Fans Can't Always Be Friends

I have been an avid fan of Patrick Rafter ever since I found out we share the same birthday, 12-28-72. I remember when I first started rooting for him how frustrating it was because his countryman, Mark Philippoussis, seemed to get much more airtime than Rafter. I knew Rafter was playing out there and craved more information. After a couple years of frustration, I searched on the internet and found several websites...I was shocked and delighted all together. I visited some of the sites and then thought Planet Rafter seemed to have the most information on Rafter. I had never been to a chat room or message board, so Rafterbabble was an entirely new experience to me. I didn't even know how to post for quite some time. Then, I thought I had to have an active email address for it to work, so I continued to be a silent observer for over a year.

When I first started posting, people were friendly, but as soon as I mentioned the birthday commonality, many fans went from friendly to foul. Jealousy I suppose...maybe I didn't present things properly. The only reason I mentioned it was in response to why I became a Rafter fan. It's really no big deal, but I was just fascinated he was the first person I knew of with the exact same date. I tried to be friendly with people without success and I tried to joke around with people, but they wound up interpreting things the wrong way. From the start, I knew everyone wanted me to leave...I could only sense they viewed me as some sort of threat. I tried to tough it out thinking maybe they would get to know me and come around eventually, but I honestly felt I was back in grade school with the cliques and lack of maturity. There were rules there that everyone tried to follow, but were not fairly enforced. Little things...but just enough to irritate. For example, I might accidentally write a long message instead of putting the message in the reply to conserve space on the main page. Believe me, if I made this mistake, I was reprimanded immediately...and not in private either - publicly and embarrassingly right on the main page. Yet there were other people who made the same mistake on a regular basis and not a word was spoken. Another example, I would write some news on Rafter or make some other valuable contribution and it would go completely unacknowledged...not so much as a comment or one thank you. About 2 days later or so, someone would say the exact same thing and get flooded with praise. There were many more immature little things they did, but I kept sticking with it because of my devotion to Rafter. I began to sense I wasn't taken seriously at all, so I attempted to play the clown. Hoping I could brighten the stuffy atmosphere there also failed. My sense of humor, as with everything else, was always interpreted the opposite of what I had intended.

I think they had been searching desperately all along, but they finally found a "valid" reason to ask me to leave. A "Rafterbabbler"  had mentioned back in November 1999 that I could send Rafter a birthday greeting by visiting another fan site. I had no idea this was their precious "sister site". What I found when I visited that site, P.R. Unltd., was a terrible and misleading layout. Their message board at the time was called, "Member's Board". Being a rational person, I logically assumed one had to become a member to participate. The site provided information on how to become a member: print out a form from the site, fill out the information, send a check for $25, and wait to see if membership is granted. Well,  this was November and I wanted Rafter to receive my birthday greeting before December 28th and I realized it could potentially take awhile to gain membership to this site. Out of the urgency of the moment, I went to the guestbook and vented my frustrations and outrage as politely as possible. After being flooded by tasteless hate mail, I saw Planet Rafter's dream come true. In spite of my  apologies for venting my frustration at P.R. Unltd's horrendous site layout, Planet Rafter had finally achieved it long-sought goal. They finally had an excuse to ask me to leave.

A shame fans can't put aside petty personal differences to root for the object of their affection. Out of curiosity, I recently tried politely posting at Planet Rafter thinking surely after almost 2 years they would have the maturity to realize people make mistakes and deserve a second chance. I should have known better, though, to Planet Rafter a grudge is a grudge and it will never be forgotten no matter how foolish and stubborn it may be. Pardon me for trying, pardon me for being logical, pardon me for being honest, and pardon me for not kissing up. I'm actually glad to be free of the facade.