In Bay Area, Barry Bonds remains a giant
Hometown fans are often more tolerant of an athlete whose alleged behavior on or off the field has drawn the ire of others.
from the June 1, 2007 edition
Page 3 of 4
In New England, Patriots fans took a similar stance on the arrival of Randy Moss, one of football's bad boys.
Did Moss suddenly become a good Samaritan after being traded from the Oakland Raiders? No, it's much more basic than that: The Patriots acquired him as a receiver for quarterback Tom Brady.
"The thinking is 'he's our guy,' " Mr. Deford says. "This is true all over the world, not just in America. It happens with European soccer players all the time. And look at New York. Jason Giambi admitted taking steroids in testimony, but Yankee fans don't care."
Sociologists say fans loathe and love players on an emotional level rather than employing a rational – or moral – basis.
These snap judgments explain, in part, why Kobe Bryant reigns as the NBA player with the top-selling jersey, despite acknowledging an adulterous liaison in Colorado that led to sexual assault charges. (They were dropped in 2004, and Bryant issued an apology to his accuser.)
"Sports figures are given the benefit of the doubt because they provide us with pleasure," argues Jay Coakley, a sports sociologist. "And that trumps all sorts of things. If a person brings us some type of excitement, then we're not real anxious to take that person out of the game."
Whether the issues involve serious, criminal offenses, a sense of fair play, or matters of style, fans tend to invoke – and dismiss – various transgressions on a whim. They also fall prone to ranking real and perceived offenses on an equal basis.
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