File :-(, x, )
Anonymous
This is a serious question, but I've never been here before and I have a feeling it's probably a question that trolls ask a lot, so no troll.

I'll start off by saying I understand how people could enjoy watching sports. What I don't understand is how people have "favorite teams." Is it just a kind of "This player/coach is a pretty cool guy" thing? Is it about choosing the best team? Is it simply about the team being from a home state of yours? A combination of these things? Do you always choose the most popular teams? Do you choose based on the team's lineup?

tl;dr I don't get how/why people choose favorite sports teams

Pic related, seeing as football is a sport
>> Anonymous
If you cheer for a team that isn't your local team, you are a douche.

If you cheer for a college that isn't the college you attend/graduated from, you are a douche.
>> Anonymous
Usually people support their local teams, or teams there parents/family supported when they were growing up.
>> Anonymous
its usually a local support thing. Some people just see a team and like the players they see so thatll be one of their favorites, even if they're not a local at all.
>> Anonymous
>I don't get how/why people choose favorite sports teams

Over the years sports fans have adopted location-based rules for support, after observing that its no fun if your team wins a championship if all the other fans aren't scumbags who cheer for different teams.

It would be as if players from losing teams began playing on the rosters of the teams in the championship game, and so on. Sport fandom would be no fun if you could not clearly determine winning and losing fans.

As a fan your job is to be at the front of your team's support section while keeping said section free of bandwagoners who try to hog your glory.
>> Anonymous
I cheer for local teams and teams my dad used to root for for some reason
>> Anonymous
>>409875
And what if you don't have a local team? I root for the St. Louis Cardinals even though I live in Ohio because I don't have a major league team in my city. I chose the Cardinals because they won the World Series when I started following baseball.

And what if your local team is a perennial loser, like the Lions or the Pirates? Why are you obligated to support a loser just because they're local?
>> Anonymous
>>409908
From near Pittsburgh, but in W.Va.

The Pirates are my favorite baseball team. They make me rage, but as much as I hate their badness, it would be cold day in hell before I supported another squad. That's usually the mentality of fans that follow bad teams too.
>> Anonymous
>>If you cheer for a college that isn't the college you attend/graduated from, you are a douche.

+1

So many people here in Chicago "love" Duke or UNC for basketball or "love" Texas or Michigan for football and shit like that. I would find no pleasure in rooting for a different winning team every year that I had absolutely no connection to.

It all comes back to that human desire to be better than everyone else, IMO.
>> Anonymous
>>409908
Because otherwise you're a bandwagoning shitfuck.

If your local team sucks, at least stop following the sport for a while and wait till they get good.
>> Anonymous
>>409919It all comes back to that human desire to be better than everyone else, IMO.

Well, the same thing can be said for those fans who regard their tireless support of a moribund franchise as a hallmark of superior character.

We hear from them every day on /sp/
>> Anonymous
>>409922
Wait for the Lions to get good? Humans don't live that long.
>> Anonymous
Watching sports without bias is boring, at least for me it is. If i'm watching a game that doesnt involve any team i like/hate, i usually pick the underdog or whoever is losing and root for them. It's not that i really care about their success it's just no fun to sit there and watch the game without any sort of emotional connection.
>> Anonymous
>>409922
That is the worst fucking logic I've seen.
>> Anonymous
I chose my teams based on where I was living at the time i got into the sport (Orioles, Florida St., New Jersey Devils) or teams my friends had when I got into the sport (Seahawks).
>> Anonymous
Influences as a child can have a huge impact as well. The team your dad rooted for, the games he took you to, that sort of thing.
>> Anonymous
Proud Lions fan. Why? Because everybody writes them off (deservingly so). I love football, I love watching my home team. You don't see Lions t-shirts here unless they're white trash people who have old sweat/ketchup stained Barry Sanders jerseys.

Everyone makes fun of me, but once they get good - everyone will be watching, everyone will have t-shirts, everyone will talk about how they've "always watched the Lions" when they at most watched the clips on sports center.

They'll actually start selling Lions t-shirts besides Tigers/Pistons/Wings shirts and everyone will wear them because they're good, and I'll hate my entire state because they won't know shit about the history. I've earned the right to be a Lions fan.
>> Commissioner Red !5gFoSxriW2
>>411353

If I ever saw someone with a stained Barry Sanders jersey I'd want to punch them in the face. Barry Sanders is a football god and not taking care of his holy vestments is HERESY.
>> Billy the Blue Ranger !5lGrhM17rM
A team is not chosen, it's inherited.
>> Anonymous
>>409988
MARTY MARTY MARTY MARTY MARTY MARTY
MARTY MARTY MARTY MARTY MARTY MARTY
MARTY MARTY MARTY MARTY MARTY MARTY
>> Anonymous
Rooting for the local team is joining the herd. I choose to be an individual.
>> Anonymous
Favorite teams are just like falling in love. You don't decide who you're going to fall in love with ,it just happens.

And just like the world of romance, there are shallow people: those who jump on to a team with no other means of connection other than the fact that the team wins. And then you have soulful people who find love because the team represents them.

And just like romance, few people can have multiple true loves. Sure, you may have other teams you care about, we'll call them good friends, but you'd sacrifice them for the good of your one passion.

Then there are the freaks. The swingers. The "two teams" people. They make the normal ones sick to their stomachs.

But even they don't plan it. "It just happened."
>> Anonymous
It's about cheering for laundry. You may start out rooting for a coach or a player, but over time coaches get fired, players get old and retire...and you're still there cheering. For what? The uniform, the logo, the laundry.
>> Anonymous
>>409865
My father was in the Air Force, so I never really had a 'local team' to get behind. Usually I was in a state without professional sports, and even out of country for most of my young life.

So, I chose teams based on favorite players, or in the case of the (then) Charlotte Hornets I liked their colors.

Its not about geography as the majority of douchebags in here said its about loyalty. Pick a team just don't jump bandwagons when they do bad.
>> Anonymous
>>409908
as a bucsfag, i think i know a little bit about rooting for a shitty team. it's like...i dunno, it felt really awesome when they won because they were so bad.

and eventually rooting for them payed off since they up and won a super bowl

NOW PLAY IN YOUR GODDAMN THROWBACKS ALREADY. BRING BACK BUCCO BRUCE
>> Anonymous
>>411440

This. I live nowhere near my favorite team, but I've stuck with them through the good and really bad. I fucking fell in love.
>> Anonymous
Pirates fan living in Texas
used to be a Rangers fan with my dad, then i developed my own favorite team

Pirates suck, but i love em
oh and i like the Steelers

(I'm movin to pittsburgh after i graduate college)
>> Anonymous
In all honesty, does it really matter what team people root for? A person's choice for a favorite team can vary from living in that area to picking a winning team. Regardless, it doesn't really matter. People choose a favorite sports team because of a connection with the team. People getting so "upitty" about bandwagoners is ridiculous. Why does it matter to you if they root for a team because it's winning? It's not like they are forcing you to follow suit. So just pick whatever team you want to be your favorite and enjoy.

By the way, since my baseball team is never post season relevant (Rangers), I'll be pulling for whatever team wins and plays the Phillies. Why? Because I hate the Eagles, and I think people from Philly are trash. Yea, a'ite, ya trashy bastids.
>> PLAGUESPLAGUESPLAGUES !fwB1S46b6I
I live in Maryland and I'm a huge Miami Hurricanes fan.

I never really paid attention to sports until I saw Ken Dorsey in the 2001 season and I fell in love with him and Miami's jerseys.

It was partly the logo too. The U just looked so fucking bad ass on a white helmet.
>> Anonymous
BucsFag.

Feel your pain.

Group hug.
>> Anonymous
I've never gone by anything but supporting local teams. I was born in Manchester, England, so I supported Manchester United. But a few years ago I moved to Pittsburgh. So, now I'm a Pirates, Steelers, and Penguins fan. I've attended games from all 3 and love 'em. Of course there are other teams that I follow, but I could care less if they win or lose, and who plays for them.

Good question though, it can be pretty confusing on what people base their loyalty on. There's nothing I hate more than a bandwagoner.
>> Anonymous
>>411652
Lets go Bucs! I was at the NC State game last night (moved from Pitt to Raleigh) and I saw this gangster chink wearing a Pirates hat. I yelled, "Nice hat! Go Buccos!" and he looked at me with complete confusion. I guess the hat just matched his outfit, what a fucking piece of shit.
>> Anonymous
>>411677
Hahaha, that's ridiculous. I hate that shit.
>> Black ? Star !x8ngkAZjXE
     File :-(, x)
Saints fans are cursed from their day of birth. We are born into a world filled with pain and lies. Our history written before we take say our first word.

Our world is a world of cold and darkness. We are the watchers of those who deserve it not. We keep the hope that one day our team will be surpass those who deny us our happiness. We believe.

We ..are Saints Fans.
>> Anonymous
True fans root for the home teams, and do so whether they're any good or not. Niggers and bandwagon faggots root for the yankees/sawx, lakers/celtics, cowboys/patriots etc, despite their location. Their opinions are worthless.
>> Anonymous
     File :-(, x)
We just breed them to be fans. I was told by my dad when I was born that I was to hate the Cowboys, love the Longhorns, Oilers, and Astros.

I still love the Longhorns, hate the Oilers, don't watch the Astros...oh, and fuck the Cowboys.
>> Anonymous
>>411710
Is there anyway to get people to stop with the location crap? I am a fan of the Dolphins, Blues, Mariners, and Hornets. I live in North Dakota. Really, is having those four teams bandwagon? What did they accomplish for me to have that label? Why don't I cheer for local teams? Because 'true' fans of Minnesota sports teams get on my nerves.

Yes, people cheering for a team only because it wins are rage worthy levels of annoying and deserve to get punched in the face. On the other hand though, those that suggest there can be no alternative to cheering for teams in your local area are quickly becoming equal to that. Loyalty is the key word, not geography and I will say that in absolutely every thread like this.
>> Anonymous
>>411730
>Because 'true' fans of Minnesota sports teams get on my nerves.
So you root for teams whose true fans are as far away from you as possible, way to go.
>> Anonymous
>>409875
>If you cheer for a team that isn't your local team, you are a douche.

>If you cheer for a college that isn't the college you attend/graduated from, you are a douche.

THIS
>> Anonymous
Favorite sports teams are surrogates for our desire to conquer and reflect our natural xenophobia.
>> Black ? Star !x8ngkAZjXE
>>411730
>hornets

Yes.
>> Anonymous
>>411743
actually i don't agree with this because it doesn't factor in if you were born into it
>> Anonymous
>>411741
Miami because I liked Dan Marino, still hanging tough after retirement.
Blues because of Al MacGinnis, still hanging tough after his retirement, etc, etc, etc.

I have made sure to pay for and go to every game that involved my favorite teams when they come to the area, even traveling as far as Wisconsin and Illinois to do so.
>> Anonymous
>>411741
Miami because I liked Dan Marino, still hanging tough after retirement.
Blues because of Al MacInnis, still hanging tough after his retirement, etc, etc, etc.

I have made sure to pay for and go to every game that involved my favorite teams when they come to the area, even traveling as far as Wisconsin and Illinois to do so.
>> Billy the Blue Ranger !5lGrhM17rM
>>411743
This is only for people who've lived their whole lives in one place... there are plenty of transplants who live in enemy territory. I might move to Philly at some point for a job, LA is on the list of places I might move to as well. But I'll still be a Giants fan. That's never going to change even if I'm living in China.
>> Anonymous
I spent my life in two different places: Los Angeles and Miami

Therefore I go for...
NFL: Dolphins/Raiders
NBA: Lakers/Heat
NHL: Panthers/Kings
MLB: Dodgers/Marlins

Although most of those teams are total fail (LOL Raiders), I stand by them 100%