There are many reasons to root for your home team. As everyone has experiened throughout thier lives, there are adverseties, sources of inspiration, lessons learned, and whatnot. Being a hispanic kid attending public schools in an essentially blue collar town, I heard my share of doubts from educators, rivals, etc. as to what my so-called limitations are and what would be more "realistic" for me to pursue as far as goals go. Much like the 1997 San Francisco Giants, who were at the beginning of the season penciled in for a last place finish by all the sports writers and so-called baseball experts across North America. Well what happened was the Giants proved all doubters wrong and went on to win the National League West. And in the manner they did it, with heart-stopping come from behind victories and gutty performances day in and day out, it was enough to make any true sports fan feel good about themselves. Just like the 99 Oakland A's, who have defied the logistics of running a major league franchise by developing home grown talent to become a contender rather then spend a bunch of money in an effort to gain instant contender status. Also the San Jose Sharks, always seen as a team who just isnt that good at all, show a lot of character and a lot of guts, in that they will stand up to anybody no matter how formidable the opponent is, and as is becoming more and more commonplace lately, even defeat that opponent. The 49ers, although they have won and won consistently over the years, are also the picture of what is good about sports, in that they have thier critics that continue to downplay thier accomplishments over the years and pencil them in going into every season as heading torwards the downslide of a great run. I have been a Giants and 49ers fan all my life, and when the Sharks came into exsistence in 1991, I had a new team to pledge my loyalty to. To most of us they are more then just teams though, they are sources of inspiration and motivation. They taught me to never give up, stand up for yourself, and dont listen to your critics. Another example I follow from the bay area teams: be proud of where you live and do your community proud. How Jeff Kent will put in his free time to speak at an inner city high school, how Mike Ricci and Jeff Friesen would purchase a row of seats at every Sharks home game just so underpriveleged kids could get a chance to see NHL hockey, and how former 49er Jesse Sapoulu gave his time to mentoring underpriveleged young people. Also by example between the lines do the athletes serve as examples, how Owen Nolan intensely crashes the net risking any unseen stickwork he may recieve, how Steve Young risks life and limb scrambling for extra yards and hitting defenders twice his size, and how Bill Mueller will eat dirt and go crashing into the first row of spectators just to make that out. Athletic skill, talent, and statistical accomplishments are definitly things to be appreciated, but character, heart, and desire are things that cant be measured, only seen. This is something I feel the bay area fan does extremely well, we can see and appreciate those things most other sports fans cant. That little extra effort, that total lack of fear, and that ever-growing determination.
