Study explains my Reds fandom

I think that in the early years of my life, I didn't follow baseball very much.  I remember the Pete Rose hit fairly well, and I know I followed baseball, collected baseball cards (lightly), in the late 80's.  But I'm pretty sure that the first season that really became etched into my mind was that 1990 Wire-to-Wire Reds Championship season.  I was born in 1978, so I was 12 years old during that season.  From that age forward, I was a baseball nut.

It turns out, that's a pretty typical story.  According to this terrific article by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, when your team wins a championship during a boy's mid-childhood, it results in higher rates of "permafandom." Here's the graph from the article:

 The effect is particularly strong for boys aged 8-12, but there's still a large effect throughout the 5-14 year ages.  Younger than that, and you're too young to know what's going on.  And older?  It's almost as if an imprinting window closes.

I imprinted.  I may vary in how closely I follow them from year to year.  But through thick and thin, I'm always going to be a Reds fan.

Glove slap: C. Trent