Being a fan is a serious business. Many fans are and should be passionate about their favorite team.  But what differentiates a passionate fan from a homer?

In a post inspired by a comment conversation I saw recently at  The NFL Chick blog (check her out ya'll), she explained to me how she was called a "homer" by Ed The Sports Fan (don't sleep on him either), because in her post about running back tandems to take notice of, she included one from her team and mine, the Baltimore Ravens. As a fellow fan of the Ravens, I've got to have her back on this one. The "three-headed monster" was a force last season for the Ravens, and I don't see any reason why they can't be as good or better, even without Lorenzo Neal blocking. But does the fact that she even included Willis McGahee and Ray Rice make her a homer? I told her that I didn't think so, that being a homer means that you drink the kool-aid no matter what, even in the face of evidence to suggest otherwise. I'd say that she falls on the passionate fan side of the ledger.

To me, a homer is someone who roots for the home team but doesn't give the other team any credit if they come out on top over your squad.  A homer is also someone who won't admit that something the team did was wrong, but places blame on anyone or anything outside the team. By a basic definition, I would suppose that I am a homer because I root for my local teams. However, I am not someone who can't give the other team some credit when they beat my team. I am a passionate fan for the squads I like (and it ain't easy when the Orioles and Wizards are on your list). But if another team comes in and whoops my team, unless there is some egregious mistake by the team or the officiating, I can give the other team credit and admit they were better on that particular day. I can also criticize my team if they make a personnel decision I don't agree with, or a player who doesn't make a play at a crucial time. In the history of sports, every team has made a mistake at one time or another. To not even acknowledge any mistake or error by your team or its management puts you in the homer category.

Perhaps the worst type of homer is the press box homer. Now I suppose when you are hired by the team and they sign your paycheck, you have to "root" for the home team some. But the motto used to be "no cheering in the press box" (or at least I think it still is). The good announcers can support the home team without being overzealous about it. One of the rumors as to why John Miller was sent packing as the Orioles radio announcer years ago was because Peter Angelos didn't think he rooted for the Orioles enough and was too critical of them when the team made mistakes. Now, I've always thought that Miller broadcast the right way...but I can remember watching Atlanta Braves games back in the day when Skip Caray would root for the Braves unashamedly from announcer's booth, often invoking "we" as in "we (the Braves) need to score some runs." I was never a fan of that style of announcing, but some fans may like it. To me though, Carey was a homer.

If you have an opinion on this, let me know in the comments.