A Tale of Two Fans

“Man I am not going to follow the IPL this season!” says fan one, Rick. A twenty something guy, studying engineering, living in a dorky dorm room with Anand, another twenty-something, his roomie.

“Whoa! Where did that come from?! You are a mad crazy melodramatic cricket fan. How come you are not going to follow the biggest, most happening, and richest tournament of cricket?” said an awed Anand. He was not a cricket fan, but a ManU fan. Rick was a cricket fan.

“Screw the money dude. And screw the glamor. I hate the fact that players are shuffled like a pack of cards. I mean, come on! How am I supposed to know whom to follow? I love Rahul Dravid. I am crazy about the city of Bangalore. Is there a way out?” frustration was apparent on Rick’s red face. He blushed, and never stopped doing so.

“Oi! I thought you were the one who supported the change of team composition on the first place, didn’t ya?” argued Anand.

“Oh yes I did. But… but I thought it’d be cool. Now it doesn’t seem so.” said Rick. He didn’t blush this time but looked desperate to defend his point.
“Wait, Wait. On the first place you thought it’d be cool. Now you’re saying “it doesn’t seem so”? You’re one kind of a dork man. Explain your thoughts please.” said a perplexed Anand.

“You dud! Look, at first I thought not many teams will rip through their composition and won’t alter much. Now they did. So firstly it was cool. Now it ain’t. Get the idea?” explained Rick.

“Huh? I didn’t see that coming, not especially from you. I mean when a bunch of players of a team won’t perform, which was the case with many teams in the past three seasons, a team if given a chance would for sure replace those players with new ones no? And above that, change is necessary!” pointed Anand.

“Oh no! They should NOT! What about the fans?” again asked a bemused Rick.
“Dude! What is wrong with you? See this IPL is, besides being a sport tournament, a business model. For franchisees to get success, it’s important that teams win matches. And to win matches, it’s necessary that teams are in perfect shape. Also, not every player keeps playing for life, there are those who retire, and it’s necessary for their shoes to be filled. Not just that, players as well as fans might get bored to see a team with same old players and shuffling once a few many years keeps the game interesting. Finally one more point, such things happen in EPL too, and that’s why it’s such a huge success. No way you shouldn’t support the shuffle, it’s for the benefit for the game.” explained Anand.

“Yay, finally! Karren owes me 500 bucks!” said Rick jumping in happiness – unknown happiness though.
“Whoa. Can you explain me the context of what you just said?”

“Simple man. You’re a soccer fan and Karren bet me you cannot get me talking about cricket – not even for five minutes. I just did that for six minutes and thirty four seconds. I’ve recorded our conversation and booyah, I get 500 bucks.” said a joyous Rick. He winked.

“Wtf! That wasn’t funny.”

“Sure it wasn’t. It was for me however. You get a sandwich party today boy.”

Anand chuckled.

“Huh! So you’re not concerned about the shuffle?”

“Nope. Nada. What you just said is perfect. That is the way it has to be!”
“So what you’re going to do about Bangalore and Dravid mess?”

“Simple re. I am born and bought up in Banagalore so RCB deserves me in the fandom. It gets the priority man! But that does not mean I am no more a Dravid fan. I will watch him bat and support him in all games expect the ones against RCB :P”