I have decided to think pretty far out of the box for this one, maybe not even near the box, and understanding the angle at which I'm interpreting the topic might well require lateral thinking from both the reader and myself.
Love can be compared with, at least for the purpose of this blog, to the relationship between a fan of a football club and a player from that same club. Fans do sometimes profess to 'love' the players of their team though it is likely not love in a romantic sense. The main case to indicate the findings of the self conscious emotion research in the context of The Emotional Game, the main character will be Holland, Manchester United and former Arsenal striker Robin Van Persie.
The banner above is from an arsenal game , when the striker played for that football club. Previously arsenal fans would have had the impression the 'love' or bond was mutual with Van Persie admitting being an arsenal fan even as a child.
As in the set of studies by Baumeister, Wotman & Stillwell (1993), Robin Van Persie is the Rejector, and the arsenal fans the would be lover (without the romantic/sexual overtone). The findings of the study are true for the Robin Van Persie - Arsenal situation. The rejector , RVP , has admitted being a bti guilty, has reported being annoyed by the constant harassment of arsenal fans, and feels like there was less positive outcome of that relationship, than his current one. (Monetary and emotionally, the pride of winning trophies etc.)
Furthermore, for the would be lover, the arsenal fan, they still think back to the good times (when rvp was top scorer for arsenal last season), they want to be with the other person in the sense they didn't want him to leave the football club, and they still see themselves, and saw themselves as the time of rejection as the perfect club for Robin Van Persie. This metaphor is also true for clubs potential signings, whereby the club or clubs fans are the would be lovers, and the rejector is a Superstar football player who chooses not to join that club.
However in this case, some of the fans/would be lovers feel so rejected by the rejector, that they feel the need to demonstrate their frustration publicly, in this symbolic gesture of an arsenal fan burning the former clubs star's shirt.
They also vented their frustration in various blog posts and forum posts (as to be expected), but here is one that is so passionate it is almost like something written by a jilted would be lover, providing credence to the metaphoric comparison;
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