One thing is always for certain in the world of sports, there can only be one winner. Someone has to lose, no way around it (unless you play in a certain Canadian youth soccer league where they don’t keep score). As sports always go however some teams lose more than others on a consistent basis. We know them all, the Cleveland Browns, the New York Knicks, the Minnesota Twins, and who could forget of course the Buffalo Bills. The Bills actually have brought me to the topic I’m writing about today as a friend of mine has recently decided to take a gap year as a fan of the Bills. He is not just a casual fan either; he is a die-hard fan of the Bills since birth and for this one football season has decided to actually root for a whole another team altogether. But is this necessarily an okay thing to do as a fan?

Usually when you think of gap year, you think of someone taking a year off college to relieve stress and get away from the taxing environment of the college life. When people tend to do this they may work, go traveling or see family, things that will make them happy. Well my friend chose a similar path, deciding not to root for his Buffalo Bills and put no emotional energy into their campaign this season and instead being a Philadelphia Eagles fan (further aggravating me since I'm a Redskins fan).

For those who don’t know the Buffalo Bills are currently in the longest active streak of not making the playoffs in the NFL, last making it in 2000 against the Tennessee Titans.

Now certainly nobody can blame any Bills fans for being upset, after all a team going through what will likely be two decades of irrelevancy is heartbreaking, but is it something a real fan can do?

One thing that I wished was viable in sports was the ability to fire owners because if a team is bad for a long time generally it’s because it’s a bad organization and that begins from the top. Coaches, players, and managers are always released but no matter how bad a team is for however long an owner is never really punished for it. I understand that’s business but this opens the door to the team loyalty aspect many of us talk about.

I criticized my friend for his decision but in a way it makes sense. After all a sports team is not only just a team, it’s a product, a commodity, a money maker. If that product no longer provides quality why should a fan support it. Especially if it’s the same power that be that controls that product and the fan has no say in how to improve said product.

However many of us would probably be afraid in people becoming “frontrunners” rooting for only the best and consistent teams. Most of us do see our professional sports teams as much more than just a product as well especially when the family tradition or hometown factor is thrown in.

Maybe I sympathize with others more on this because of being fan of generally some bad or disappointing sports teams but either on a personal level I couldn’t stop being a fan no matter how hard I try. Whether you choose to go through the same punishment as I do I guess is up to you.