a.k.a. V.J.

A few days ago, I was in a grocery store and overheard a couple of young men discussing the Bills’ prospects for the upcoming season. One of the fellows kept referring to the team as “we” (e.g., “We need to get consistent production from James Cook!”). I cringe a little bit when I hear sports fans doing that.

My line of thought is that no matter how big of a fan you are of a team, it is improper to speak of yourself as a member of the organization unless you truly are on the roster, the front office, the coaching/training staff, or some other employee of the team. When a person who doesn’t fall into one of those categories says, “We won!” after their favorite team secures a victory, they are veering into fantasyland. That’s not a terrible sin, but it’s probably not psychologically healthy to think of yourself as being part of an organization that doesn’t even know you exist.

One exception to my thinking on this would be a person talking about a college sports team…if the person in fact attended, worked at, or paid for their kid to attend the school. Theoretically, the students, faculty, alumni, parents, and the athletes are all part of one big collegial community, so “we” is appropriate. That said, I never say “we” when discussing the Syracuse Orange or Oswego Lakers sports programs, despite checking several of the appropriate boxes for both schools.

Some people will read the previous two paragraphs and think that I’m being a killjoy, wet blanket, fuddy-duddy, etc. They would ask: What’s the harm in people identifying with a beloved team? In fact, most teams and leagues encourage fans to think that way! To be honest, I really don’t have a good counterargument against that.

As a marketer, it’s kind of insane that I have reservations over what amounts to enviable levels of customer loyalty and engagement. If I was in charge of marketing for the Bills, hearing that guy say “we” in reference to my brand would have made me salivate and see dollar signs. Imagine people enjoying the offerings from Kraft, or United Airlines, or AT&T so strongly that they viewed themselves as quasi-members of those organizations. That sounds ludicrous, but when you understand that the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, EPL, etc. and their member franchises are consumer brands, it’s really the same thing.

To take that idea a step further, a fan who says “we” when talking about, say, the Los Angeles Dodgers might point out that she buys tickets to the games, overpriced food and beverages at the stadium, team-licensed merchandise, and products from some of the sponsors of the game broadcasts. The team can’t exist without people like her. Why shouldn’t she consider herself part of the team, or at least an extension of it?

Again, I have no logical counterargument to that. It just seems wrong to me. Perhaps I’m old-fashioned, but it feels like taking credit for accomplishments I didn’t play a part in. Stolen glory. But that’s just me. The “we” crowd can say whatever they want about their teams and I’m not going to call them out for it…

…But you can bet your sweet bippy that I’m going to raise an eyebrow any time the “we” switches to “they” after a loss.