Thursday Cannon Fodder: have fun

I’m going to break one of our TSF rules in CF today. I’m going to tell people how to fan. More precisely, I’m going to tell people how not to fan.

In the wake of Arsenal’s resounding and highly enjoyably 6-0 drubbing of West Bromwich Albion, there was a certain segment of the fanbase determined to rain on everyone’s parade. They were quick to point out all the reasons people shouldn’t be happy / excited / enjoying the win and were telling off Gooners for celebrating.

I want to be clear — there is nothing wrong with being unimpressed by beating West Brom’s reserves 6-0. They were not the stiffest competition, and Arsenal played most of their first-choice players. In some ways, a blowout was the expected and only acceptable result. I can understand still being concerned about the club — I’m still concerned myself! Mikel Arteta still has issues to sort, including staring down the barrel of zero points from their first three Premier League matches.

But don’t try to bring others down or steal their thunder. Let people enjoy what they want to enjoy. I see it kinda like the classic First Amendment example: you’re perfectly free to say whatever you want, but you can’t yell “fire” in a crowded theater. Your right to fan however you please ends where my right to fan begins.

I’d also suggest (suggest being the key word) that if you got little or no enjoyment from watching Arsenal score a bunch of goals and win a football match that you take a step back and reevaluate how you relate to the club / football and whether you might be taking your entertainment, a game, a bit too seriously.

You do you — I’m not going to tell you the right way for you to act or feel. But I think we should use our free time and brain space for things that bring us joy. If the club or football isn’t doing that right now, it’s okay to take a step back. I know plenty of fans who have realized that they aren’t having fun watching matches or that they’ve too closely wedded their own happiness to their team’s success and failures (I definitely did that bit).

Some of those people took a break and spent their free time doing something else for a while. And to a man, when they returned, they enjoyed football and Arsenal more. Maybe you don’t need a full break. Perhaps scaling back the time spent on football Twitter or listening to pundits or reading articles (but keep reading TSF :wink:) will do the trick. But if it has stopped being fun for you, think about why that is and if you want it to be fun again.

Just some food for thought.