Minnesota_husker
All-American
Many know that I am a diehard Vikings fan. I was born and raised as a Vikings fan.. Compared to basically choosing to be a husker fan when i went to school there.
I am going to try and not get too long-winded with my point of this thread, but still try and get my point across... fully expect a few: TL;DR
When the news about Adrian Peterson came out yesterday, my intial reaction was to defend Adrian. AP is easily my favorite current Viking(all time favorite is Randy Moss). I have read countless stories about AP and he has always been presented as a very good guy. He volunteers and while he has like 7 kids from like 6 women, It always seemed like he was a good dad.
As the news began to come out yesterday, it was crystal clear that AP was in the wrong. He is the type of dad who chooses to teach his kid a lesson he wont be able to forget because it leaves a mark(literally)... This is something many people grew up with in some way.. in the 60's and 70's, no one would bat an eye.. but AP (who was treated this way as a kid) should know that there is a line and he clearly crossed it.. especially with the child only being 4 yrs old.
My point here isnt to discuss the specific AP situation as much as I want to discuss how being a fan clouds all our opinions... I have mixed emotions and find it hard to be harsh on AP because I am such a fan.
The same way i probably defended Alfonzo Dennard for punching that cop(IT WAS AN ACCIDENT) or some might try and defend Bo(not all) to non-husker fans.
So how does a fan not let his judgement be clouded? I think it is natural to want to defend someone who plays for your team, but in my situation, it is probably wrong. AP abused his child and i am trying hard to fight my Viking pride in order to look at this how I should.
The end of the day, AP was wrong. So was Dennard as was Rice... Fan or no fan, you can lay hands on other people. All 3 of those situations were very different, but yet all 3 test our fandom.
So my question is.. how do others deal with not allowing your fandom to cloud your ability to use common sense?
I am going to try and not get too long-winded with my point of this thread, but still try and get my point across... fully expect a few: TL;DR
When the news about Adrian Peterson came out yesterday, my intial reaction was to defend Adrian. AP is easily my favorite current Viking(all time favorite is Randy Moss). I have read countless stories about AP and he has always been presented as a very good guy. He volunteers and while he has like 7 kids from like 6 women, It always seemed like he was a good dad.
As the news began to come out yesterday, it was crystal clear that AP was in the wrong. He is the type of dad who chooses to teach his kid a lesson he wont be able to forget because it leaves a mark(literally)... This is something many people grew up with in some way.. in the 60's and 70's, no one would bat an eye.. but AP (who was treated this way as a kid) should know that there is a line and he clearly crossed it.. especially with the child only being 4 yrs old.
My point here isnt to discuss the specific AP situation as much as I want to discuss how being a fan clouds all our opinions... I have mixed emotions and find it hard to be harsh on AP because I am such a fan.
The same way i probably defended Alfonzo Dennard for punching that cop(IT WAS AN ACCIDENT) or some might try and defend Bo(not all) to non-husker fans.
So how does a fan not let his judgement be clouded? I think it is natural to want to defend someone who plays for your team, but in my situation, it is probably wrong. AP abused his child and i am trying hard to fight my Viking pride in order to look at this how I should.
The end of the day, AP was wrong. So was Dennard as was Rice... Fan or no fan, you can lay hands on other people. All 3 of those situations were very different, but yet all 3 test our fandom.
So my question is.. how do others deal with not allowing your fandom to cloud your ability to use common sense?
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