What’s the difference between a blue flag that says ‘12’ and a slightly darker blue flag that says ‘24’?

No, this isn’t a riddle. Or a math question. This is about sports. Isn’t everything?

If you read my column regularly, you might have noticed that I don’t know anything about any sport except for baseball. I’m a fan of baseball and I follow that. I’ve been a Mariner’s fan since I was a little kid. And last week, a pretty major event happened in the Mariner’s world – we got our first Hall of Fame inductee with Ken Griffey, Jr.

Rooting for the Mariner’s is a lot like rooting for the Cougs. Sometimes they have an amazing season and blow everybody’s socks off, but a lot of the time you have to be a loyal fan to a team that might not win games, but certainly wins hearts. Because the Mariner’s aren’t always World Series material, there’s not often a lot to get this excited about. Griffey’s induction was a huge deal for Mariner’s fans.

You’d think football fans would understand baseball fans’ enthusiasm. I mean, football fans get emotionally invested in a bunch of guys throwing a ball around and trying to score. Baseball fans get emotionally invested in a bunch of guys hitting a ball with a stick and trying to score. We’re not that different.

But no. When the Seattle Space Needle took down the Seahawks number 12 flag for one day to put up a number 24 flag in honor of Griffey and this huge event for Mariner’s baseball, the reactions I saw online from a certain outspoken Seahawks fans flabbergasted me.

“Take that down, put the 12 back up,” commenters complained. “That better be 24 for Marshawn Lynch.”

Really, sports fans?

I don’t care what sport you’re into. You are a lot more similar than you are different. Just because you prefer one method of scoring arbitrary points with a ball to another doesn’t give some fans the right to demean the accomplishments of another. Who’s to say which method of doing this objectively completely pointless thing is the most entertaining?

Not you.

Seahawks fans, you attended two Super Bowls and have had your share of a lot of victory. Share with your siblings now, and let the Mariner’s fans have a turn celebrating something on top of the Space Needle. They’ve earned it too. Don’t whine because you don’t get to hog the Space Needle. Be happy for your brother when they do something good.

After all, the Mariner’s post on their social media channels every time the Seahawks play, cheering for them and rooting them on. They celebrate with you when you do something great. I promise, it’s not uncool to be happy for another team’s success. It’s okay to be excited about more than one team at once.

Sports fans, you’re really not that different. I understand being competitive against other teams in your same sport, but why do we need to be competitive against other sports teams in the same city who never compete? Baseball fans have just as much right to be excited about something as football fans.