Zone blocking

[Phinehas]

You act as if I go to a game and don't cheer my team on. I saw guys with 'skins Jerseys at the Pittsburgh game just sitting there. I was standing and yelling. I took a lot of shit from the fans around me (Pittsburgh ones of course) but you know what, they also gave me a lot of credit. We talked a lot.

While fanaticism does imply irrational behavior, including standing up and screaming your lungs out (can you imagine the stares you'd get for acting that way in the grocery store?), I think that the word more strongly connotates irrational belief. So, while cheering is good, I think it is arguable that true fanatics do indeed demonstrate a degree of unrelenting optimism. Realism and fanaticism just don't seem to fit well together. When we talk about fanatics, we are implying that, to some extent, reality has been left behind. Otherwise, we'd use a different word. A supporter may cheer at games, but a fanatic, in the true sense of the word, BELIEVES unrelentingly, and often does so irrationaly.

--Phin the Fan