TSM QUESTIONS YOUR LOYALTY

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

I thought the rule was you can't like two teams that run in direct conflict with each other (ie: Matt Young liking White Sox AND Cubs) but beyond that, it was ok? The Bears are in the NFC, the Raiders in the AFC. I don't see what's wrong with that. And obviously everyone is going to prefer one team over the other (Bears here). Especially when you are in a situation where you live halfway across the fuckin' country and find it hard to follow your true favorite team. Here I get maybe 4 times more Raiders games than I do Bears. Are you telling me I'm not allowed to express a sense of admiration for the Raiders when I see them nearly every Sunday as opposed to waiting for whenever SNF/MNF/national game of the week that doesn't interfere with the local interests to see Bears?

[cabbageboy 0]

Yeah I don't see any problem with having a favorite team in the NFC and one in the AFC. My overall favorite team is the Colts (AFC) but I've always liked the Packers in the NFC. If the two ended up playing in the Super Bowl by some chance, I'd go for the Colts.

[CanadianChris 0]

That was always my thinking. And that's how I ended up cheering for the Broncos and Vikings as a kid.

[KingPK 0]

I subscribe to Bill Simmons' (back when he was good) "Rules of Fandom" which states that once you pick a team, you are stuck with that team through thick and thin unless certain conditions apply (your town gets a pro team (or if your team relocates), a family member becomes part of another team or the owner fucks over the fans so badly that the team doesn't deserve your support). That might be strict and a result of him (and I) growing up where he did so I can understand living across the country and being unable to completely follow your team or living in Iowa or someplace without a pro team and having to choose. I just hate those people who go "Oh, I used to be a fan of that team but they suck so I went over here" and have like five favorite teams per sport and acts like the true diehard fans when they have success (like someone I knew a while back that was a Steelers fan but when the Pats' run started, he became Pat Patriot ad then reverted back when Pittsburgh won XL).

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

I grew up in an area where geography prevented there being a "local" team, so my favorite teams were sort of acquired over the years in various fashions. However, I still subscribe to the theory that you have one team per sport and you stick with them through everything. Living in the northwest now, I have found an appreciation for the Blazers and Seahawks, but I wouldn't dare switch my allegiance. I'd feel like a dirty front runner.

[Guest Vitamin X]

I've only switched allegiances once (Lakers to Blazers) and I feel pretty good about it because I don't think I really plan on ever returning to the LA area, and the Blazers are the only pro sports team in town, so why not. I'll admit I have a soft spot for the Lakers sometimes though, but I don't feel like basketball is that much a sport where you have to remain as loyal to your team as say, baseball or football, since the players most of the time don't give a fuck about what team they're on so long as they're comfortable with how much they get paid. Free agency has really ruined fan loyalty in sports, in my opinion, since you can't see a guy go through their entire career with one team or two anymore. Also, basketball is so much more an individual-oriented sport than the other two that you can just be a "Kobe fan" or a "Kevin Garnett fan" without really much caring about the Lakers, Celtics, or T-Wolves.

 

I think I'll only switch allegiances in baseball if Portland gets a team or something, which is unlikely to happen for quite some time, so I'm stuck suffering through another decade of Rockies crapdom. Yes!

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

I subscribe to Bill Simmons' (back when he was good) "Rules of Fandom" which states that once you pick a team, you are stuck with that team through thick and thin unless certain conditions apply (your town gets a pro team (or if your team relocates), a family member becomes part of another team or the owner fucks over the fans so badly that the team doesn't deserve your support). That might be strict and a result of him (and I) growing up where he did so I can understand living across the country and being unable to completely follow your team or living in Iowa or someplace without a pro team and having to choose. I just hate those people who go "Oh, I used to be a fan of that team but they suck so I went over here" and have like five favorite teams per sport and acts like the true diehard fans when they have success (like someone I knew a while back that was a Steelers fan but when the Pats' run started, he became Pat Patriot ad then reverted back when Pittsburgh won XL).

 

I'd agree actually with parts of that. It's despicable to switch teams at the drop of the hat, depending on who's good or not. That's why I don't actually really consider myself a Chargers fan. I'm only interested in them because they're good. However I've stuck with the Bears through the 90s when they were just bad. So I don't think anyone can question my loyalty to the Bears. Same for the Raiders, but I am just not as vocal about the Raiders as I am about the Bears.

[Guest]

I had been thinking of switching from the Jags to the Raiders for a while. Last year's offseason thread around the time when Al Davis asked Lane Kiffin to resign is proof. The only reason I started liking the Jaguars in the first place was because they had cool colors. I never was attached to them.

 

I think it's acceptable to switch if

 

A.) you are moving

 

B.) your team moves

 

C.) you never cared too much about them in the first place

 

D.) a team moves to your area

 

E.) the franchise wrongs you in such a way you absolutely cannot support them. I don't mean something like being a bad team, but rather the franchise picks up a player like Adam Jones, hikes ticket prices to ridiculous amounts, personal seat licenses, etc.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

I had been thinking of switching from the Jags to the Raiders for a while. Last year's offseason thread around the time when Al Davis asked Lane Kiffin to resign is proof. The only reason I started liking the Jaguars in the first place was because they had cool colors. I never was attached to them.

I always thought you were a Jags fan because it seems inevitable that they end up in Los Angeles some day and you wanted to get a head start.

 

EDIT: By the way, this is getting really off topic. We need a new thread to discuss our favorite teams and how we ended up with them. It might be interesting.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Also, who fucking cares if people would "question your loyalty" to the team you're rooting for or whatever. If it makes you happy to see a team that you like win, then awesome. Why do people care so much what other people think of them with regards to the teams they like? Cheer for what you like. Hell, even Matt Young could be justified in liking the Sox and Cubs, just because he'd be happy to see a Chicago-area baseball team do well. A lot of New York Sports fans around here seem to do the same thing with the Mets and Yankees, and the Giants and Jets.

 

Furthermore, if you're a fan of a truly abysmal franchise- say, the Lions or Cardinals or something- you could make the argument that since the owner of the team hasn't shown he gives a shit about you, why should you, as a fan, be loyal to them? I have all the admiration in the world for Lions fans too, by the way- that's a team that hasn't done SHIT since the 50's outside of Barry Sanders, and they sell out on a regular basis, unlike Arizona. But that doesn't mean I'm going to blame them if they want to switch to another team.

 

EDIT: I agree with Porter. I'm splitting this conversation off into a new topic.

[MFer 0]

Didn't we already do the "favorite teams" thread before?

 

Anyways, I've been suffering with the Lions for most of my life, with the high points being Barry Sanders and first-round playoff exits in the 90's. William Clay Ford won't live forever though (or will he?) so there's still hope for the future.

[Guest]

I had been thinking of switching from the Jags to the Raiders for a while. Last year's offseason thread around the time when Al Davis asked Lane Kiffin to resign is proof. The only reason I started liking the Jaguars in the first place was because they had cool colors. I never was attached to them.

I always thought you were a Jags fan because it seems inevitable that they end up in Los Angeles some day and you wanted to get a head start.

That was a small part of it, but I'm getting really tired of waiting. I can catch a Southwest flight to Oakland to watch the Raiders whenever I want. Or go down to San Diego. When I was younger I couldn't do that, now I can.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

I do have one hang up that would completely sever my ties with a team like Bears or Raiders. If they draft a pure scrambler (Vick or Young types), then it's over for me. I just cannot get behind a team that uses a gimmick. Yes, I would literally prefer Rex Grossman and his million turnovers over a guy who's first option is to take off.

[CanadianChris 0]

Didn't we already do the "favorite teams" thread before?

This thread comes up in some form or another at least once a year.

[Guest]

To mention a team other than the Raiders, the Lakers, Dodgers, Trojans, and my foreign soccer club named Liverpool could not do something to turn me off as a fan. The Lakers especially couldn't. My dad raised me a Laker fan, and I've got a home video of my 3rd birthday party in which he asked me about the Lakers and Monday Night Football. I'll never forget that. Besides, the Lakers are the Lakers.

 

The LA Kings are a different story. They've raised parking costs to astronomic levels, won't sign their own players, and just plain suck. I've spent way too much money on them. I feel like they've wronged me. I don't go to games anymore. If I drop the Kings, I won't pick another team up.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Yeah. If I lose the Bears/Raiders, I'd just be a casual fan of the NFL with no real allegiances. I cannot see myself rooting for anyone else. I just REALLY REALLY REALLY hate scramblers. Luckily the Bears are never going to pick up someone like that because that's just not their style. Neither will the Raiders under Davis (Russell isn't a scrambler, before anyone asks. He's a passer first and a runner last.)

[Brett Favre 0]

I do have one hang up that would completely sever my ties with a team like Bears or Raiders. If they draft a pure scrambler (Vick or Young types), then it's over for me. I just cannot get behind a team that uses a gimmick. Yes, I would literally prefer Rex Grossman and his million turnovers over a guy who's first option is to take off.

 

That's crazy man. All those years rooting for the team coming to an end because of one player? An overreaction if you ask me.

 

What happens if they won the Super Bowl with that guy? Winning is winning. Or what if they dump him, would you come back to the team?

[bob_barron 0]

I agree with Brooklyn Zoo. Dumping your team because they hired a scrambler is just stupid.

 

The Saints could draft anyone, provided they're still in Louisiana, I'd be going crazy for their games every Sunday.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

I do have one hang up that would completely sever my ties with a team like Bears or Raiders. If they draft a pure scrambler (Vick or Young types), then it's over for me. I just cannot get behind a team that uses a gimmick. Yes, I would literally prefer Rex Grossman and his million turnovers over a guy who's first option is to take off.

 

That's crazy man. All those years rooting for the team coming to an end because of one player? An overreaction if you ask me.

 

What happens if they won the Super Bowl with that guy? Winning is winning. Or what if they dump him, would you come back to the team?

 

I don't care if they win the Super Bowl with the scrambler. It's not playing football the way I like it played. Call me crazy but I like my quarterbacks to make his money with his arm, not legs. If they drop him, I might return, but obviously it wouldn't be the same again.

[Guest]

That'll never happen with the Raiders. Al has a very distinct view of what a quarterback should be.

 

I'd be disappointed over drafting a scrambler, but I wouldn't drop the team. They wouldn't succeed with a scrambling quarterback anyway.

[Brett Favre 0]

So you root for the Bears because of their style and not because they're from Chicago?

 

I could never stop rooting for the Jets even if they had Laveranues Coles playing quarterback. It's all about the team.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

I root for the Bears because they were the first and only team I was aware of in my early childhood, and obviously my parents' fandom of them rubbed off on me. They took me to Super Bowl XX when I was very young, so you'd see how dedicated they were to the Bears. And Chicago is pretty much a Bears-first city, Cubs second. So it's hard not to grow up a Bears fan there. In all honesty though, the Bears' offensive philosophy was not one that I grew to like as I got older and understood more about football. This is why I was so thrilled in September of 2006 when it looked like the Bears could be a shoot-out type offense, because that's what I like. A show in the air. However, I'm still a Bears fan because I appreciate what they do on defense. I appreciate the whole "Monsters of Midway" mystique of the defense.

 

edit: Besides, I don't expect the Bears to draft a scrambler, so rest easy, I'm pretty much a Bears fan for life.

[Brett Favre 0]

I'm not worried about anything. All I'm saying is, you just described an emotionally invested history you have with the team that you'll just leave because they draft a scrambler. That's pretty lame.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

I'm not worried about anything. All I'm saying is, you just described an emotionally invested history you have with the team that you'll just leave because they draft a scrambler. That's pretty lame.

 

Once again, it isn't going to happen. So it's a moot point.

[Brett Favre 0]

It's irrelevant if it will or won't happen. The fact that you feel that way shows a lack of loyalty.

[CanadianChris 0]

That brings up an interesting question, though -- what would you do if your favourite team hired or signed someone you actively despised?

 

It happened to me with the Maple Leafs -- I had just moved to Ottawa, and had taken an interest in the Senators anyway because they were starting to put together an entertaining club. Then the Leafs hired Pat Quinn, my least favourite sports figure ever, and he predictably turned the team into a goon squad. I renounced the Leafs, and I've been a Sens fan ever since.

[HarleyQuinn 0]

Being a Boston sports fan, it's always been about the jersey name over the player name for me.

 

For the Patriots history, my earliest memory was the 1990 season because it was the year of the scandal and the fact that the first game I saw on TV was their week 2 win. I remember loving the WRs during most of my early fandom with the Pats (Irving Fryar & Vincent Brisby in particular) and also really, really liking FB Sam Gash but I'm pretty sure it was just because he had a great last name.

 

The first real Patriots draft I remember was 1993 (I liked Chris Slade and Brisby but really disliked Bledsoe).

[Black Lushus 0]

I've stuck with the Bills, NY Rangers, Knicks and Mets for as long as I can remember...through all the, and I mean ALL the shittiness those 4 teams have given.

 

I have to admit though, the Knicks have been so terrible and such a poorly run operation, that I can't even be bothered to pay attention them at ALL the past 4 or 5 seasons. And yes, I will be back to rooting them on IF they ever turn it around again. I just can't even bring myself to support them when they have losing years because it has just been so pathetic.

 

I've just gotten in to Creighton Bluejay basketball about maybe 4 years ago. Sure they're a mid-major club that's never going to do much in the big tourney, but they're a fun team to go root for live.

 

I'm totally fairweather when it comes to Nebraska...BUT, I will say this: you will NOT see me bragging and hooting and hollering should they ever come back to prominence. I'm happy to see them win, but I haven't stuck with them since the Osborne era ended and I won't be all HAHA LOOK AT US NOW if they do come back.

[Guest]

That brings up an interesting question, though -- what would you do if your favourite team hired or signed someone you actively despised?

If the Trojans hired Charlie Weis (obviously not going to happen, just saying), I'd be fuming. Red hot. There are a few others that could get to me, like if Liverpool ever signed a prominent Mexican player. I'm not a racist, so don't take it that way. But the US vs. Mexico rivalry in soccer is filled with hate. I don't know if I could cheer for a player who plays for a national team I actively despise and enjoy beating more than almost anything else in sports.

 

And there are a few quite a few Manchester United players I would not accept playing for Liverpool either.

[bob_barron 0]

That brings up an interesting question, though -- what would you do if your favourite team hired or signed someone you actively despised?

 

It happened to me with the Maple Leafs -- I had just moved to Ottawa, and had taken an interest in the Senators anyway because they were starting to put together an entertaining club. Then the Leafs hired Pat Quinn, my least favourite sports figure ever, and he predictably turned the team into a goon squad. I renounced the Leafs, and I've been a Sens fan ever since.

 

The Leafs have signed Michael Peca and Jason Blake in recent years, and I'm still a fan. The Saints traded for Shockey, who I hated. The Braves brought back Tom Glavine. I miss Quinn, wish they had never fired him.

 

I'd still root for a team, no matter who they signed and if the player performed, I'd probably end up rooting for him. I'm now a Shockey fan.

 

Regarding Glavine, fuck him, I still don't like him.