Sports Fans: How to Choose a Team to Root For?

[guywithashovel]

http://www.fratching.com/showthread.php?t=4082

I got to thinking about this as I read through the above thread.

If you are a serious fan of a certain team, how did that team become your favorite?

Sometimes it makes sense. For example, I'm from Central Ohio. During college football season, many people here root for Ohio State, including several family members. I get in on it, too. In fact, many of the stores, restaurants, and other businesses here in Columbus let their employees wear OSU apparel to work on game days during football season. Long story short, they are the home team, and so we root for them. Likewise, there are quite a few people in Ohio who root for the Bengals, Browns, Reds, and Indians, which makes sense, since they are all Ohio teams. Root for the home team. There are a few rebels around here who like to root for the University of Michigan, known in Ohio as "that school up north," but I digress.

However, I have an aunt (from Ohio, obviously) who decided early in life that she was going to be a Steelers fan, and has been ever since. I've always meant to ask her how that happened, since they aren't from Ohio. I also have a cousin (from Ohio) who is a Dallas Cowboys fan. Never gotten around to asking him how a guy from Ohio becomes a fan of a Dallas team.

So, if you're a devout fan of a certain team, how did you become a fan of said team?

[HYHYBT]

First an admission that I'm not particularly a fan of any team, and indeed don't much follow sports at all.

But I can still give general guesses, partially based in experience, which you are of course free to ignore.

It's very easy to remain a fan of something once you've become one... and it's easy to become a fan of something you've been paying a bit extra attention to for any reason. For example, perhaps your aunt (whose age, of course, I don't know) first started really paying attention to football when the Steelers were doing really well (I think they won a bunch of Super Bowls almost in a row somewhere around the 70's). If so, it would make sense that her attention might be drawn to the team that's doing the best and getting the best publicity. Or it could be the opposite: a losing team got her sympathy. Or it could be that a particular player caught her attention first, and that was the team he was on. It could be simple obstinacy, choosing a rival team to the one the rest of the family or community like. It could even be something silly like their mascot. I tend, if I'm watching a game at all and neither team is one I'd call "home," to root for the one that looks best in their uniforms. Though not aloud.

Anyway, the point is, it could be *anything.*

[Greenday]

Yankees: Everyone in my family is a Yankees fan so naturally, I've been rooting for them since I was a kid (early 90s).

Jets: My dad's a Packers fan (he liked the history) and everyone else is a Steelers fan (my mom's family comes from Pittsburgh). So the obvious choice was the Jets. Local team, better colors than the Giants, and I always liked jets so why not like the team called the Jets?

Rangers: Relatively local team (Devils are more local) but the Devils fans were annoying in praising Brodeur while on their knees for him so I chose the Rangers instead.

It's the people who start rooting for a team while in the playoffs that bothers me. It's the people who start rooting for a team that won the Super Bowl or World Series last year. It's the people who only root for their team when they win that I hate.

[protege]

Let's see now... I've been rooting for the Steelers since I was a child. Not surprising, since *everyone* followed the local team. But, unlike some people, I was still a fan, even during the "dark" years from 1980-2005. Hell, I remember the *original* Coke commercial with Mean Joe Greene; watching Terry Bradshaw and Franco Harris play, etc.

One home team that I *don't* support, is the Pirates. They were once an OK team, back when they actually cared about the game. Now, all the franchise cares about is endorsements and TV time. Even though they've had 18 years of losing...they still rake in a pretty penny..all of which is *not* spent on trying to acquire better players. Instead, it goes right into the owners' pockets.

[Greenday]

That's one thing some people don't seem to realize about baseball. There's two ways to approach building a team. There's:

Spend money, build a great team, win.

Draft well and use the farm system well.

Spend just enough money to field a team so stupid die hard fans will continue to provide you with more than enough income to make a decent profit whether you win or lose, because who gives a crap, it's a business. Winning or losing doesn't matter.

[Giggle Goose]

Redskins () - because I come from a HUGE family that has loved them for god knows how long and we're all from the DC metro area. Although their owner is the king of all douchebags and we try not to line his pockets any more these days.

I love the Steelers because I hate their archnemesis, the Ravens. I used to work in Baltimore and their fans were just SOOOOO MEAN to me just because I was a Skins fan. I think they're just bitter because they had no football team for years after the Colts packed up and left for Indy, thereby being jealous of the next closest team.

If you don't have a history with a certain team just root for them because your friends or SO do. *shrug* I do know a lot of people that don't like sports so they don't really give a crap, and that's ok with me. It's not like you HAVE to have a team.

[drunkenwildmage]

Depends..

Normally the big thing would be the local" team.. Where I'm at, the Lions, and the Browns are considers the local teams, so they are most popular teams


The next would would follow a team is, if a person has any connection to the area the team is from.


In this case, around here the Steelers would be 3rd in popular teams, as the Pittsburg area has a lot of connections to my town. Alot of people that live around here have ties to Western PA (Including myself), so instead of rooting for the "Local" team, they are rooting for their "Hometown" team.

Another connection could be a player for that team is from the town, or the area you live at. In our case Ben Roethlisberger is considering a "local Boy", so that added to the local Steeler fans.

A couple more reasons, could be, that happened to the team that was winning when a person first started following that sport, or something about the attitude of that team projects may draw you to team.

[AdminAssistant]

I generally don't follow pro sports. I root for my university, even though I do get *really* annoyed when home games interfere with social plans or my ability to do homework. (Can't get to the library during a game.) But I'm not sure that I want to be in town for a NCAA win. I moved here the year after the last one, and I've heard that it was utter insanity.

Fiance is a Packers fan, so I rooted for them with him during the playoffs. Although, I would've cheered for the Packers during the Super Bowl anyway (I tend to go with the team with the fewest rapists, and all that....).

[Greenday]

Although, I would've cheered for the Packers during the Super Bowl anyway (I tend to go with the team with the fewest rapists, and all that....).

So you mean you prefer the team with lower profile rapists. Only reason it was made a big deal for Big Ben is because he's one of the best QBs in the league. You obviously didn't hear about the Packers player who raped two women in one go last summer. And Big Ben was never found guilty, nor even charged with any crimes.

[Plaidman]

I want to state first that I don't watch sports, I don't like sports, they bore the hell out of me and I seriously don't get the rabid fanboyism for it.


That being said, I do like the Raiders, cause I always won with them on Tecmo Super Bowl for the sega genesis, the only video game the man I considered my father at the time bought for me in the hopes it'll get me to like sports. It didn't of course, so he went on to think I'm a loser wimp and still refuses to talk to me to this day.

[guywithashovel]

It's very easy to remain a fan of something once you've become one... and it's easy to become a fan of something you've been paying a bit extra attention to for any reason. For example, perhaps your aunt (whose age, of course, I don't know) first started really paying attention to football when the Steelers were doing really well (I think they won a bunch of Super Bowls almost in a row somewhere around the 70's). If so, it would make sense that her attention might be drawn to the team that's doing the best and getting the best publicity. Or it could be the opposite: a losing team got her sympathy. Or it could be that a particular player caught her attention first, and that was the team he was on. It could be simple obstinacy, choosing a rival team to the one the rest of the family or community like. It could even be something silly like their mascot. I tend, if I'm watching a game at all and neither team is one I'd call "home," to root for the one that looks best in their uniforms. Though not aloud.

Anyway, the point is, it could be *anything.*

Aunt came of age during the mid to late seventies, so that might be it. Also, Pittsburgh is kind of close to Ohio, so I guess it wouldn't be to much of a stretch to consider them a local team.

I remember when I was in third grade, I became a 49ers fan, but the only reason I became their fan was because my best friend at the time was a die hard fan. I guess I was one of those bandwagon fans, a group of people typically loathed by sports fans, but in my defense, I was only 9 years old.

[crashhelmet]

My favorite teams vary a little and for various reasons.

NHL: Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings
NBA: Boston Celtics
My dad is originally from the Boston area and is a big fan of these teams. My introductions to Hockey and Basketball were with him and I just latched on to them. However... I hate the Patriots and the Red Sox both with a passion.

My "Big Brother" in my Fraternity is from Detroit and we used to go see the Red Wings play when they came to Tampa and watched just about every game that was televised. It was hard not to like and follow the Wings in the 90s and I got hooked in.

NFL: Miami Dolphins
I'm not really sure how I became a Dolphins fan. it was back in the early 80s. My family's NFL allegiances are everywhere. My mom liked Seattle, my dad New England, my sister likes the Cowboys, and my brother is a Redskins fan. I think it was watching Dan Marino play that made me a Dolphins fan. Say what you want about never winning the Superbowl, but he was the best QB of his time and is still better than Brady or Manning will ever be.

Baseball: California Angels (That's right! I said California. I hate that Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim shit).
I'm originally from Orange, California and went to Angels games all the time as a kid. I hate the Yankees and the Red Sox because of their rivalries with the Angels.

College Sports: University of Central Florida (My Alma Mater), UCLA, and UNLV
Growing up in SoCal, I grew up a UCLA fan. My family is split down the middle between UCLA and USC.
I went to UCF in Orlando, FL so I naturally have a loyalty to them. They have surpassed UCLA as my favorite.
Living in Las Vegas for the last 9 years, I became a UNLV fan. Aside from the occasional short lived attempts at professional teams/sports here, UNLV is pretty much the only option for live team sports.

[cewfa]

My sports teams vary between Detroit and Dallas. The main reason for this is because Western Michigan and Dallas are the two places I have lived the longest and put roots in. I used to be exclusively Detroit, but living in Dallas for 8 years some of their teams have creeped into my system.

On that note, I will never be a Cowgirl fan.

There are some oddities. I like the Raiders and the Chargers in football, one for their cheerleaders (Chargers) and one because their style of play meshes well with my personality (Raiders). I also have a couple of Chicago teams that I root for (Bulls and Cubs).

[daleduke17]

Oh, Crashhelmet, they changed the name again...They're now the Los Angeles Angels. They took the "of Anaheim" part off recently. I agree, though, that they are the California Angels, or the Anaheim Angels at a stretch.

I got started watching the Red Sox due to a friend from New Hampshire. I don't really follow the NFL, NBA or NHL. I watch the ISU Redbirds since I used to work there. The Illini, eh, whatever. If an NCAA Football game is on, I'd prefer the Sooners (some of wife's family is from there) or Ohio State.

We had a poll at work what our favorite baseball teams are. Of course the top three were Cubs, White Sox and Cardinals. After that it was a really big mixed bag including the Phillies and Mariners (o_0)

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Spend just enough money to field a team so stupid die hard fans will continue to provide you with more than enough income to make a decent profit whether you win or lose, because who gives a crap, it's a business. Winning or losing doesn't matter.

Also known as the Milwaukee Brewers method. Hope for great things every year, like a World Series sometime in my lifetime, but I'll get what I get.

My favorite sports teams are all the local ones: Packers in football, Brewers in baseball, University of Wisconsin in collegiate sports.

Don't have a favorite NBA team: the Milwaukee Bucks suck and will be the next team to move after the Kings do it.