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seasideficssomething about both industries... beloved upcoming stars can have everything turn on them overnight. one night you’re cheered for, the next you’re public enemy number one. the emotional whiplash, being held to extreme standards, every mistake amplified… no ordinary person is ever held to that.
thinking about the parallels between k-pop stans and sports fans, especially how both groups treat these people like products and get angry when anyone shows concern for an athlete or idol. it’s always the same dismissal: “they’re millionaires, they can go cry into their money,” etc. and it feels even worse with hockey players... maybe that should’ve been obvious to me, but i genuinely feel like i’m losing my mind reading the threads on the devils sub about the booing incident with luke.
for context: he’s the youngest player on the ice (22), he fcked up and accidentally scored two own goals at home. not good, and i can understand fans booing in the immediate moment right after it happened. but the fans in the arena kept booing him every single time he went near the puck for the rest of the game ... and then they even cheered when he got hit. like… what are we doing?
there were a lot of people calling out that behavior, and it sparked some discourse. like, the coach, the goalie, the captain, and luke himself all spoke up afterwards and defended him, which was really nice to see. but even in those threads, there are still fans insisting he deserved it, or that it should have been worse, and it’s just ???
like maybe i’m “too woke” or whatever, but just because these guys have money doesn’t mean they deserve to be treated like they’re not human. imagine an entire stadium of your own fans booing you for like 40 minutes straight over a mistake you’re already clearly beating yourself up about.
and i guess something i never really thought about before is that the average person is spending a lot of money to go to these games, drink their cheap beer, and watch some hockey. so yeah, i can kind of understand the frustration. but this goes back to my whole disconnect with sports ... i genuinely do not understand people who let poor performance make them so angry. like… it’s a hobby? it’s entertainment? why are you letting this raise your cortisol and blood pressure?
i’m trying to compare it to k-pop, since that’s my frame of reference. if i went to a concert and the artist was clearly lip syncing or giving a weak performance, sure, i’d be disappointed because i paid a lot of money. but i’d get over it and still try to have fun because… i paid for it. i might as well enjoy the show, you know?
like why is this your hobby if it just makes you furious?
but then again, i don’t really spend much money on my hobbies, so maybe that explains why i don’t react the same way.
but anyways, it’s just disheartening to see people basically say they can treat this young star however they want and he can just deal with it because of his new contract money.
like how are you gonna look at his postgame interview and think, “yep, he deserved that, and we’re gonna do it again.”
it’s the same with k-pop idols crying over hate tweets and you have some annoying bitch saying, “give me their job, i’d gladly deal with hate comments,” etc. like, i have never understood treating the people you’re supposed to be fans of like that just because they have money. i can honestly understand this attitude toward ceos and gms, but the people you’re watching every day who are literally providing you the entertainment? it costs nothing to have empathy!!!
maybe i’m too soft or whatever else old school hockey fans wanna call me lol, but i just did not like what happened yesterday and it brought my entire mood down to not only see it, but then go online and see people justify it. which… i’m being a bit too negative because there were a lot of people calling it out, and honestly it was mostly devils fans defending it, which…
and this is me being parasocial (boo me ) but as a hughes brothers enthusiast, i kinda have to let these thoughts out. i’m trying not to make every situation about the other two brothers, but like… imagine being jack right now. watching irl your youngest brother get treated like that by your own fans.
and yeah, they’re athletes, they’re in the big leagues, they “should be used to boos,” blah blah. but last night didn't feel like normal sports booing (imo).... it was the fanbase’s season-long frustration bubbling over and getting directed at one player instead of the entire team for far too long. like at that point, it just felt unnecessarily cruel.
i understand why jack wasn’t interviewed, but god do i low-key wish he was so he could really give it to the fans.
something about both industries... beloved upcoming stars can have everything turn on them overnight. one night you’re cheered for, the next you’re public enemy number one. the emotional whiplash, being held to extreme standards, every mistake amplified… no ordinary person is ever held to that.
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Date: 2026-01-06 02:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-01-09 10:53 pm (UTC)was the fest incident with stays, if you don’t mind me being a bit nosy and asking? i haven’t been very up to date with them the past two years, so i’m out of the loop on everything. i hope you feel a bit better now that it’s been a couple days <3<3