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Chapter 44
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Fever Pitch, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Obsession vs. Fandom
Sports, Identity, and Community
Escapism
Sports and Masculinity
Summary
Analysis
During the season of 1983, Cambridge United loses 31 games in a row, which is the record for the longest losing-streak in football. Nick attends all 17 home games during this stretch. He mentions that a friend, Simon, misses only one of these home games—Simon hits his head in an accident and even then tries to drive to the stadium, but his girlfriend prevents him from going. Cambridge’s poor season has no effect on Nick’s support for the team. Once it starts to seem like Cambridge will never win another game, the crowd begins to celebrate even minor achievements, like goals and draws.
Nick has always supported both Arsenal and Cambridge regardless of their performance. Earlier, he stated that a football team’s responsibility to its fans is to win as often as possible. In a way, though, it hardly matters to fans whether their team wins or loses. This suggests that fans aren’t drawn to football because of the results—the sport has a much broader and more profound appeal than that.
Themes
