Review: Gaslamp Sweet and Salty Kettle Corn & What Makes a Fan? A Sports Discussion
Junk Food Nation, what makes a fan? Context: my co-worker is from Michigan and bleed Detroit Tiger blood, even though I have to think she’s watched a total of zero games this season. But she can name 9+ players on the team, and remembers how they did in the postseason every year.
Contrast that with another co-worker of mine from New York, who almost never misses a Yankees game. If it’s on TV or MLB.tv, the game is on and he is watching. He knows every player, knows the minor league prospects, and knows who is pitching every single night.
Contrast THAT with yet ANOTHER co-worker of mine who claims to be a huge Pittsburgh Steelers fan, doesn’t watch a single game, can’t name a single player, but emerges every postseason to root harder than anyone else I know and will slit your throat is you say anything bad about Big Ben.
So, are there different levels of fandom? Would you consider one type of fandom bigger than another? Better than the other? Do you need to be CRUSHED when your team loses in order for you to be a “true” fan? Or are you a “good fan” if you simply own $500 worth of team apparel?
I’m not sure…what do YOU think? Tell me in the comments below.
Today’s junk food: Gaslamp Sweet and Salty Kettle Corn!
Gaslamp Sweet and Salty Kettle Corn: The Money Shot
Every once and a while, a new product gets sent to me for sampling, and Gaslamp Popcorn Company’s Sweet and Salty Kettle Corn is one such product. I LOVE kettle corn – for the uninitiated, Kettle Corn is, according to Wiki, “a sweet-and-salty variety of popcorn that is typically mixed or seasoned with a light colored refined sugar, salt, and oil.” It’s sweet and salty popcorn, like the bag says!
Gaslamp Sweet and Salty Kettle Corn: The Logo Shot
Gaslamp Popcorn Co. Sweet and Salty Kettle Corn is made by Rudolph Foods, and is apparently their main product. Looks like they will be coming out with Cheddar and Caramel Popcorn soon, though. Based out of San Diego! Drink it in, it always goes down smooth.
Gaslamp Sweet and Salty Kettle Corn: San Diego!
Gaslamp Sweet and Salty Kettle Corn: Popcorn Experts making this!
Gaslamp Sweet and Salty Kettle Corn: 130 cal per serving
Gaslamp Sweet and Salty Kettle Corn: only four ingredients
Gaslamp Sweet and Salty Kettle Corn has only four ingredients, which I like. Just popcorn, sugar, salt, oil. BOOM. Now THAT’s how kettle corn SHOULD be made. No corn syrup BS.
Gaslamp Sweet and Salty Kettle Corn: YUMMY
First, this Gaslamp Sweet and Salty Kettle Corn was packed to the BRIM. No skimping on volume, this bag didn’t have that annoying half-bag of pressured air to assist with shipping. This bag was packed TIGHT with popcorn. Good stuff!
Second, as soon as I opened the bag, I could smell that popcorn smell with a bit of faint sugary smell. Nice and fresh.
Third, I took a big handful and shoved it into my mouth (the only way I know how to eat popcorn), and BAM! Great kettle corn taste. The popcorn was crisp and fresh, and the coating was nice and sweet – sort of like Corn Pops! The salt was light but present (I’m used to Kettle Corn actually being even saltier than this), but there was enough sugar and salt to elicit that great savory/sweet taste. But really, the best part of the whole bag was the consistency – I felt like each mouthful was the same as the last.
All in all, a very good product – glad I know it exists now!
PURCHASED AT: mailed to me, but you can search for a store that carries it here
COST: $….hmmm unsure
Thoughts? Please comment below or hit me up on Twitter @junkfoodguy or LIKE my Facebook Page and message me there. Also, you can always email me at junkfoodguy@junkfoodguy.com. Let’s do this.
Sincerely,
Junk Food Guy
Discuss - 22 Comments
Some people have the desire to get crazy about following their teams (remember fan is short for fanatic), while others just like to casually watch and just keep up from afar because they don’t have the time or don’t want to make the commitment. As a person that has employed both of these tactics (I’m now the casual fan), I don’t see an issue with either approach. It should only matter that they are a fan and that they can confidently and intelligently carry on a five minute conversation about their team. I guess that five minute rule would be the indicator as to level of fandom.
That said, I would consider the Steelers fan to be an idiot. That has nothing to do with watching the games, knowing the players or anything. Primarily it’s just because all Steelers fans (and Packers fans) are idiots. It’s hard wired into their DNA.
@IE: Good rationale…I like that five minute rule. That awkward moment when you realize you know more about the subject team than the supposed “fan”…yeah. It’s easy to know where these people stand after 5 minutes.
I believe those three types you described would be categorized as casual, hardcore and fair-weather respectively. I honestly don’t have a problem with any of those types, it’s the bandwagon fans I don’t really care for.
@Devin: Bandwagon as in people from other geographic areas hopping on board, or within the actual city of the team itself?
In a way it’s probably both, as it’s really just anyone who abandons the team they normally follow in order to follow another team that’s popular at the moment. I have no respect for people (in the context of fandom, I’m not that harsh in real life) who don’t stick with their team through the good times and the bad. Even the fair-weather fans who only show up when times are good at least don’t switch teams in the mean time.
@Devin: The only time I don’t mind fans jumping on another team is in the post season, when they acknowledge they are only doing so because their teams are out of the running. I don’t mind that, because I want EVERYONE to enjoy the post season. But I prefer when it’s prefaced with, “I’m normally a ____ fan, but they’re out of it, so GO SPURS.” something like that 😀
Hmm…a few thoughts on the question about fandom that you posed: based on the situation you described, the people in your office rank in descending order from the Yankees Fan, the Tigers Fan, the always broken photocopier that never works- especially if you’re on any kind of deadline, the weird cat-lady that cuts her nails at her desk and shoves them in her top drawer only to be found years later by some poor temp worker, to finally the Steelers fan, I guess, if I have to include her here too.
Now, I don’t harbor any personal resentment against the Steelers. Not a fan, but Giants are in the NFC, so no rivalry or anything. My problem is that based on your description, despite knowing nothing, she sounds like a fair-weather fan that would probably get on my case when I pointed out that Roethlisberger fellow not only has an impossible last name to spell, but also happens to be an abject moron and unapologetic rapist. So that lady ranks dead-last. The Tigers fan comes in second place because I like that she knows all the players and stats from prior years, and let’s face it, some people don’t have time to watch the games or find their fandom through other avenues. Yankees fan comes in first for a few reasons. (Full disclosure- I’m a Yankee fan, but that’s not why he comes in first. If he had more of the characteristics of the Steelers lady and was an unabashed supporter of an idiotic superstar on the team with absolutely no redeeming qualities, I’d hate him too and he’d rank last). No, he comes in first because he not only follows the game daily, but knows the minor leagues, and takes an active interest in his fandom. Not a necessary level of commitment to be considered a true fan- but definitely makes him perhaps a more dedicated fan than the others. He incorporates his fandom into his daily life. I guess it comes down to this, as IndianapolisEater said- there are different levels of fandom. The Yankee guy is a zealous fan, the Tigers fan is a pretty passionate follower of her team, and the Steelers lady’s fandom is based on convenience. Probably grew up in the area, the team is good, and she wants to say she’s a fan of something.
PS All insults were kinda sarcastic, tongue-in cheek, and definitely not malicious. Although I DO hate, loathe, despise, and detest Big Ben.
@John C: FELLOW YANKS FAN! Nice.
I like your rationales. Yeah, re: the Tigers fan, some people don’t have time to watch EVERY game, especially if it’s not on regularly because you live in a different city. Still, I still follow the score to every Yankee game on my phone, even if I’m not watching it.
Don’t worry about how your comments come off 🙂 All good here!
The thing I wonder about is the level of fandom as compared to how crushed you feel when the team loses? Because even the fairweather Pittsburgh fan, she actually *IS* distraught when they lose…does that have value? SHOULD that have value?
Another interesting point Junkfoodguy. I think part of it depends on the loss- true fans will be a little upset, but understand the context of the loss for what it is. For instance, if it’s baseball, one loss in a 162-game slog of a season isn’t the end of the world (unless of course it’s against the Red Sox!)
In football, if the team fought a good fight, or played better than the previous week and didn’t do anything to eliminate themselves, or happens to be in the midst of a productive rebuilding year, true fans of the team will take it for what it is- a productive loss. It won’t be bone-crushing. A fair-weather fan in the same instance would react quite differently, however- being devastated that his or her team lost despite all the positive progress made, etc.
I guess the level or “type” of fandom determines whether or not you understand the context and underlying narrative of the sport/season/game. The Tigers fan would understand that, yea sometimes Verlander just gets hit; or hey at least the bullpen seems to be coming around, and they’re still in first place (actually the pen is in shambles, but that’s a whole other story….) A fairweather Pittsburgh fan wouldn’t recognize any of these things- being devastated by any loss simply because it’s what she thinks she’s expected to be. I guess that type of reaction almost serves to undermine her level of fandom- actually working AGAINST the case for her “level” of fandom by having a negative value, as counter-intuitive as that may seem.
@John. C.: I am pickin’ up what you’re putting down, John. Agreed – that almost over-the-top devastation without real fandom is equally infuriating because you’re watching these people like, “YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW WHY YOU SHOULD BE UPSET. POSERS.” Good call.
I have always struggled with this. I live in ma for most of my childhood, so I grew up loving all Boston teams. To like any other teams were unheard of. I moved to ct and people here like teams from all over the country. I just couldn’t grasp it. It made me so effing mad. People would always tell me “well we don’t have any teams in ct, so that’s why we like different teams”. Well last time I checked ct is part of New England, why would u route for the pats. Oh that’s right, the pats suck so bad for all those years so how could anyone route for them. It was a lot easier to route for the cowboys, steelers, niners, & Effing dolphins. U wouldn’t believe how many cowboy and yankee fan combos there were in the 90,s. i just can’t understand how u can like 2 teams that are on different sides of the country. I call that fair weather fans! Now that I am older I have come to except it a little more. It’s funny ct is the only state in New England that doesn’t have hockey in every high school. I’m all about routing for the teams were u grew up or near by, bad or good.
@Will: Yeah, I have a hard time telling people they CAN’T or SHOULDN’T be fans of a team, since I appreciate it now when people are just FANS (real fans) in general. So at least I have something to talk to them about, whether I agree or disagree. Otherwise…I just have NOTHING to talk about with you! 😉
Lol
@junkfoodguy: Thanks man, it’s refreshing to hear from somebody else that sees sports fandom for what it really is.
@junkfoodguy: By the way, since in-depth sports conversations like that can sometimes be difficult to follow backtracking through comments of an old post after you’ve published a few new ones on the site, you should have my contact info any time you wanna reach out for some good ol’ fashion sports talk. I I know I’d definitely enjoy it.
Hope o hear from you.
John
@John C.: Sounds good! I like the sports banter on this site though…let’s other people jump in the mix if so desired.
The truest sports fan is one who roots for a team with an obviously racist name and is somehow able to balance their disgust with the nickname and/or ridiculously stereotypical mascot and STILL live and die with that team.
@Dr. SG: Dan Snyder is the biggest sports fan of all!
Sadly, I don’t think Dan Snyder is disgusted by the team name.
@Dr. S: 🙁
yankees fans who follow their minor league team are just kidding themselves. Those guys are never playing in pinstripes as long as people like Vernon Wells are “available”
@Kahn: BOOOO