Crazy Costumes and Fans
Sports fans are some of the most passionate in the world apart from maybe Harry Potter fans or Star Wars fans. Sports fans love to dress up for matches and love to show just how much they support their teams by wearing the most outrageous outfits they can. At the current Fifa World Cup, hundreds of fans can be seen wearing the strangest costumes they can find. From dressing up as Smurfs to looking like ancient Roman warriors, sports fans will wear whatever they think will get them attention and allow them to show their support.
Watch any game of the current World Cup and when the camera pans the crowd, it is sure to pick up one or two fans dressed in something out of the ordinary. From the simple, like painting their faces in their team's colours to the ridiculous, like making elaborate costumes and head wear that probably took hours to put together. The reasons behind this phenomenon are scant and hard to find, but a few guesses can be put forward.
A few examples of the more outrageous outfits to be worn at events can be found online. Pictures of people with their faces and bodies painted abound, as do pictures of fans in grotesque masks and weird outfits. One fan even dressed up like a pimp and went to a game. A couple of very funny pictures had a fan wearing a cheese hat and another one wearing a hat that looked like a large barrel on his head. All the pictures talked about can be seen at: http://curiousphotos.blogspot.com/2009/10/fan-made-costumes-in-sports-32-pics.html.
This practice of dressing up is not limited to sports like football, baseball, or American football. It is such a popular trend that it even appears at the Olympic Games. At a recent Winter Olympic Games a reporter met a group of little girls dressed up as pirates. When asked why they were dressed like that they answered, "It's the Olympics; you have to wear something special." That seems to be a key reason for wearing outrageous costumes to sporting events. It seems the occasion demands the fan wear something special to honour the legacy of the event.
Other reasons put forward are firstly that fans like to show just how much they support their teams by dressing up in crazy ways. It seems, in their minds at least, that by dressing up they can show their support for their teams better than people who don't show up in costume. Isn't it enough support to brave the elements, leave your comfortable house, and go and watch a game in the stadium? Why do you have to dress up as well? The second reason put forth is that fans have a desire to be on TV and so they know that if they dress up in the most outrageous outfits they will be picked up by the cameras going around the stadium.
Fans who dress up can also be a force for good in this world as the next example illustrates. A group of unofficial mascots for the National Football League's Washington Redskins team are called the Hogettes. They are a bunch of guys who dress up in drag wear complete with pig snouts and masks. They decided to do some good with their act and went to hospitals to perform for sick children. "The Hogettes have become a fixture within the Redskins community and through their fame; they have found greater exposure for their many charities. To date, the Hogettes have raised over $100 million for various charities like the Ronald McDonald House and the March of Dimes." This story just shows that all those who dress up, don't have to just be crazy fans, a few of them are crazy fans on a mission to do good in the world.
Dressing up is such a big part of sports events that it will never go away. People feel the need to show just how much they love their favourite sports teams in dressing up in the most outrageous costumes they can. More fans should do good things with their costumes like the Hogettes and try to help people around the world. If fans can combine their love of the game with trying to help others, it'll give a lot of meaning to their costumes in the process.
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