If you told Jeff Ghiringhelli he was a sports "fan," he would stare directly at you until that phrase was properly reworded.
To him, there is the sports "fan," and then there is the sports "fanatic."
Don't get them confused.
"A sports 'fan' cares about their favorite team, follows their progress and goes to some of the games," the journalism sophomore said. "But that person's mood may not be affected all that much by a loss.
"Then there's the 'fanatic.' It all has to do with winning and losing. If you feel borderline depressed until the team's next matchup, you're a 'fanatic.'"
Growing up in Boston, Ghiringhelli was raised as a die-hard Red Sox and New England Patriots fan. As he grew older, the obsession reached new heights.
"Even when a Boston team suffered an intense blowout to the hands of another organization, I still felt like they could have come back and won the game," Ghiringhelli said.
"Obviously, your favorite baseball team is going to lose quite a few games. There are 162, but for some ridiculous reason, I constantly feel like the Sox could win every time they step onto the diamond. It's insane, I know. But maybe that's just me."
Another MSU student who grew up in Boston, psychology and advertising junior Jared Bristol, traveled to the Frozen Four hockey tournament for the 10th year in a row. He witnessed the Spartans take on a Boston College team he grew up admiring.
"My dad took me to games all my life," Bristol said. "I loved that team. I had no idea who I was going to root for until the band starting playing MSU's fight song. I got very pro-State at that moment. My painted face, horns and State jersey kind of said it all. We even got on SportsCenter that night."
Bristol holds season tickets for basketball, football and hockey. However, he particularly enjoys a certain routine the most.
"For the last three years, my roommate and I have dressed up as the Blues Brothers," Bristol said. "We would do a funny dance at the games and get everyone laughing and really into it."
One particular baseball fan decks herself out in Detroit Tigers' gear both at the games and when walking to class.
"I went to more than 20 Tigers games during the summer last year," merchandising management and advertising sophomore Melissa Domol said. "One of the games I went to was when we beat the Yankees. I even got champagne sprayed all over me.
"During playoffs, I wore a Tigers wristband, orange, white and blue ribbons in my hair and a Tigers shirt. I have towels from all the games I've been to all across my desk, and I even have a little tiger popping out of my purse. I'll do all this on the days of big games too. I love the Tigers."
However, 2006 alumnus Danny Horen said the sports world can be enjoyed in a different light.
"I don't do all of that hooting and hollering because I like to actually sit and watch the games," Horen said. "I actually study the game and don't get too exaggerated because it sometimes takes away from it. I love to evaluate the game, not just simply see it happen."
Rattling off random sports statistics could make someone sound quite knowledgeable about certain aspects of the sports world. Many fans and fanatics find themselves being able to spit out batting averages, average points and career steals.
"The whole statistics thing started off as just something that was fun to do," said Tom Dubyne, an MSU football statistician. "Then I started doing it at the high school level, and then MSU made me a regular crew member."
Just because statisticians record information at lightning speeds doesn't mean they don't have memories stuck in their heads from years past.
"During timeouts, someone will say something like, 'Hey, remember when so-and-so made that huge play?' Different people remember different things. It all sticks with us though," Dubyne said.
Horen said his MySpace or Facebook interests even include ESPN sports, sports updates, sports previews, sports wrap-ups.
"I've even got the stats pop-up downloaded on my computer, showing me stats whenever I want them," he said. "ESPN was always on in the background during college, no matter what I was working on."
Horen constantly flips back to ESPN, even while watching other programs.
Some find a more competitive way to use their statistics knowledge.
"My friends from home are huge fantasy baseball guys," Ghiringhelli said. "You need to be really into it if you want to do well in fantasy baseball. We've all done it every year since the beginning of high school.
"It's been 10 guys for about five years straight. It takes a lot of effort to go through an entire baseball season. It gets extremely competitive, and you have to be constantly checking it all the time. It's so much fun though."
Grouping all of this information into one's head may not seem like the easiest thing to do. The reason some people can do this so effectively may have absolutely nothing to do with being smart.
"This stuff just sticks in my head," Bristol said. "I wish I could say the same for my schoolwork. I have a general desire to understand and take in all of this sports information. It makes it easy to remember."
The idea of knowing what is going on in all aspects seems to be instilled in certain fanatics' heads.
"Even if it's not baseball, and it's horse racing or golf, I'll pay attention to it," Ghiringhelli said. "I love to know about this stuff going on. I have such a passion for the world of sports in general."
Although these fanatics don't actually play for the teams they live and die for, it doesn't mean they don't think they have something to do with the outcome of certain games.
"I am probably the most superstitious person you would ever find," Bristol said. "During the Red Sox series against the Yankees a couple years ago, I needed to turn the volume up the same every game, have things arranged on the floor as they were the game before and chew a piece of gum for the same number of innings."
Coming from the sports-crazed city of Boston, Ghiringhelli and Bristol both find themselves thrown into a campus of Tigers, Pistons, Lions and Red Wings fans.
"Everyone in Boston is obsessed with the Red Sox and the Patriots," Ghiringhelli said. "It's cool to go to a different area, like East Lansing, and see a similar obsession with different teams. Now that the Tigers are good again, I hear a lot of 'The Red Sox suck, Tigers rule' trash talk. It's OK though. I love the atmosphere, and I know it well. After all, I hate the Yankees."
Sports can be fun, exhilarating and blood-pumping, but Horen believes the competition teaches lessons.
"Everything I've learned is through sports," Horen said. "They teach you how to communicate, overcome adversity and go against the odds.
Horen also believes they help people in situations that aren't normally the easiest to deal with.
"Sports help you when you're forced to work with people that you don't necessarily like being around," Horen said. "In life, that's going to happen. I feel that competitive sports teach what is needed to deal with this."
Even the underdog philosophy comes into play both in sports and life.
"Just look at MSU in the national championship," Horen said. "No one thought they would do it, and they did. Being an underdog in sports gives you hope. In life, after playing sports, you're taught to never give up.
"Being a fan is the best thing I've ever done. I can't see myself without this stuff in my life."
