Sports Loyalty....

[flyfisher]

So all these threads got me to wondering.  I see plenty of posts where people say they switched to liking this team x years ago or they have so and so's jersey that they would wear if their team wasn't playing etc...

 

Maybe i am in the minority here but i would never switch teams and no way would i ever buy another teams jersey or even a t-shirt.  Hell, if i see a car trying to pass me with a cowboys sticker on it on the highway i don't even let them over. 

The only times i have a rooting interest in another team are when it is a rival team and i want to see them lose, if i have money on the game or if the outcome of said game can help my team.

 

Now once my team is out, I have teams i like but it's not like i would buy a jersey or watch them over my team.

 

So my question is, am in the minority here?

[Raider Nation Fisher]

I dunno if you are or not.

Me personally. I follow the Raiders and the Falcons. I will always cheer for the Raiders over the Falcons though. Just as I would NEVER cheer for the Ponies, the Chiefs, or the Chargers.

College football. Its Auburn or whoever is playing Bama or LSU.

Soccer. Its Chelsea Football Club, and only Chelsea Football Club. Man U, Liverpool, Tottenham, Arsenal, and Man City are a bunch of nancy boys.

I will forgo watching my beloved Raiders play to watch Chelsea play.

[Raider Nation Fisher]

Upon further reflection I am that big of a die hard fan. As is my wife. To the extent that when we have a daughter we are naming her Chelsea in honor of the greatest football club to ever exist.

[flyfisher]

I wouldn't have picked you as a soccer guy but i guess you learn something new every day.

 

I get to the point that i don't even play anyone on my fantasy football team if they are playing against the eagles and in pick-em leagues i pick the eagles all the way up to when they are mathematically eliminated from the playoffs.

[MCS]

I grew up in Baltimore and maryland. I love the O's and Ravens(old colt history). I like NL ball better and in my youth starting rooting for the Phils. But I move a lot and games are hard to follow, for my kids sake I try to root for the "home" team. So I follow the local sports, Bucs when I lived in St. Pete and Jags here in Jax. College is the same too, no real diehard college team. I root for where I live with a soft spot for Maryland. With that said I follow my teams, but diehard I wouldn't say. After all these are just games and sometimes things in life like family and fishing trump watching a game on TV. I have been upset as of late too, when the Terps and Ravens have diverted from the things I came to know and love. I am just lashing out not ditching them.....well maybe I think I will ditch the terps, time to root for the Gators but these past couple years exactly haven't been their glory years in the SEC.

 

But I feel the same way about you seeing cowboys stuff when I see steelers stuff. Makes me automatically dislike a person.

[00 mod]

WPS!  Hogs all the way!  Even when we are 4-8!!!!  #3-0 this year!!!

 

 

Jeff

[mrmacwvu1]

Mine are WVU on one level

 

on another are The Reds Steelers and Lakers

 

College for me will always be more important then pro sports

[flyfisher]

the whole college thing brings up another question.  I am not a big college football fan but i do like college basketball.  How many people who are die hard college fans either went to the school or are in the same town or nearby vicinity?

 

Growing up in the philly area the only football team was the Eagles but college basketball has always been huge with LaSalle, Temple, Villanova, Penn, St. Joes etc...I have always been a villanova and temple fan but definitely root for any philly team come tourney time with villanova being my favorite.

[J Francho]

I'm always a fan of the Cowboys, Yankees, and Knicks.  There are teams, and by teams, I mean specific players or groups of players that I enjoy watching.  While I'm not a fan of the team, I am a fan of the game, and good games are not to be missed.

[Raider Nation Fisher]

the whole college thing brings up another question. I am not a big college football fan but i do like college basketball. How many people who are die hard college fans either went to the school or are in the same town or nearby vicinity?

Growing up in the philly area the only football team was the Eagles but college basketball has always been huge with LaSalle, Temple, Villanova, Penn, St. Joes etc...I have always been a villanova and temple fan but definitely root for any philly team come tourney time with villanova being my favorite.

My dad played at Auburn on a football scholarship. Until they threw him out. I went to Auburn on a drinking scholarship and then they threw me out.

Haley Center in Auburn is named for my wifes great grand father. He also sat on the board of trustees for many years down there. I don't think any of her family was thrown out from there though.

My little sister is down there now, on a full ride academic scholarship. She is a National Merit Scholar and top 1 percentile in the country. She was excepted to Harvard, Princeton, and Yale. As well as most every other university in the nation. She passed on all those and chose Auburn instead.

We are pretty sure they aren't gonna throw her out.

[mrmacwvu1]

I got my undergrad at WVU

[tomustang]

My teams suck right now, but I'm not a going bandwagon over it.

[MCS]

the whole college thing brings up another question.  I am not a big college football fan but i do like college basketball.  How many people who are die hard college fans either went to the school or are in the same town or nearby vicinity?

 

Growing up in the philly area the only football team was the Eagles but college basketball has always been huge with LaSalle, Temple, Villanova, Penn, St. Joes etc...I have always been a villanova and temple fan but definitely root for any philly team come tourney time with villanova being my favorite.

 

I think it also has to do with the area if there is no pro teams around tend to be more diehard college fans too. You being in philly and me in Md had pleanty of pro teams to root for.

[Raider Nation Fisher]

I wouldn't have picked you as a soccer guy but i guess you learn something new every day.

I get to the point that i don't even play anyone on my fantasy football team if they are playing against the eagles and in pick-em leagues i pick the eagles all the way up to when they are mathematically eliminated from the playoffs.

Yup extreme die hard soccer and rugby fan. More so the soccer over the rugby. My NFL team may be bad. However, my Chelsea are one of the best teams in the world. So it kinda makes up for it. Plus the All Blacks rugby team are the best in the world.

I'm the same way with my fantasy teams. I won't play any player that's playing against Oakland. I won't have any players on my team from any of the other AFC West teams either. Its a conflict of interest.

[flyfisher]

I'm always a fan of the Cowboys, Yankees, and Knicks.  There are teams, and by teams, I mean specific players or groups of players that I enjoy watching.  While I'm not a fan of the team, I am a fan of the game, and good games are not to be missed.

Man, 3 of my most hated teams in sports, well except the knicks i hate boston much much more lol  I do agree that i enjoy watching a well played game no matter who is playing, especially when it comes to basketball at either the college or the pro level.

[tomustang]

It's been said before, we are a nation of bandwagoners, because we like winners we follow the winners, people don't follow losers...

[AK-Jax86]

You can be loyal to your team but support other players/teams what's the crime in that? Unless you are Yankee fan supporting the Red Sox or some other team rivalry. But like people have said I enjoy watching any football or basketball game.

If my son ends up playing football and is a hardcore eagles fan like his father and he gets drafted by the Cowboys according to this I must disown my son because of my Eagles loyalty and never support my son not watch him unless he's playing Philly lol.

There is a difference between a fan and a fanatic, the fanatics are over the top. Like when people made a big deal about Colin Kaepernick wearing a dolphins hat that matched his outfit lol. 49ers are in NFC Dolphins are in AFC how is that a problem? If it were a Seahawks hat or some division rival then I could see the uproar.

If you work for General Eletric are you only going to buy GE products and anything else you see makes you sick? If so you will have a house full of appliances and nothing else.

That's just my take on it. It's fine to support other players and teams. I'm sure a MAJORITY of us are huge Michael Jordan fans does that mean we are Bulls fans not necessarily I know I'm not.

[AK-Jax86]

It's been said before, we are a nation of bandwagoners, because we like winners we follow the winners, people don't follow losers...

Lol my friend has been a Seahawks fan his whole life they just started winning lol jk

[J Francho]

Man, 3 of my most hated teams in sports, well except the knicks i hate boston much much more lol  I do agree that i enjoy watching a well played game no matter who is playing, especially when it comes to basketball at either the college or the pro level.

 

Once you get to the sweet sixteen in the NCAA men's b-ball tx, I think you are seeing some of the best team athletics on the planet.

[Darren.]

Loyal to a point. Well, guess my Buffalo Bills loyalty is not to a point. I've been a fan ever since I was a kid. While they are my favorite, I do so enjoy NFL that I love watching quality players like Peyton Manning, Kap, Brady, Wilson, Spiller, Petersen, Larry Fitz, et al. (I have to say my hatred of the Patriots has been a long time calming down. *years* of angst. But Brady is so darn good, I can't hate forever )

 

On the NBA side of things, I tend to follow players more than teams now. I was a 76ers fan in the Dr. J days, hated the Lakers and Celtics, but in the 90s I became a big fan of the Mavs - and was really excited for Nowitski to win his first title.

 

But I also like Kobe Bryant, so I root for the Lakers...

 

College, not too much a fan. I'll watch big games, have no real rooting interest in any specific team.

[flyfisher]

I do see an exception if your kid is playing on a team but if my son played for the cowboys i would want him to do well and hopefully get traded lol  And i can guarantee that as soon as he was done playing and even while he was playing i would be rooting for the eagles.  Obvisouly my loyalty would be with my family over anything else.

 

I also don't see a problem at all i nwatching or enjoying other sports or teams.  I watched that crappy game last night   And sorry but an NFL player shouldn't wear another NFL teams hat.....

 

And if i worked for GE there is a good chance all of my applicances would be GE.

 

I am not a Michael Jordan fan at all.  While i can appreciate hsi skills coming into the league at the perfect time, I would never once root for him to succeed, except maybe in the olympics, or win.  You know why, because if he won or played well that meant the Sixers didn't.

 

So it sounds like i am in the minority here but i guess most philly fans are.....

[flyfisher]

Once you get to the sweet sixteen in the NCAA men's b-ball tx, I think you are seeing some of the best team athletics on the planet.

As a college basketball fan you will appreciate this.....I was at the famous Duke-Kentucky game when Christian Laetner hit the shot to win it and was perfect from the field.  I had no rooting interest for either team but after laetner stepped on the guy from kentucky, i did lose respect for duke till he left.

[Darren.]

Should probably add that I'm a Yankees fan through and through, but my "love" of baseball has largely diminished since the 80s. Used to stay up at night to listen to Yankees games on the radio. Today, bring on the playoffs and World Series, otherwise, no real interest.

[flyfisher]

Baseball on the radio is awesome...i try and get my 3 year old to listen as long as he can jsut so he knows what it is like to see a game happening through radio announcers.  Unfortunately there aren't many great radio guys out there anymore.

[AK-Jax86]

^x2 to Darrenm