shirt to remind us of how good we felt? Especially since, it’s one thing to sell a championship shirt or something, but a game two buzzer beater in the first round? The year after they won their first championship? Anyway, I think this would all be a bit more palatable if DNVR didn’t act like they weren’t just trading equity on your interests. They’ve successfully become people who have shrouded that they’re getting rich off of your desire to feel included. “We’re making it fun to be a fan”, “upgrade your fandom”, “become a diehard”. It’s all a sales pitch wrapped up in wording that appeals to your emotion. It’s cynical to feel this way, I know, but how can you not be?

Watching the ninth different video titled “Laker fan reacts to Jamal Murray’s game winning shot” while local sports pushed their own brand of merchandise has led me to ask what it is we are doing here? All this has done is take the ownership of your fandom and placed it in the hands of hucksters and jesters. You can’t appreciate the feeling of victory because you rely on the reaction of some loser fan you’ve never met. You can’t show your love for the team without consuming. This is the rot of the individualist culture. We are all little units that can only showcase our love and interests by monetizing or consuming it at all times. Make money or spend money, that’s all this is good for. Ok, just a little socialist ranting, sorry.

The Necessary Ideology of Haterism

Beyond the complete mess of shit the above dove into I have noticed something bubbling under the surface of discourse that I have long fought against. The belief that being a hater is simply not enough to dislike a team or sport or work of art. This is not the court room, we are not locking any of these things up in jail. The irrationality of being a hater is something that should honestly be protected at all costs. No, I should not have to like and support the Minnesota Wild, music by Kenny Chesney, or Travis Kelce. I do not care how nice they are, how good they are, or how fun any of their players can be. This is not a logical debate, this is being a hater.

When we push the idea that being a hater requires logic or evidence, it leads to a few things. The first is that people will then begin to invent or align evidence to justify their haterism. They’ll find players saying something slightly annoying or problematic as justification, they’ll make up some shit about the city’s residents or mayor being annoying. Now instead of getting someone saying like, “I think Travis Kelce is an annoying guy” you’ll get something like “Travis Kelce used to speak using the same terms as young black men and now I am justified in hating him.” I mean, yeah I guess if that is something that makes you mad, but I think it’s probably just as easy to call him annoying and move on. Not everything needs to be part of your ongoing fight against the world’s demons. Sometimes you are just a hater.

This has leaked beyond the world of sports into art appreciation in general. No longer can you just like or dislike something. It has to have impact. Prior to the Joaquin Phoenix Joker coming out there was vast worry from talking head types that the movie would give a violent hero to the lonely masses of men online. That the incel culture would become riotous to be like the Joker. This was silly, obviously. Because it’s a movie. A decent movie that had about as much cultural impact as any other superhero film of the last 15 years (that is, to say, nothing substantially life changing). But you can’t just say you’re not excited for a movie, you can’t just say you’re not interested. It has to be worrisome or potentially problematic. Pop music can’t just be catchy songs and exciting production. It has to be world changing or inspiring. This is a trap, ultimately. Because when a song like Sabrina Carpenter’s Espresso becomes popular you have a sudden rush of people trying to justify it’s corny, simplistic lyrics with words they learned from a Social Justice TikTok. Sometimes you can just like a song because it’s catchy and has a good beat. That’s like half the reason songs exist.

The second thing that’ll happen is people will be afraid to be called a hater and will then find workarounds. Usually, they adopt the same workaround as the right wing posters online and start to “just ask questions”. Does this loss impact Jokic’s legacy? I’m just asking questions. Are the New York Knicks choke artists? I’m just asking questions. Is Lamar Jackson a fraud? I’m just asking questions!

These questions are stupid and simply shade what you really want to say. You’re putting a question in place of your hater based statement because you’re a coward. Say it with your chest out or don’t say it at all. Don’t act like you’re on SportsCenter, you’re in the Instagram comment section for “NBAMEME” on Instagram.

These questions often get met with vitriol due to how stupid they are, and the question asker usually responds with some thought out analysis to “justify the question”. They hit you with four or five “facts” they have contorted into the argument. When the reality is, nobody wants to argue with you dude. They just want you to say you’re a hater and move on. You’re allowed to be a hater, you don’t have to be an analyst. You’re not being paid to analyze anything.

What is it we are doing here? If we can’t be a fan for the sake of it, if we can’t have fun cheering on wins or being sad together when we lose, what’s the point of all of this? Perhaps it’s time to stop thinking you’re here to make money or become popular and just enjoy this part of life for what it is? None of it matters, really. Whatever happens to you after you die, the sports team won’t change a bit.

Maybe if you didn’t wrap so much of this up into your desire to belong or your need to express yourself you could actually enjoy the sports for what they are? Incredible athletes doing incredible things?

Maybe.