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[Switch Back 9]

This is mostly in regards to the loss to Boston by Toronto in last night's game 7. A decent amount of people I know from the area are "Die hard Bruins fans", even though not one of them is from the city or have ever been there.
This got me thinking about the nature of fandom when it comes to professional sports, and something I just can't wrap my head around.

Why is it certain people arbitrarily pick a team from another city and cheer them on against their home town? I honestly do not understand this mentality and lately, for obvious reasons, these people have been irking the fuck out of me. Kids who grew up in or around Toronto, whose parents and family are all from the area, rocking Boston (or whatever team) shirts and jerseys and getting all worked up when they win.

I know there are folks like this on GAF, so I ask you to explain this to me.

edit: I get not liking or cheering on your home team if you don't give a fuck or don't like the sport, but why dedicate yourself entirely to another city's team?

 

[Parallax]

from la, and im a longtime patriots fan. im a dodgers fan by birth, but became a mariners fan when my grandpa moved to oregon.

 

[Delicious Waffles]

Either frontrunners or they like certain players on that team more than local teams, methinks.

 

[Deacan]

Manchester United the thread.

 

[johnny_park]

There are no pro teams where I live. I picked my teams when I was kid and stuck with them since.

 

[ElectricBlue187]

I see this a lot with the Redskins and the Cowboys and it really bothers me even though I'm a Cardinals fan and I only visit St. Louis maybe once a year.

 

[Switch Back 9]

There are no pro teams where I live. I picked my teams when I was kid and stuck with them since.

Ok well that makes sense, but what made you pick the teams you like?

Either frontrunners or they like certain players on that team more than local teams, methinks.

This only works season to season though, as players are constantly changing.

 

[Liquidsnake]

I live in LA. been here my whole life. Laker fan till I die. That said I appreciate the Yankee's, and follow them.

 

[Phire Phox]

Probably because either the home team sucks or the team they like has a player that they really like

 

[ElectricBlanketFire]

I live in Chicago and I have a friend who's a fan of all Seattle teams. Didn't live there. No family from there. No ties whatsoever.

 

[3N16MA]

I don't think it matters as long as those fans actually stick with that team and don't jump shit

 

[Lambda Pie]

i couldn't care less for my hometown team and i played for their youth team. HAIL SLB!!

 

[Switch Back 9]

I live in Chicago and I have a friend who's a fan of all Seattle teams. Didn't live there. No family from there. No ties whatsoever.

This is pretty much where my confusion lies. What the hell made him do this?

Probably because either the home team sucks or the team they like has a player that they really like

Again this doesn't make sense as rankings and players change all the time.

 

[johnny_park]

Ok well that makes sense, but what made you pick the teams you like?

Looking back they were all good when I started liking them. I think it was around '89.

Denver Broncos
Portland Trailblazers
Oakland A's

 

[Phobophile]

I have a friend who grew up in Louisiana who roots for the Green Bay Packers because they're the only community-owned team. Truly a sports team for the people.

 

[Chuckl3s]

Born in Az so growing up I didn't have a baseball team to pick. I went from LA to Seattle and settled on the Yankees. I'm still a Yankees fan to this day. You could say I'm a front runner but I didn't have a home team to choice from. I picked a winning team when I was 8 and stuck with it.

 

[-Eddman-]

Mexicans who support Barcelona and Real Madrid are REALLY annoying through the whole Champions League.

 

[btkadams]

op, are you a leafs fan? just trying to see where you're coming from.

i personally don't understand why it would bother you. liking your local sports team (generally made up of people not from your city) because they are local seems just as arbitrary as liking a non-local team. people have different reasons for liking teams, whether it is because of the teams talent, the name, or the colour of their jerseys.

edit: i also totally didn't mean this to be rude or anything. i'm just trying to understand. i'm not personally into sports that much.

 

[Wiseblade]

Manchester United the thread.

Yep, Pretty much. Although at least I had a slightly better reason than most for calling myself a Man U fan in school.

 

[ElectricBlanketFire]

This is pretty much where my confusion lies. What the hell made him do this?

We've asked him and he's never given an explanation.

I have a friend who grew up in Louisiana who roots for the Green Bay Packers because they're the only community-owned team. Truly a sports team for the people.

aka suckers that paid $250 for a piece of paper.

 

[UberTag]

Why is it certain people arbitrarily pick a team from another city and cheer them on against their home town? I honestly do not understand this mentality and lately, for obvious reasons, these people have been irking the fuck out of me. Kids who grew up in or around Toronto, whose parents and family are all from the area, rocking Boston (or whatever team) shirts and jerseys and getting all worked up when they win.

I know there are folks like this on GAF, so I ask you to explain this to me.

edit: I get not liking or cheering on your home team if you don't give a fuck or don't like the sport, but why dedicate yourself entirely to another city's team?

Well, I live about an hour away from Toronto so they're not "technically" my hometown team even though I have lived in North York for a year a while ago.

I think a lot of it boils down to what made you become a fan of the sport in question.

A lot of sports are nationally televised and if you're just getting into the sport when a certain team is making a deep playoff run it can cement your fandom for that team even if they're on the opposite side of the globe.

I got into hockey when the Bruins were the underdog facing the dominant Oilers in the Stanley Cup final. Everyone in the Canadian media was so fixated on sucking Gretzky's cock that I wanted to make up my own mind and elected to cheer for the Bruins instead. They've been my team ever since.

Other fans will latch onto a bandwagon or, as in my case, latch onto an underdog to "rebel" against a bandwagon. And a lot of times those fans will stay loyal once they've made their decision and effectively "marry" a team like they would a spouse. Beyond that, a lot of people will move for their schooling or their career but that doesn't mean you disown your fandom for your sports team of choice when you do. People come from everywhere to live in Toronto so it's no wonder there are countless fans of different stripes.

You'll also have fans of minor league and college teams become fans of professional teams because that's where an exciting player whose career they've followed has been signed. Crosby won a gold medal for Canada in the Olympic games so naturally he'll bring a lot of new Canadian fans of the Pittsburgh Penguins because that's Crosby's team.

A team is an amalgamation of all sorts of players and personalities. There were more Canadians playing on the Boston Bruins when they won the Stanley Cup over the Canadian-based Vancouver Canucks. Cheering for Boston would have been "the Canadian thing to do" but most everyone in Canada - whether they were from Vancouver or not - were rooting for the Canucks... despite them having fewer actual Canucks on their roster.

Finally, a bunch of Toronto fans just get tired of their hometown teams being losers all the time. So they just picked another team to root for at random.

 

[TimeEffect]

Petty much why I can't really get into sports, or behind a team. I'm from just outside Toronto, but I've never lived there, so I can't care for them. That said, I did root for them when I bandwaggoned the playoffs. Even then, I'm a casual watcher.

I just don't get it, and think some people, at least the bandwagon fans, just cheer to fit in, or enjoy getting swept away with friends, community, etc

 

[Switch Back 9]

op, are you a leafs fan? just trying to see where you're coming from.

i personally don't understand why it would bother you. liking your local sports team (generally made up of people not from your city) because they are local seems just as arbitrary as liking a non-local team. people have different reasons for liking teams, whether it is because of the teams talent, the name, or the colour of their jerseys.

Yes I'm from Toronto, and yes, I'm clearly a little sucky after last night. It bothers me because sharing the vibe of your home team with people FROM your home is such a good feeling, and that the people I made the thread about just seem to get off on being "different" and I don't really get it.

 

[Draxal]

This only works season to season though, as players are constantly changing.

Err not really, for example the early/mid 90's Cowboys had a dynasty that attracted bandwagoners like their early dynasty did. The majority of the players on that dynasty stayed there for a long team, and if somebody was say an Emmit Smith fan and watched them win those Super Bowls; he would have became attached to the Cowboys especially if he was a kid.

 

[Protein]

Try being stuck with the Dallas Cowboys as your home team.

 

[RedShift]

Manchester United the thread.

Wow, I was literally going to post that word for word.

But yeah, some people live places where there are no good teams, they have to have someone to support.

 

[Vesmir]

I live in Arcata, CA which has no team, the Bay Area is 5 hours away so everyone here likes those teams (SF Giants, Niners, so on) which fucking sucks since SF is shit. I suppose a combination of being raised to hate the Steelers and Niners (since my stepdad is a Raiders fan) and seeing them when they played against the Raiders in LA made me like them. Now I'm applying to grad schools in Washington so I'd be able to see them more often. GO HAWKS.

 

[ebullientprism]

Manchester United the thread.

Yep!

 

[Socreges]

edit: I get not liking or cheering on your home team if you don't give a fuck or don't like the sport, but why dedicate yourself entirely to another city's team?

Why dedicate yourself entirely to your own city's team? Cheering for a team against all other 29 teams is tribal, however you slice it. The team is just a collection of players from random places, organized by select people who are trying to make money and satisfy their own wants. Just because the team is from your own city doesn't make it any more 'true'.

ACCEPTABLE:

- Cheering for a team from a young age (own city)
- Cheering for a team from a young age (other city)
- Adopting a team when you didn't have one before

NOT ACCEPTABLE

- Abandoning a team because they're not successful and choosing another that is more successful

That would be 'traitorous'. What's the point of even cheering for a team if you can just abandon it when things aren't going well and choose a team that has it going good. The entire system breaks down when you universalize this, so therefore it's bad.

 

[RomanticHeroX]

The concept of following a team specifically is strange to me. I follow players, the team really means nothing to me. I loved watching Forsberg, so the moment he left Colorado I stopped paying attention to the Avs.

 

[fredrancour]

I had a massively confused conversation yesterday where someone referred to "the Bruins winning" without any context of a sport or city and I thought they were talking about UCLA at first... dude is from indiana and doesn't even care about hockey normally.

 

[Switch Back 9]

Well, I live about an hour away from Toronto so they're not "technically" my hometown team even though I have lived in North York for a year a while ago.

I think a lot of it boils down to what made you become a fan of the sport in question.

A lot of sports are nationally televised and if you're just getting into the sport when a certain team is making a deep playoff run it can cement your fandom for that team even if they're on the opposite side of the globe.

I got into hockey when the Bruins were the underdog facing the dominant Oilers in the Stanley Cup final. Everyone in the Canadian media was so fixated on sucking Gretzky's cock that I wanted to make up my own mind and elected to cheer for the Bruins instead. They've been my team ever since.

Other fans will latch onto a bandwagon or, as in my case, latch onto an underdog to "rebel" against a bandwagon. And a lot of times those fans will stay loyal once they've made their decision and effectively "marry" a team like they would a spouse.

While I must personally hate you for both your avatar AND your choice of team, your reasons are quite sound and I totally get why you made this decision. Most people though, do not have such a logical reasoning behind it and that's what is bothering me.

 

[entremet]

I'm a fan of the most current dynasty per league.

 

[Camp Lo]

Here in Orlando, I find it hard as fuck to cheer for the home team and majority of public feel the same way.

If Boston comes to town, Boston is represented fully. Miami? L.A.? New York? All the same deal.

I wish we had a team worth cheering for.

 

[sant]

Going against your home town team is a cardinal sin.

 

[pantsmith]

My younger brother has never been to Ohio, but one day he just decided he was going to be a Bengals fan and that was that.

I've asked him about it repeatedly and there is no reason. He just liked them (this was at the height of their mediocrity) and liked rooting for them, and suddenly they were his team. Hes been a die hard ever since.

 

[ElectricBlue187]

The concept of following a team specifically is strange to me. I follow players, the team really means nothing to me. I loved watching Forsberg, so the moment he left Colorado I stopped paying attention to the Avs.

I'm kind of like this for the NFL but probably more because of fantasy and we didn't have a team where I lived so college football was the only thing.

 

[Kiraly]

I grew up in this era.

How could I not be a fan of them?

 

[Bleepey]

Yep, Pretty much. Although at least I had a slightly better reason than most for calling myself a Man U fan in school.

Glory hunting? I support my local team Arsenal.

 

[commish]

Often it's because of a family member who is a big fan, e.g., a dad who is a fan and makes his son a fan. Or a wife/husband.

I've been a Phoenix Suns fan for the last 25 years,and I've only set foot in Phoenix once, at the airport. I started as a fan in the 1980s because of a videogame glitch (basically, Tom Chambers could dunk from super far away) and have been a diehard fan ever since.

 

[methodman]

I'm from the bay area, San Jose, and there's a shit load of "life long Lakers fans" out here. Say they've been fans of the Lakers for years and years, Many of them are suddenly jumping on the warriors bandwagon. Fuck em

 

[genjiZERO]

Try being stuck with the Dallas Cowboys as your home team.

Be a Redskins fan!

I'm nowhere near Chicago, but I know lots and lots of Bulls fans (including myself). The reasons should be obvious, but at least we're all still fans.

 

[kirblar]

I wonder this every time I run into US fans of Euro Football.

 

[Switch Back 9]

Going against your home town team is a cardinal sin.

It's funny, all my buddies from Vancouver (when I lived there) constantly mocked and derided me for being a Leafs fan (for obvious reasons) but this year they were totally supportive and started cheering for Toronto after the "Nucks got swept.

 

[ElectricBlanketFire]

I'm nowhere near Chicago, but I know lots and lots of Bulls fans (including myself). The reasons should be obvious, but at least we're all still fans.

Even after last night? :/

 

[ultron87]

You are allowed to either root for the team from where you grew up, the team your parents rooted for, or the team from where you live.

If the place you currently live doesn't have a team for that sport you can adopt a team from another city. But if you pick one of the current best teams you suck.

For these reasons I am stuck rooting for Cleveland sports even though I live in Cincinnati (which wouldn't be that much better). It is a horrible genetic legacy.

 

[3N16MA]

Why dedicate yourself entirely to your own city's team? Cheering for a team against all other 29 teams is tribal, however you slice it. The team is just a collection of players from random places, organized by select people who are trying to make money and satisfy their own wants. Just because the team is from your own city doesn't make it any more 'true'.

ACCEPTABLE:

- Cheering for a team from a young age (own city)
- Cheering for a team from a young age (other city)
- Adopting a team when you didn't have one before

NOT ACCEPTABLE

- Abandoning a team because they're not successful and choosing another that is more successful

That would be 'traitorous'. What's the point of even cheering for a team if you can just abandon it when things aren't going well and choose a team that has it going good. The entire system breaks down when you universalize this, so therefore it's bad.

Exactly. I don't really care how a person came to cheer for a certain team. What matters is that you stick with that team no matter what.

 

[Switch Back 9]

You are allowed to either root for the team from where you grew up, the team your parents rooted for, or the team from where you live.

If the place you currently live doesn't have a team for that sport you can adopt a team from another city. But if you pick one of the current best teams you suck.

.

 

[Dishwalla]

It doesn't matter where I live, I'll always be a Raiders/A's fan, because I started off in the Bay Area. I've lived in places like Chicago where you'd never find a bar that would have a Raiders game on the tube, and very few Raiders items would be available in the mall sports stores, but it doesn't matter because of those early years. Even now I live deep in Redskins/Ravens territory, but it's all about them Raiders. If only they'd get good sometime.

Then again, I spent 15+ years in Boise and I'll never root for the BSU Broncos. I may have had to graduate high school in a pavilion right next door to that lovely blue football field, but I'll never sport one of those fugly blue and orange shirts.

 

[andycapps]

Manchester United the thread.

And Patriots thread. And for baseball, Yankees or Red Sox.