Sitting in the same chair that he does every cubs game, Sr. Joe Sigler is filled with anxiety and excitement. Anthony Rizzo rounded third and took off for home. The play ended in a cloud of dust, with Rizzo and the catcher all tangled up. Sigler, of course, screamed that he was safe, as were the rest of the Cubs fans in the world. The umpire signaled safe with the cross of his arms and Sigler went crazy. He jumped out of his chair and yelled as Rizzo stood up and celebrated with his team. There are many dedicated and crazy sports fans throughout the world, and there are hundreds of sports fans at West Ottawa, but four students and teachers stand out the most.
The first crazed sports fan, Sigler, has been a Cubs fan his entire life. “My dad grew up in Indiana but then moved to Chicago, becoming a large Cubs fan. When I was born I just grew up as a Cubs fan,” Sigler said. Sigler loves the Cubs and went to five games during the 2016 season. Obviously, Sigler supports his team through everything because he traveled to five games and watched around 160 games on television. 165 games is an incredible amount because the season lasts 162 games plus the playoffs. Sigler’s favorite memory of the team is the winning the World series during the past year. “I have loved the Cubs through all of their bad years and it was great to be there when they won, it almost wiped all of those bad years,” Sigler said. Sigler has done some fun and crazy things to support his team. Being very superstitious, Sigler always sits in one certain chair for the duration of the game and does not get up. To top it all off, the Siglers have a dog named Wrigley; Wrigley Field is the home field for the Chicago Cubs. Very predictably, Sigler made the top four of most crazy sports fans at WO because on a scale of one to ten, Sigler would rate himself a 9 compared to other sports fans.
Jr. Scarlet Kellner has a great love for the Chicago Blackhawks. She has been a fan since the age of seven due to the fact that she went to her first game around seven. Kellner had a good reason for loving the Chicago Blackhawks. “I grew up there,” said Kellner. Kellner goes out of her way in order to watch at least 30 games of the 82 game season. Kellner does not get Blackhawk games on her television due to the station being a Chicago channel, so the fact that Kellner watches around 30 games proves her dedication for her team. Kellner also travels to Chicago for around two games per season. The Red Wings and Blackhawks have one of the biggest rivalries in the NHL, so when the two play each other, friends are enemies for that short three hour game. “We’ve had many huge Twitter arguments between us two. Scarlet has always been a fan and is very knowledgeable about the Hawks. Although she lost most of the arguments, she was a worthy opponent,” said Red Wings fan Jr. Takoda Denhof. Kellner fully believed that Denhof did not win those arguments. She also brought up her favorite memory: When the Blackhawks beat the Red Wings in the 2013 playoffs. This was the craziest Kellner had ever been about the Blackhawks. Kellner will always be a Blackhawks fan and nothing will change that. Kellner gives herself a seven out of ten for a craziest sports fan. Instructor Kristine Jernigan has a great love for Michigan State. Instructor Shanna Meyer, another math teacher at WO, fully believes that Jernigan deserves a spot in the top four. Meyer described how during college application week she always found a way to deck herself out in green. Although college application week is over, she still always sports green. Jernigan has been a Spartan fan ever since she was born. Her parents and grandparents were also Spartan fans, so Spartan blood runs in the family. Jernigan even had a spartan basketball in her crib. She loves all memories of her Spartans but remembers one vividly. She was at a spartan basketball practice and was able to show the players and coaches how to do a belly slide. Little did she know, she did the belly slide in front of Coach Tom Izzo and player Earvin Johnson Jr. “Couldn’t count them,” said Jernigan about how many Michigan State games she has gone to. Jernigan even supports multiple sports at Michigan State. Jernigan loves dressing like “little merry green elf” and helping her students go to State in the future. Jernigan sees herself as an obnoxious Michigan State fan. She wears her lucky socks at all important games and makes sure to wear the same shirt for big games while they are winning if it has been lucky. Jernigan sees herself as an eight or nine on the crazy fan scale.
The last of the 4 craziest sports fan at WO is Instructor Kevin Klassen. Klassen’s a die-hard fan of the Michigan Wolverines. Instructor Laurel Soto explained how usually each year Klassen and Jernigan have a friendly wager on the Michigan vs. Michigan State game. She also described that they might wager the loser having to wear the opposite team’s shirt the next day. Klassen has always been a fan of the Wolverines for an assortment of reasons. Klassen has had family members attend the university, family members live in Ann Arbor, even a cousin who played for the baseball team. Klassen has had so many great memories about the team that he can not narrow them down to one. Some of his top memories have been meeting people such as Charles Woodson, Tom Brady, Bo Schembechler, and Ron Kramer. Klassen also loves that he got to live through 1997 national championship. He was in eighth grade that year and was even able to see a game. “I support my team no matter what,” said Klassen. Klassen wears his Michigan Monday polo shirt every week, no matter the outcome of the game. Like Jernigan, Klassen has lost count of how many games he has been to throughout his life. Klassen admits that he spends way too much time keeping up with Michigan athletics. Most of the time Klassen wear the same Michigan related outfit each game day and sticks to a tight routine. He starts off by listening to a radio station about the game then continues to dress up his dog in a Michigan jersey, finally watching the game in his basement, if he is not at the game. He prefers to watch the game alone because others “talk too much.” Klassen believes he is close to a ten for the biggest sports fans. He does not completely think that he is crazy because he does not completely dress up or paint his face, but Klassen does have an evident large love for the team. Klassen also loves what Michigan’s about. “Fans had the idea that they should come together and ‘match’ Harbaugh’s $10,000 fine to the Big Ten with a $10,000 donation to ChadTough, a foundation connected to Michigan that is trying to find a cure for DIPG, a childhood cancer. If the goal became a reality, they were going to reach out to the Big Ten conference to see if they would match the donation. In just 3 days, fans have raised $26,877 for ChadTough. Klassen’s extremely proud to be a part of fan base focused on helping others.
There are plenty of crazed sports fans around WO, but these four stand out the most.
