The Art of Being a Good Sports Fan
A local sports editor scolds Seattle fans for their 'modest' behavior and lack of school spirit during a recent football match against Tacoma.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
A thousand kinds of numbers and enthusiasm in fault might be found with the crowd that Seattle turned out to witness the football match with Tacoma. In the cheering, there was a lack of ambitious effort to shout for the Seattle team in concert and to make a gorgeous and impressive display of the Athletic Club's colors. There were noisy enthusiasts in abundance, ready to split their throats if need be, but their energy was to a great extent misdirected. As far as flaunting the white and blue was concerned, there was entirely too much modesty shown for a football field. The quiet little bits of ribbon for the buttonhole were altogether unequal to the occasion. In effective shouting, and especially in decorating themselves and their belongings, the Tacoma contingent far outranked that which represented Seattle. Although numbering not more than 15 percent of the crowd, the Tacomans massed their forces to the best advantage. If Seattle does not learn a lesson, she will again be outshone by the crowd from Portland that follows the fortunes of the Multnomahs.
“There were noisy enthusiasts in abundance, ready to split their throats if need be, but their energy was to a great extent misdirected.”
This 1892 complaint about Seattle's 'modest' fan culture predates the city's modern reputation for being a 'tough market' for sports, echoing long-standing anxieties about whether Seattleites know how to be sufficiently loud or rowdy for their teams.
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