So, I learned two new acronyms recently and thought I'd write on them here.
#1
BIRGing or Basking In Reflected Glory.
Best example I can come up with is the recent Super Bowl win by the Patriots....how many times have I heard "we won", "we played a great game", "we matched up well against them" even though we only sat in front of the television for the duration never once setting foot on the field. I guess we're all BIRGers, after all it is a wonderful, pumped up, glorious feeling to say...
We are World Champions!
I've been a fan long enough, however, to remember too many losing seasons so I still resent the "bandwagon" fans that hop off whenever we have back to back losses. And I know they'll be back again next season wearing their BRADY shirts and grey hoodies,
until, something goes wrong. Which leads me into....
#2
CORFing or Cutting Off Reflected Failure
is when, after a loss, we no longer want that "collective identity" so we blame external forces using phrases like "the refs were biased," "it was the weather", or separate ourselves as Seattle fans did by saying "they just couldn't finish" and "they called the wrong play." When someone asks, "What happened to Your team yesterday?" after a significant loss, most use the pronoun "they", not "we" during any discussion.
Psychologists speak of this social phenomenon (BIRGing and CORFing) as a way to protect our own self esteem.
When it's good, we closely align ourselves but when it's not so good we distance ourselves. The hypotheses says the more intense "loyal" fan had higher BIRG tendencies and less CORFing tendencies.
Contrasting that, people who are more moderate fans are less likely to BIRG but much more likely to CORF. Takes a lot to get them on the bandwagon, but not much to have them jump off!
Not at all surprising.
I think we can even see this in some coaches and owners, just listen to their statements after games.
It certainly also translates to politics and corporate boardrooms ... What better CORF than to "throw somebody under the bus".
Looking forward to BIRGing opening day, Thursday 9/10/15 at the Razor
#1
BIRGing or Basking In Reflected Glory.
Best example I can come up with is the recent Super Bowl win by the Patriots....how many times have I heard "we won", "we played a great game", "we matched up well against them" even though we only sat in front of the television for the duration never once setting foot on the field. I guess we're all BIRGers, after all it is a wonderful, pumped up, glorious feeling to say...
We are World Champions!
I've been a fan long enough, however, to remember too many losing seasons so I still resent the "bandwagon" fans that hop off whenever we have back to back losses. And I know they'll be back again next season wearing their BRADY shirts and grey hoodies,
until, something goes wrong. Which leads me into....
#2
CORFing or Cutting Off Reflected Failure
is when, after a loss, we no longer want that "collective identity" so we blame external forces using phrases like "the refs were biased," "it was the weather", or separate ourselves as Seattle fans did by saying "they just couldn't finish" and "they called the wrong play." When someone asks, "What happened to Your team yesterday?" after a significant loss, most use the pronoun "they", not "we" during any discussion.
Psychologists speak of this social phenomenon (BIRGing and CORFing) as a way to protect our own self esteem.
When it's good, we closely align ourselves but when it's not so good we distance ourselves. The hypotheses says the more intense "loyal" fan had higher BIRG tendencies and less CORFing tendencies.
Contrasting that, people who are more moderate fans are less likely to BIRG but much more likely to CORF. Takes a lot to get them on the bandwagon, but not much to have them jump off!
Not at all surprising.
I think we can even see this in some coaches and owners, just listen to their statements after games.
It certainly also translates to politics and corporate boardrooms ... What better CORF than to "throw somebody under the bus".
Looking forward to BIRGing opening day, Thursday 9/10/15 at the Razor
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