Jealousy: I Became a Victim of Property Crime Due to Ohio State's Success

By Michael Citro on July 4, 2015 at 9:15 am
Haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate.
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How I love it when you're down, I love when your wings are nailed to the ground, and your pain brings me joy, But I'm a lonely and cold jealous boy – "Jealousy" by The Flower Kings

One of the consequences of being a fan of a successful team is that it can really bring out the haters. It happens across all sports, but nowhere does simply supporting a team bring out the butthurt in others like college football.

The above photo was taken earlier this week after someone vandalized my car magnet. I am an Ohio State fan living in Orlando, FL. I would say this is SEC country, but the ratio of Seminole vs. Gator fans you see in this town really depends on whether Florida or Florida State are doing better in any particular year. Sure, there are diehards of both teams here, but there are more bandwagon jumpers here than any other of the four states in which I’ve lived as an adult. But I digress.

Because of the size and reach of Ohio State, you see a lot of Ohio State bumper stickers, magnets, flags and license plate frames in the Central Florida area. There’s virtually not a day that goes by that I don’t see Ohio State represented on someone else’s vehicle while driving around Orlando. A few of these are actual tourists from Ohio, but most are sporting Florida license plates and are, like me, Buckeyes living in exile, generally wishing we were back in the 614 (except from December to March).

My car has sported a Buckeye magnet for a little over two years. I’m kind of surprised this kind of thing hasn’t happened before, to be honest.

It’s funny to me that simply having a magnet on my car inspired enough rage in someone that he (or she, statistics be damned) felt the need to commit a crime and cause property damage. That’s a lot of hate to be carrying around. That’s the kind of hate that can only be built through a very unhealthy inferiority complex.

The root cause of that rage is jealousy, of course. It’s an unfortunate and petty part of human nature to want to tear down the giants and topple the successful. Rather than marveling in some other team’s ability and appreciating it, we can easily grow to resent it if we don’t channel our thoughts in a rational manner.

This resentment is nothing to do with that team. We find excuses to hate them or apply labels that make it easier to dislike them and make them the enemy. Thus, the New England Patriots, one of the most successful NFL franchises since the turn of the century, becomes “arrogant” or “smug” and, of course, “cheaters.”

They are more successful than the teams we root for, so they must be doing it by nefarious means, somehow, as if every team in the league wasn’t looking for some edge that might not be perfectly aligned with the rulebook.

It’s the old adage, “if you ain’t cheatin’, you ain’t tryin’.”

But we talk ourselves into believing that ours is the righteous cause. Whenever we hear stories about boosters lavishing cash gifts on recruits, police turning a blind eye to an athlete’s transgression, or players at other schools getting free food at restaurants and the like, we ignore the fact that it happens everywhere.

There are no teams or programs that are unique snowflakes in sports. It doesn’t even start in college. I know families who were suddenly flush with cash after their high school volleyball star daughter transferred.

So, in some fans, feelings of hatred and anger are all born from an inferiority complex and a need to feel better about themselves. If their team can’t compete, they grow jealous of those that are successful. The seeds of hate take root. To salve their egos, these fans create irrational reasons for why their foes are able to win, like those stated above for New England. No fan base is immune to falling under this spell of irrational emotion.

There are no unique snowflakes in sports.

As an example, many Ohio State fans have reveled in Michigan’s futility the last several years, after the Buckeyes suffered a terrible decade in the greatest rivalry in sports. Watching your rival best you year in and year out is a completely combustible box of tinder to fuel the flames of jealousy. It’s what helps drive the rivalry.

You hate to lose to them and you revel in the victories. But when it happens over a sustained period, the feelings grow into irrational channels of your brain and you say things like, “I hope Michigan never wins another game.” Perhaps you're nodding in agreement right now because this might sound sane on the surface, but those victories down the road in The Game would be completely hollow and meaningless if Michigan turned into a perennial doormat.

My initial reaction to seeing what was left of my Ohio State car magnet was shock and anger, but that quickly cooled into amusement. Just seeing that magnet made someone see red to the point they felt compelled to take action and damage my private property.

That they were so moved by their emotions said a lot about how they feel about the Buckeyes. Being an Ohio State fan, that actually made me feel good. It reminded me that I root for one of college football's most successful programs and that my team is coming off a national championship season. That's a hell of a daily affirmation for the first thing in the morning.

Also, I had a spare in the back of my car, so, whatevs.

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