Talking fandom: love, loyalty, and a sense of belonging

In the latest episode we discuss ideas of loyalty and fandom - with respect to both teams and individual athletes - and dissect various strands of 'belonging' to an imagined community.

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Talking Points:

• The schizophrenic nature of fandom in the franchise age


• Do you cheer for Kohli when he plays for India and wish for him to fail for RCB?


• The idea of imagined communities and the spread of nationalism


• Why does bandwagoning have a bad reputation?


• Supporting a team versus an individual - and how the first appears more noble


• The sacred space of fandom - watching as a community v watching alone


• The live experience v the TV experience - and the vast difference between them


• The loss of hope in 2000 - when Azhar and Cronje were embroiled in scandal

Participants:

Siddhartha Vaidyanathan (@sidvee); Rohit Naimpally (https://rohitnaimpally.substack.com/); Deepauk Murugesan (@complicateur); Ashoka (@ABVan)

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Related:

• That special whistle: the phenomeon called CSK - 81allout podcast


• The ins and outs of Fantasy Cricket - 81allout podcast


• Reviving War Minus the Shooting - 81allout podcast with Osman Samiuddin


• Imagined Communities - Benedict Anderson - Amazon


• Rules for Being a True Fan - Bill Simmons - ESPN Page 2


• We cheer for clothes - Jerry Seinfeld - YouTube


• The remarkable rise of the Oakland Roots


• Is sporting fandom a set of rituals or a relationship - Ahmer Naqvi - ESPNcricinfo


• Confessions of a bandwagon fan - David Sax - The New Yorker


• The legacy of Michael Jordan in China - Andrew Gao - chinosity.com


• Will you watch the World Cup - Siddhartha Vaidyanathan - sidveeblogs