What is your policy for cheering for other teams?

[mojo1917]

I cheer for my guys regardless, i grew up a Flyers Orioles Colts default Eagles,Chelsea and Sixers fan

those with the exception of the Colts are still my teams.

over the years watching and appreciating sports and competition I have come to appreciate other teams , the great bulls teams of MJ's era, the Detroit Red Wings of the late 90's and early 00's the early 90's Pirates teams... but when they played my guys i still rooted for the my guys regardless. 

 

it's the same with sports hate, yankees, patriots , raiders, penguins, trailblazers that's ingrained too, there may be a player or two from those teams i'll begrudgingly appreciate but , ultimately i cannot ever bring myself to say i like that guy. Derek Jeter is the poster boy for that, i'd want him on my team everyday i'm picking for eternity but i hate him because of the pinstripes.

Edited September 13, 2013 by mojo1917

[flyerrod]

Oh, I would have been annoyed with the kid, too.  

 

You know, I'm finding myself in a similar situation with the Eagles.   I didn't like the last few years of the Andy Reid era and I cannot stand that Michael Vick is on the team.

 

But I'm not cheering against them, it's just that I'm finding it very difficult to cheer FOR them.   I actually thought about "I need a new team," but after 35 years of cheering FOR the Eagles no other team really suits.

That is exactly how I feel about the Eagles too rux. I could care less that Mike Vick has paid his debt to society. He is and always will be a sadistic dog killer and I hate seeing him take the field for the Eagles. I was so hoping he was headed to Kansas City to help Andy Reid out......... <_<

[fanaticV3.0]

Richards was/is still one of my top 5 favorite players.   As soon as he was traded I started watching their games.  

 

Watching their games is one thing, anointing them your other team is another (which is what your first statement was). Now don't get me wrong, I don't object to people having a 2nd team. Go for it if it makes you happy. You can have a teach from each division for all I care. What I don't get is how you are a fan of an entire team because of 1 guy?

[fanaticV3.0]

That is exactly how I feel about the Eagles too rux. I could care less that Mike Vick has paid his debt to society. He is and always will be a sadistic dog killer and I hate seeing him take the field for the Eagles. I was so hoping he was headed to Kansas City to help Andy Reid out......... <_<

 

I stopped being an Eagles fan the second they signed him. I watch sports because I enjoy them. A part of that is finding people and stories to root for. He's the antithesis of that. I don't get pleasure out of him being in the league, especially on a team I used to cheer for.

[flyerrod]

[flyerrod]

I stopped being an Eagles fan the second they signed him. I watch sports because I enjoy them. A part of that is finding people and stories to root for. He's the antithesis of that. I don't get pleasure out of him being in the league, especially on a team I used to cheer for.

I did not stop being an Eagles fan but I don't schedule my life around watching their games anymore either. If they are on and I am not busy I will watch them but MV did to me something even Doug Pederson couldn't do. He made me a casual Eagles Fan at best.

[JR Ewing]

9 times out of 10 I'm with you. I don't care if you root for the team of the city you're born in or somewhere you have absolutely no connection to. I don't care if you used to like a team but don't anymore either. If you follow or did follow a team that changed enough to where you simply do not like them anymore, don't root for them. Makes no difference to me.

 

But there was something about her that was rubbing me the wrong way. She became a Kings fan because of Richards and Carter. There was something about her rational that I found very weasel like.

 

I wouldn't dream of switching teams because a certain player was traded; or at least it would take the team doing something so alienating that I couldn't stick around. Short of management/ownership personally insulting the fans, I can't think of what it would take, but I can say without a doubt that it doesn't include trading a player, no matter the reason.

 

So no, I don't get the girl either. Do I think the real reason Carter and Richards were shuffled off was to make room for a stupid contract for Bryzgalov? Yup. Was it dumb that very day. Yup. Anybody could see that. If I were a Flyers fan, I would have been a pretty unhappy camper. But to switch allegiances? Huh?

 

She was a Jeff Carter and Mike Richards fan, not a Flyers fan.

 

JR

[ruxpin]

She was a Jeff Carter and Mike Richards fan, not a Flyers fan.

 

Maybe she was one of the 3000 co-eds that they...um...scored on.

[JR Ewing]

Forgot to say: the Oilers have mostly driven me crazy for 20 years now, with idiotic trades where they move out an actual NHL player without having anybody to replace him. I've watched them go through draft weekends that resulted in not a single NHL game being played by anybody they selected. I watched Kevin Lowe take a trade where he actually got Brian Burke to agree to send the Oilers Corey Perry in exchange for Mike Comrie, only to have it fall apart because he demanded Comrie pay back his signing bonus. I've sat here for the last seven years of tragic-comic decision making and saw a GM so inept that he accidentally pocket dialed Ales Hemsky on last year's trade deadline eve. I watched them strip down a 4-Cups-in-5-years-dynasty which was just entering its prime because of ownership's bad business deals... And I'm still an Oilers fan.

 

I want the Oilers to go 82-0 every year, and aside from everything else, I don't cheer against any team other than whichever club is playing the Oilers on that night.

 

JR

[fanaticV3.0]

Oh, I would have been annoyed with the kid, too.  

 

You know, I'm finding myself in a similar situation with the Eagles.   I didn't like the last few years of the Andy Reid era and I cannot stand that Michael Vick is on the team.

 

But I'm not cheering against them, it's just that I'm finding it very difficult to cheer FOR them.   I actually thought about "I need a new team," but after 35 years of cheering FOR the Eagles no other team really suits.

 

The more she talked the more I became annoyed. She was really harping on the dry island and Pronger stuff, both of which were attempts to correct a problem created by Richards and Carter!!! I even agreed with her Pronger was a total dick to the media. His personality isn't exactly what I'd call likeable. But the guy didn't allow that or anything else to affect his play, unlike the frat brothers.

 

I am and I have no problem doing it. I really don't like the organization anymore. Part of the reason I hated the Cowboys growing up was because they were an organization with dirtbags. The Eagles have turned into a knockoff version of that. I hate Vick. I hate that he did what he did, but McNabb is somehow the scum of the Earth in Eagles fans eyes. I hate that they still talk about McNabb to this day. I hate that a guy who Tweeted about his baby momma in a way that wasn't exactly respectful to women is outraged over Cooper's words (which also do not endear me to he team). I think Jackson is a punk. I think Williams is a bigger punk.

 

I hear you on the Reid stuff and I don't disagree. I was ready for him to go as well. But that's football stuff. That's the normal kind of unhappy/hate. It's like the difference between hating a character and hating the performance in a movie/tv show. You're supposed to hate one, but not the other. One takes you out of the viewing experience, the other is because you are so engrossed in the story.

[Digityman]

Watching their games is one thing, anointing them your other team is another (which is what your first statement was). Now don't get me wrong, I don't object to people having a 2nd team. Go for it if it makes you happy. You can have a teach from each division for all I care. What I don't get is how you are a fan of an entire team because of 1 guy?

 

The way it worked for me was that after Richards was traded I started watching him on the Kings.  The more I watched, the more I learned about the team and the other players (other than what you see in highlights).  I liked how the team played and then things snowballed from there.   

 

I didn't watch Kings games before Richards.  I didn't know much about them (again, except for highlights or whatever).  

 

I figure there are two ways that it works out:

1) It's your home town team - your family and friends introduce you to the game and therefore the team they support is the team you learn to support.

2) You like a particular player (Clarke, Richards, Gretzky.....whoever) and then you start to follow them.  Whatever team they are on at the time is the team you follow.  If they get traded then you have to make the choice as to what to do.

 

Growing up in PA, it was Flyers since day one.  But when Richards came along he quickly developed into one of my favorite players, hence watching Kings games....

[JR Ewing]

Maybe she was one of the 3000 co-eds that they...um...scored on.

 

Heh........

 

I'm not sure why, but that just made me remember a time when I was listening to sports radio (back when I could still stand it for more than 5 minutes) and it was open topic night, and they took a call from a young woman.

 

Host: What do you want to talk about?

Caller: I just have to say RICKY RAY SUCKS!

 

(Rick Ray was the QB for the Eskimos at the time...)

 

Host: Come on, he's having a good year.

Caller: Who care about that? I'm saying that he's a lousy lay!

 

---

 

Host: Alright, moving on to the next caller.

 

 

lol

 

JR

[ruxpin]

I hear you on the Reid stuff and I don't disagree. I was ready for him to go as well. But that's football stuff. That's the normal kind of unhappy/hate. It's like the difference between hating a character and hating the performance in a movie/tv show. You're supposed to hate one, but not the other. One takes you out of the viewing experience, the other is because you are so engrossed in the story.

 

 

Agree.  That is football stuff. 

 

But I actually disliked Reid almost on a personal level despite not knowing him.  I think it was about the caliber of *people* he brought in more than even the caliber of players.    Vick, Cooper, Jackson.    I disliked what went on with T.O.   I wasn't a huge fan of McNabb, especially toward the end, but I didn't really like the way they dealt with him at the end, either.

 

So I'm with you on the organization thing.  But I guess I put Andy Reid's face on that dislike of the organization (fair or not).  But it hasn't improved.  I actually watched the game on Monday night.   The football was better, but Vick is still there.  And the rest of them.   It's like the Raiders several years ago.  No, like Rod, I'll catch a game on occasion (mostly monday nights) but I have better things to do on Sunday afternoon.

[fanaticV3.0]

For me, the personal connection thing, wanting to see them succeed will make me pull for another team but like I said, not against my "home" team.

Edited September 13, 2013 by fanaticV3.0

[fanaticV3.0]

I wouldn't dream of switching teams because a certain player was traded; or at least it would take the team doing something so alienating that I couldn't stick around. Short of management/ownership personally insulting the fans, I can't think of what it would take, but I can say without a doubt that it doesn't include trading a player, no matter the reason.

 

So no, I don't get the girl either. Do I think the real reason Carter and Richards were shuffled off was to make room for a stupid contract for Bryzgalov? Yup. Was it dumb that very day. Yup. Anybody could see that. If I were a Flyers fan, I would have been a pretty unhappy camper. But to switch allegiances? Huh?

 

She was a Jeff Carter and Mike Richards fan, not a Flyers fan.

 

JR

 

I'm sorry, come again?

 

That's kind of what it sounded like to me as well.

[fanaticV3.0]

Maybe she was one of the 3000 co-eds that they...um...scored on.

 

You know, I have absolutely nothing at all to say that is the reason, and I'm not saying it is, but that was kind of how her logic operated. She liked them and viewed anything against them as being wrong/incorrect.

[fanaticV3.0]

Maybe she was one of the 3000 co-eds that they...um...scored on.

 

You know, I have absolutely nothing at all to say that is the reason, and I'm not saying it is, but that was kind of how her logic operated. She liked them and viewed anything against them as being wrong/incorrect.

[fanaticV3.0]

Agree.  That is football stuff. 

 

But I actually disliked Reid almost on a personal level despite not knowing him.  I think it was about the caliber of *people* he brought in more than even the caliber of players.    Vick, Cooper, Jackson.    I disliked what went on with T.O.   I wasn't a huge fan of McNabb, especially toward the end, but I didn't really like the way they dealt with him at the end, either.

 

So I'm with you on the organization thing.  But I guess I put Andy Reid's face on that dislike of the organization (fair or not).  But it hasn't improved.  I actually watched the game on Monday night.   The football was better, but Vick is still there.  And the rest of them.   It's like the Raiders several years ago.  No, like Rod, I'll catch a game on occasion (mostly monday nights) but I have better things to do on Sunday afternoon.

 

What went on with TO was that he was and is a mentally unstable individual who doesn't know how to function on a day-to-day basis. If you are under contract, you play. If you want to try and renegotiate that contract, that is fine, but to air your displeasure with how those negations are going and blame other players (who have nothing to do with your financial endeavors) is distracting, disruptive to the team, and simply counterproductive to your own goals.

 

The TO situation reminded me of another major issue I have had with the team, its fans, and the media who cover them. McNabb gets **** for not helping to bring the peace between TO and management, as well as not winning a championship. Meanwhile, Dawkins gets no criticism for either. I'm not saying Dawkins should have gotten involved with the contract situation, my point is it's TO's business. Criticizing one guy for not getting involved, while the other leader of the team doesn't get involved either, but not bring that up is bogus. And I'm sorry, as much as I love Dawkins, he failed to deliver a championship every bit as much as McNabb.

[fan4ever]

Maybe she was one of the 3000 co-eds that they...um...scored on.

 

Same thing I was thinking but didn't want to be the first to say it.....maybe thought there was a 'future' in it until he was traded to the west coast....

 

[ruxpin]

Same thing I was thinking but didn't want to be the first to say it.....maybe thought there was a 'future' in it until he was traded to the west coast....

 

 

You know me.  Nothing is sacred.  

[jammer2]

  I just thought of another out for fans. Geographical location moves of entire franchises. For example, it is perfectly acceptable in my eyes for Cleveland Browns fans to not adopt the Ravens as "their" team. It is a serious out clause. My buddy was a lifelong LA Rams fan, when they made the move to St.Louis he had (in my mind) a glaring opportunity to switch teams right then and there. He choose not to, and I respected that, but would not have held anything against him had the switch at that point.

[stlbluesfan4ever]

I do respect all these ideas, and I want to start off with I am a diehard Blues fan, have been all my life and that will never change, however, when I was younger, I found myself interested in the Pittsburgh Penguins, now, I know they have success now, but when I was younger, they were just starting the building process, I was so interested in Mario's never stop style, no matter what happened to him, he always put the Penguins and maybe even the city of pittsburgh on his shoulders and carried them without one complain, then add hall of famers, Paul Coffey and future HOF Jagr, they were so interesting to watch, and then I was a big Tom Barrasso fan in the day. actually, Barrasso and Curtis Joseph were my idols growing up. they made me want to take up the game of hockey and be a goalie myself. However, when the two teams play each other, there is no doubt in my heart, I bleed Blue, but every other day, I support both teams. So,  I understand people move and keep loyalities, and I respect that greatly, but, I think as long as you support one team unconditional, I think it's ok to support a second team as long as the second team's loyality doesn't interfere with your first team's loyality, I'm waiting for the Cup Finals of the Blues and Penguins and look forward to seeing my Blues beat the super power from Pittsburgh.

 

LET'S GO BLUES!!!!

[ruxpin]

  I just thought of another out for fans. Geographical location moves of entire franchises. For example, it is perfectly acceptable in my eyes for Cleveland Browns fans to not adopt the Ravens as "their" team. It is a serious out clause. My buddy was a lifelong LA Rams fan, when they made the move to St.Louis he had (in my mind) a glaring opportunity to switch teams right then and there. He choose not to, and I respected that, but would not have held anything against him had the switch at that point.

 

 

The Colts moving to Indianapolis is another great example.

 

I don't think it's just an "out."   I think it's reason to return fire. IMO, a team leaves my town it's basically the biggest "screw you" you can give to your incumbent fans.  To ME, it says "the people in city X will be better fans than here."   I realize there is often way more to it than that when a team moves, but that is the message often received.

 

If the Flyers moved to Kansas City or Seattle or someplace tomorrow, screw them and find a new team or a new sport.   I know this is a little different for those of you who grew up elsewhere and were initially attracted to a team because of individual player or players, but for ME I don't just cheer for the Flyers.  I cheer for the PHILADELPHIA Flyers.   If they suddenly became the KC Flyers or Seattle Flyers, that releases me from my end of the relationship.

[jammer2]

@ruxpin  Yeah, there can be a strong case made for relocation being the ultimate act of betrayal to a fan base.

[flyercanuck]

@ruxpin

 

 

 I'm not sure I'd cheer for them if they moved. I guess it would actually have to happen to know for sure. The only thing certain is, i wouldn't become a Sabres fan.