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

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Ah, basking off reflected glory. People feel good when they take the accomplishments of something else, they do the opposite when losing. It's natural though, parents do it with children too. Ever notice how a kid does something amazing and it's "you'll never believe what my kid did." but when they are in trouble, people often say, "you will never believe what your daughter did at school today." I find it fascinating

Why do you suppose people support teams who fail more often than they succeed, if they're in it for the reflected glory?


When you're in, you're in, and when you're in, you're 'we.'
 
I don't think it is a sports thing but basic human psychology. They represent our town so we feel kinship with them. Humans select into groups they identify with or are told they are members of and, in this case, it happens to be groups of people chasing balls.

It's not a particularly useful thing for sports affiliations but it doesn't seem harmful. It's not like they are using group identity to justify harming percentage perceived opponents of the group (e.g., "go Hutus!")

Introduce alcohol into the mix and it generally becomes harmful, especially at soccer games.
 
We're releasing The Force Awakens in December. Am I doing this right, sports fans?

What does this even means?

I never use the term We, but Im not the biggest sport fan, some people have invested their lifetime following a Team, so I kind of understand if someone would use the term WE.
 
What does this even means?

He's a fan of Disney, he goes out in front of their buildings and cheer on them "Go Disney, go!". He has a suit exactly like J.J. Adams's has and he wears it on every weekend. Or maybe he dresses like an accountant of Disney, who knows, depends which player he admires the most.
 
What does this even means?

He dresses like this to movie screenings

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I say we all the time but i don't have some weird notion that i am apart of the team or anything it's just been embedded in my brain. I live in Knoxville, it's a huge football city and it's what everyone says here so how i talk about our team.

I have always found it weird that people care how people refer to local sports teams like it actually matters or interferes in the persons life. That person said we when referring to the team that ruins my day! Entire city is bummed that WE lost last saturday :/
 
I say "we" because I still owe thousands of dollars to my alma mater, so they probably technically own me in some way.
 
I don't say ''we'' when describing my favorite team or national team

I don't refer to cars or ships as ''she'', it's fuckin' vehicle. There are no vaginas on cars.

I'm taking out my car to a date when I go see a game that I'm not actively participating in
 
I don't care about sports, but to take something I follow like Eurovision (a campy song contest where a bunch of mostly European countries each send a song to compete) it really annoys me too that people will often just defend their country's song even when it's absolute crap. That nationalistic attitude.. plz. And people will always bring in politics and stuff (like Russia since last year). It's so silly.
 
Trust me, it's definitely not America only. Everyone in the UK does it about football.

I don't understand it either. I'm sure one day even console fanboys will start to use it e.g. "We just secured (insert third party game) as an exclusive".
 
Unless you own part of the team its stupid and sad

It's actually normal sports fan behavior and makes you look really not fun and pedantic if you have a problem with it. It's like someone saying "People having fun is sad."

I agree with whoever said this thread is like explaining love to a robot.
 
Trust me, it's definitely not America only. Everyone in the UK does it about football.

I don't understand it either. I'm sure one day even console fanboys will start to use it e.g. "We just secured (insert third party game) as an exclusive".

Very true and also it transcends languages, in Portugal, die hard Porto and Benfica fans do it.
And same thing for Hockey fans in Montreal who speak French when they refer to the Habs (Canadiens).
 
It's hilarious how uptight people are about it, it's just a way of having fun and another way of showing how supportive or invested you are of a team. Just like how trash talking is silly but still fun and a common practice to do.

Can't wait until we get Kevin Durant, KD2DC!
 
I've watched most of their games and I'm one of their biggest fans. They can play the game quite well.
My point is that saying "we" communicates everything you just said in one word.

People are reading far too much into it IMO. It's a simple, practical way to denote your support of a team 90% of the time. Sure there are exceptions in which somebody has let their fandom subsume their individual personality, but that's pretty rare.
 
I've watched most of their games and I'm one of their biggest fans. They can play the game quite well.

I reject your premise that, as a fan, I'm separate from the rest of the organization.

I actually think fans have every right to say "we". I'm buying tickets. I'm buying $8 beers and concessions. Companies who pay ad revenues to the TV networks and ultimately to the owners are targeting me the fan, not the players on the field.

When a fan says "we" typically they're not specifically talking about the players, but the entire organization of which, in my opinion, the fan is a part.

As I said before, without any fans, there isn't a team.
 
holy shit at the pessimism in this thread.

like literally every subculture, there are those who take it farther than is necessary. but for someone to feel a strong enough sense of community/affinity with other people to use something like "we" in that manner? really one of the last things anyone should have an issue with.
 
I'm sorry but this post reeks of bullshit. It has nothing to do with ego and everything to do with fan loyalty.

Some people do look to their sports teams for a sense of self-worth. A number of studies have looked at the terms people use and, generally speaking, terms like "we" are significantly more common after a victory than a defeat. In fact, one study compared the terms that people use depending on whether they just passed or failed a test (which would affect their self-esteem). Although people who succeeded used the term "we" at almost the same rate, people who failed were much more likely to use "we" after a victory and much more likely to use distancing terms like "they" after a loss.

There is definitely an ego component to it. Considering the group that was most likely to use "we" after a win was also the quickest to abandon them after a loss, I really doubt that loyalty is the driving factor.
 
I reject your premise that, as a fan, I'm separate from the rest of the organization.

I actually think fans have every right to say "we". I'm buying tickets. I'm buying $8 beers and concessions. Companies who pay ad revenues to the TV networks and ultimately to the owners are targeting me the fan, not the players on the field.

When a fan says "we" typically they're not specifically talking about the players, but the entire organization of which, in my opinion, the fan is a part.

As I said before, without any fans, there isn't a team.

Exactly, fans buy jersey and all those merchandise which bring the team money. It might be a weird analogy but I think it's a bit like kickstarter, you invested you time and money into it (because you wanted to and you enjoy it) so you're a part of the organisation.
 
Sports fans are the worst. There's literaly more use in talking about videogames on GAF than in those hours long "analysis" tv and radio shows, not to mention the bar conversations.

There is no "use" in doing either, but they're exactly the same thing. People talking about a thing they like with other people. People like to do that. So many "I don't know understand human interaction" threads lately.
 
I reject your premise that, as a fan, I'm separate from the rest of the organization.

I actually think fans have every right to say "we". I'm buying tickets. I'm buying $8 beers and concessions. Companies who pay ad revenues to the TV networks and ultimately to the owners are targeting me the fan, not the players on the field.

When a fan says "we" typically they're not specifically talking about the players, but the entire organization of which, in my opinion, the fan is a part.

As I said before, without any fans, there isn't a team.

Amen. Peace be onto Tebow.
 
Yeah it's always seemed weird to me, but it's harmless.

I can understand it if it's a school you go to i guess. To some degree i get it when it's the team of your city. But the majority do not live in cities with a pro sports team and just end up picking a team halfway across the country and referring to them as "we." I know Cowboys fans in bumfuck, Indiana, who've never even been to Dallas or Texas, but refer to the team that way. It's kinda weird but whatever. It's not a huge deal.
 
I've watched most of their games and I'm one of their biggest fans. They can play the game quite well.
Which is easily shortened at least a whole sentence by just saying "We played pretty well." It cuts out the entire need to reiterate that you're a fan every time you get into a conversation about sports.

It's not that hard to figure out people.
 
There is no "use" in doing either, but they're exactly the same thing. People talking about a thing they like with other people. People like to do that. So many "I don't know understand human interaction" threads lately.
There's a chance (minimum as it could be) neogaf talks influence something about the videogame in question. There's a 0% chance your 3 hours mathematical analysis of the wind and score opportunities of the last game is going to affect the next game.
 
In a conversation I can just say we or I can say The Dallas Cowboys, the team that I throw my support behind.

Also as a fan you have a bit of an attachment to them.


Now here is a good one OP. In your elitist world would I have been qualified to use the word we when I worked for the Dallas Mavericks. I mean, I wasn't a player or a coach, I worked in the TV truck, but I was still employed by the team.


I have no idea why this would bother you at all. Don't England football clubs do the whole WE ARE CHELSEA or whatever. I know I've heard such statements before as elicited by the football clubs themselves.

The clubs want fans to identify with the team. It builds brand loyalty and all that.
 
There's a chance (minimum as it could be) neogaf talks influence something about the videogame in question. There's a 0% chance your 3 hours mathematical analysis of the wind and score opportunities of the last game is going to affect the next game.

Lol. Do you really think people are talking about that shit because they think they're going to influence the game? Do you post on GAF because you think you're going to influence some dev somewhere, or because you like to talk about video games with other people?

Are you tied to a chair and forced to watch/listen or something? I don't understand what your issue is. You're on a video game message board. They talk about sports for 3 hours. What's the difference?
 
Look at this ad. Note the copy.

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The kid on the right is every bit a part of the Giants as Aubrey Huff was. Even if Huff is off the team now, he is part of the Giants family. Sports is history, sports is lore. And you can get in on it.
 
I've always hated this.

since we're on a sports related topic, I hate it when people call games "rematches".
it annoys me to no end. For instance, this weekends game against the Packers and Seahawks is being called a "Rematch". WHY? its just a regular season game with almost nothing on the line in comparison to last season, the stakes aren't quite as high. by that logic every year the Bears play the Patriots its a "rematch" from the SBXX. If the Packers and Seahwawks meet again in the NFC Championship, then its a rematch.
 
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