When sports fans say "We" this and "We" that

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gdt

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This kills me. Even gaffers do this.

I think we are gonna trade him




We had to pull him off the field




We got our defense together and let nothing through





It occurs to me that I've never read non American gaffers talk like that though.
 
Yep I hate it, the exception I make is if you are talking about a college team and you are currently attending that college.
 
So you made a thread displaying you lack of knowledge on sports fandom?

EDIT: I guess some gaffers join you in this ignorance
 
Think it's the concept of a club vs. the concept of a franchise.
I'm a member of Borussia Dortmund, so I consider myself as part of the club and talk about 'we'.
 
I don't have a problem with people saying we. It is what it is, I get it: they're fans. The real fun is when people start to say "they" instead of "we" only when things start to go south.
 
Why do you care? It's not any sillier than the console warriors on gaf who latch onto a company and do online battle for them.
 
The sporting we includes:
The person talking
The players on the team
The coaches
Team management
Team ownership (unless the owners and fan are at odds)
Other fans of the team
The locality that the team plays for/represents

Think of it as a if they were talking about a highschool team. That team is made up of part of the student body. For a professional team, fans consider the members of the team as part of their community. They're part of the public body.
 
When people buy merchandise, go to the games, listen to the sports talk radio, watch the pre and post game coverage of the team, they tend to feel an attachment. Such an attachment that they feel that they are right there with the players on game day, or in the GMs office making deals. It's amusing, but it speaks to the passion of fans.
 
we are the champs

lol seahawks



I say we since its easier to talk when talking with people at work since they are all fans of the same team (usually)
 
Teams are encourage that behavior so I don't see a problem with it, even if I don't do it.

Worse are people who use that "we" in historical/national topics - especially war topics.
 
It's more convenient to say "We" than "My favored team, the Metropolis City Fighting Caterpillars". That's all there is to it.
 
I always thought it was funny and laughed it off, or teased my friends about it. So did a friend of mine. We would tease them together. But then that friend became a superfan of the Nationals (and has been pretty depressed lately) and she started doing it all the time. I haven't pointed it out, but it's pretty funny.
 
Sports teams represent the city they're from. That's why they use the name of the city before the team name. It's not people pretending that they're on the team and doing the same work as the people who are.
 
Fans showing up to games are what make the checks not bounce.

Real answer = saying we is just faster and the other person you're talking about 95% of the time will know what you mean
 
Although, in defense of this practice, I started watching a lot more baseball last season. It is easy to slip in to. If you're rooting for a team, and there's two teams playing each other, saying "they should blah blah" or "what did they blah blah" is confusing when there is two "they"s. So if you're gonna call one "us" and one "them" it makes sense to call the team you don't like "them."
 
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