Time certainly flies, even if penguins don’t.
It’s hard for me to believe that it’s been only a little over a year since I started my project to explore sports support, culture, and philosophy. Sometimes it seems like yesterday that I started out at rbpenguinmedia.com. Other times it seems like I’ve been doing this for years. Regardless, its been fun so far, and I’ve learned a lot about myself, my writing, and the world of sports and supporting.
If you are one of those who has read my work or followed me on social media, you know that I’m constantly looking for what it means to be a supporter of a team. You’ll remember that I love looking at why supporter culture is the way it is, that I’m fascinated by the inter-cultural relations that express themselves between groups of supporters, and that I focus on soccer a majority of the time, but I will occasionally dip into other sports at multiple levels.
You’ll also know that I believe in the power of sports to unify as easily as we’ve seen it divide and that love, communication, and understanding conquer all.
For those of you who are just discovering the Ranting Blue Penguin, please allow me to introduce myself.
1. Who am I?
I’m Tim, a retired Air Force veteran, husband to an awesome lady and dad to two wonderful kids and a cranky old cat. I grew up in Arkansas and Mississippi, and have now landed in the Omaha, Nebraska area. I hold a BA in English, an AA in Russian, and currently work designing instructional systems and courseware. I really enjoy penguins, reading, dad jokes, and video games.
Oh yes…and sports.
I love sports and competition, whether playing or—now that I’m a bit older—watching. My dad was a three-sport player in high school and introduced me to them very early on. My grandmother would sit and watch baseball with me every time I visited her. They were almost always on TV on the weekends; my Sunday schedule was church, NFL on TV, church. It was a constant indoctrination.
It also was a great help throughout my childhood. We moved around a lot because of my dad’s work; I was in 14 schools before I graduated. Moving to a new town multiple times a year makes it hard to fit in and make new friends, especially for an awkward kid like me. When all else failed, I could always use sports as that bridge. It wasn’t much, and it didn’t always work, but it helped enough for me to make it through each move.
That’s how I learned the about the power of sports to bring people together. It’s a lesson that never left me, and only continued to intrigue me as I got older.
So that brings us here, and why I started this project.
2. What is this all about?
I want to explore why it is that sports affects us the way it does. The passion, the camaraderie, and, yes, the toxicity that can come from declaring allegiance to a club, team, crest, or player. What does it mean to support? Why do we choose the teams we do? When is it appropriate to stop supporting? I want to dig into the philosophy behind all of this and look at how we can use this to unite rather than divide.
A lot of this content will focus on soccer. Soccer is the world’s game. It is a great example of how a sport can bring even warring cultures together for a moment. At the same time, it’s also a prime example of how toxicity can bring out the worst in supporters and teams.
While also exploring the concepts above though, I want to help introduce soccer to others. It’s an amazing game, it’s the fastest growing sport in America, and it’s a global language that we can all share.
I’m not so delusional to think that this project will bring about world peace or anything. But if one person can take this and find a community, a sense of belonging, and a way to find common ground with others, then the world will be that much better for it. Such is the power of sports.
3. What else should you expect?
Aside from my own musings and thoughts here, you can expect to see more content as I continue to grow within the media world. There will be links to my coverage of Union Omaha and USL League One with WGaH Media (local supporter-driven coverage) thecup.us (US Open Cup coverage), and contributions to Beyond The 90’, an evolving Substack site that is bringing together a network of writers and creators to highlight soccer stories from the lower US leagues and beyond. I will also be continuing to conduct player and supporter interviews here and in YouTube/podcast format as time allows.
With that, I’ll end this rambling start to the next chapter of Ranting Blue Penguin Media. Thank you for taking the time to find me come along with me on this journey. I’ll strive to make it worthwhile…or at least entertaining.
