Over the past few years, I’ve made a concentrated effort to take this whole Auburn Elvis thing to “the next level.” Putting on the suit, posing for some photos, and getting on TV has been fun, but are there more possibilities? Ideally, I think my goal is to become a fixture of Auburn athletics, to the point of one day being a minor sports celebrity.
But how can I achieve this, and, how will I know once I have?
There simply aren’t enough role models out there for what I’m trying to accomplish (the reason for this, is a discussion for another day). I guess I’m hoping to end up as some sort of a cross between Subway’s Jared, the Star Wars Kid, and the Washington Redskins’ Hogettes.
Besides the famous fans mentioned above, here are some other “inspirations”:
From studying this list, I think a definite distinction can be made between “superfan” and “minor sports celebrity.” Superfans are generally, average folks who have a passion for a certain team and incorporate some sort of quirk or gimmick into their sports passion. Minor sports celebrities are superfans who (perhaps unintentionally) have parlayed their quirk or gimmick into a higher level of notoriety. In many ways, I’m already a superfan. The trick is becoming a minor celebrity.
So what benchmarks will signify attainment of my goal? First, let’s look at what characterizes a superfan.:
Becoming a minor celebrity, however, indicates a shaping of pop culture; something bold, something like:
Obviously, I’m not a minor celebrity yet. But who knows? Maybe one day…