Why did you pick the sports team you follow?

[MoeFOH]

When I was in the States earlier this year, and watching a lot of baseball, I was regularly asked how an Australian ends up following baseball and, in particular, the Red Sox. 

Good question, I guess.

It’s a mild insanity, I would often answer. 

But it got me thinking about the subject in greater detail. I follow three teams pretty religiously. 

1. Boston Red Sox - MLB

2. Chelsea FC - Premier League

3. South Sydney Rabbitohs - NRL

When I look at all of them, I realise that I've had to apply some sort of arbitrary guidelines to the decision-making process of selecting a team to follow, when that team has very little to do with anything concrete in my life--growing up in the same town, the team my dad followed, some way to impress a girl… and so on. Fair enough, too, I say. Why does there need to be any rhyme or reason to this?

But, apparently, there does, no matter how flimsy it is. And if you’re going to follow a sports team passionately (and I’ve yet to find another way to do it), then there should be something reasonably robust behind the decision.

On closer examination, I found the following. 

There isn’t. 

What I did find is this: 

The Red Sox I followed because I saw something of the underdog in them. Now, that may sound farcical, given they currently have the biggest payroll in baseball and have won 3 world series in relatively recent times but, back in 2002, when I first visited the States and knew almost nothing of baseball, the Sox were yet to break The Curse of the Bambino--the 86-year World Series drought. I guess I got on them just at the right time. I like to believe they were just killing time till I caught on. Thanks, lads. 

Chelsea I decided upon because I watched my first live game of elite level football in Italy, and at that time Chelsea had a little Italian renaissance going on (Pre-Abramovich era), with the likes of Vialli, Di Matteo, Zola... That’s it. Nothing more. Oh, and maybe because of the Stones' lyric, "I went down to the Chelsea drugstore..."... And I think you can see what I'm getting at here.

The Rabbits are my longest standing team. I've followed them since I was 5 or 6 years old. In complete contrast to the Sox, the suffering here has been excruciating and prolonged. Chronic abjectness. At least up until 2014, when we finally broke a 43-year premiership drought. Anyhow, I'm pretty sure I applied the kid-logic of, 'who's won the most premierships?' here (Souths had 20, at the time, now 21, still the most). And, while they were wretched as hell for all that time, at least I had that to cling to. Scant consolation, I can tell you. 

Yep, so those are the reasons that justify me sometimes sitting around yelling at the tv, often coating it in beer and fast food, or whatever flies out of my mouth in the throes of my puerile ranting. 

Yep... Anyhoo...

So, finally arriving at the point, what's the solid, in-depth logic behind the decisions to follow your teams? Please tell me it's not just me. : )
 

[Colt45]

I was born and spent the first thirty years of my life in South Boston, so Bruins, Sox, Celts, and Pats are simply a way of life.

[MoeFOH]

5 minutes ago, Colt45 said:

I was born and spent the first thirty years of my life in South Boston, so Bruins, Sox, Celts, and Pats are simply a way of life.

Yeah, Ross, that's a really good reason. You have total justification for throwing food at the tv. You're making me look bad. Thanks for that. Ha ha... : )

[JGD]

13 minutes ago, Colt45 said:

I was born and spent the first thirty years of my life in South Boston, so Bruins, Sox, Celts, and Pats are simply a way of life.

Same here. Born and raised outside of Boston - so the Boston teams have my heart (although I’m a msuch bigger football and baseball fan than hockey and basketball).

[luckme10]

Giants fan here. Father was a giants fan. Although I live closer to the a’s there was no Oakland a’s when my dad was growing up.

 

will also watch the warriors but I can’t say that I’m a fan. More like still in disbelief that the warriors are actually a good team.

[rguinn]

Growing up in Alabama, you have two choices - Good or evil. I chose good. ROLL TIDE!

In all seriousness, college football falls directly behind God and family in the State of Alabama. In 1992 I was 11 and watched Alabama beat Florida for the first ever conference championship then go on to crush a heavily favored Miami team to win a national title. I was hooked ever since and still count the days to the start of college football every year. Due to the teams success over the last decade, most either hate them or have hopped on the bandwagon but they’ll always be my most loved sports team. 

[NYMets01]

For met it’s easy. I grew up in the New York City and was 9 years old when the Mets won the World Series in 1986.

Being such a storied team with a cast of characters and such an impressionable age, it’s just always been something that’s stuck with me.

Unfortunately, since then there have been more bad years than good and that was our last WS win but nonetheless, I stayed a fan. Easy to do, when the Yankees or Red Sox are your only other local options!

[inter4alia]

Grew up in Chicago but first NFL memories are of watching John Riggins plow through defenders left and right. Been a Redskins fan ever since. 

[Danimalia]

I'm pretty much a lifelong San Francisco Bay Area guy, so I chose the local teams my Dad rooted for.  So that explains the San Francisco Giants and Golden State Warriors.The only non-local team was the Los Angeles Raiders, who had been the Oakland Raiders, who then became the Oakland Raiders again, and in 2020 or so will become the Las Vegas Raiders. We've been abused.

I was never much of a hockey fan, but I remember watching the Stanley Cup Finals between the LA Kings and Montreal Canadiens back in 1992ish, and I rooted for the Kings, because they were basically the hockey version of the Raiders (their uniforms and color schemes were dead ringers back then. Then I found out the Bay Area had an expansion team, the San Jose Sharks and I've been rooting for them ever since.

I didn't see any of my teams win a championship until the Giants won the World Series in 2010. Then they won two more! And most shocking of all, the Golden State Warriors have won 3 NBA titles in the past 4 years after being laughingstocks for most of my life times.

I don't really have any international teams. I guess I like Club Tijuana in Mexican soccer because they're close and I went to a semifinal match down there a few years ago. If I ever go to Australia, I'd love to watch some AFL and Rugby, and pick teams.

[El Hoze]

I grew up in NJ. My maternal grandfather was a die hard Yankees fan. He used to take me and my cousin to games what seemed like once a week. My cousin now takes die hard to a new level. I was at Game 7 when the Yankees lost to the Diamondbacks. I was beside myself but commented to my cousin that it was nice to see the DBacks win one. My cousin told me I might as well “kick Pop in his grave” and barely spoke to me for a year. Total nutball. Total Jersey. 

Jets. Ugh. My Dad had access to Jets tickets growing up so that was our team. I often joke how much easier my life would have been if he somehow had access to Giants tickets. Still love the Jets though. Oddly I live in Miami now and pull for the Dolphins despite the rivalry. They both suck. Now, the Pats I could never root for. 

Devils. Played for a junior Devils hockey team growing up. Kirk Muller. Sean Burke. Ken Daneyko. Those were the days. Don’t watch a ton of NHL hockey but love going to games.

Seton Hall. Same, attended a Seton Hall BBall camp run by PJ Carlesimo growing up. Still love The Hall. 

[mtd057]

I grew up in Miami, and the Dolphins and Hurricanes were all we had! I still follow them but added the Broncos when I moved to Denver.  

I got a good chuckle reading the post above from @El Hoze.  The Jets and Dolphins do suck!  I have a lot of family in NYC and we have had some fun over the years with the rivalry.  We share the hatred for the Patriot and I will root for whomever they are lining up against.  

[MoeFOH]

40 minutes ago, Danimalia said:

I'm pretty much a lifelong San Francisco Bay Area guy, so I chose the local teams my Dad rooted for.  So that explains the San Francisco Giants and Golden State Warriors.The only non-local team was the Los Angeles Raiders, who had been the Oakland Raiders, who then became the Oakland Raiders again, and in 2020 or so will become the Las Vegas Raiders. We've been abused.

I was never much of a hockey fan, but I remember watching the Stanley Cup Finals between the LA Kings and Montreal Canadiens back in 1992ish, and I rooted for the Kings, because they were basically the hockey version of the Raiders (their uniforms and color schemes were dead ringers back then. Then I found out the Bay Area had an expansion team, the San Jose Sharks and I've been rooting for them ever since.

I didn't see any of my teams win a championship until the Giants won the World Series in 2010. Then they won two more! And most shocking of all, the Golden State Warriors have won 3 NBA titles in the past 4 years after being laughingstocks for most of my life times.

I don't really have any international teams. I guess I like Club Tijuana in Mexican soccer because they're close and I went to a semifinal match down there a few years ago. If I ever go to Australia, I'd love to watch some AFL and Rugby, and pick teams.

The first experience I had of anything to do with baseball was standing at an empty Pac Bell Park (I think it was called that back in 2002?) and thinking how great it would've been to be able to go to a game--unfortunately, we visited in Nov/Dec that trip. 

And yes! If you ever get down here, go to some Rugby League games. I don't much care for AFL, but well worth checking it out. Especially live, as it's a sport that is far better experienced live than on tv--a lot of action happens off the ball. 

[MoeFOH]

2 hours ago, rguinn said:

In all seriousness, college football falls directly behind God and family in the State of Alabama.

I've heard that a lot about the college football, that it's often preferred over the NFL. Is that right? Why is that? A purer version of the game? More raw talent?... 

[MoeFOH]

2 hours ago, NYMets01 said:

Unfortunately, since then there have been more bad years than good and that was our last WS win but nonetheless, I stayed a fan. Easy to do, when the Yankees or Red Sox are your only other local options!

I can understand the Yankees, but not the Sox... Go easy! Ha ha... We'll see you guys for a series at Fenway soon, I think. You've got some great pitching. deGrom in a bit of a crazy run, yeah?

[luckme10]

27 minutes ago, MoeFOH said:

I've heard that a lot about the college football, that it's often preferred over the NFL. Is that right? Why is that? A purer version of the game? More raw talent?... 

College football is more popular than the NFL in several areas for several reasons. First, being that it was the original sport to root for. College football tradition starts in the late 19th century and the nfl didn't come out until the 20s. Second, some areas are not populated enough to be able to support an nfl franchise, is this more the case in areas such as oklahoma or alabama. Although Oklahoma does have a pretty good basketball team in recent times. Anyways, its fans are also drawn from people who live near or attended the colleges of the teams. 

My parents are huge cal football fans. Probably because that is their alma mater. At one point they even had Aaron Rogers and Marshawn Lynch. But Ca's team like the Cleveland Indians of the pac 12. They haven't been to the rose ball since the 1950s. One thing on his bucket list is to see Cal in the rosebowl. The other was seeing the Giants win the world series but they did that in 2010.

[MoeFOH]

2 minutes ago, luckme10 said:

College football is more popular than the NFL in several areas for several reasons. First, being that it was the original sport to root for. College football tradition starts in the late 19th century and the nfl didn't come out until the 20s. Second, some areas are not populated enough to be able to support an nfl franchise, is this more the case in areas such as oklahoma or alabama. Although Oklahoma does have a pretty good basketball team. Anyways, it's fans are also drawn from people who live near or attended the colleges of the teams. 

My parents are huge cal football fans. At one point they even had aaron rogers and marshawn lynch. But they're like the Cleveland Indians of the pac 12. They haven't been to the rose ball since the 1950s.

Ah, got it. Thanks for that. : )

[CaskStrength]

38 minutes ago, MoeFOH said:

I've heard that a lot about the college football, that it's often preferred over the NFL. Is that right? Why is that? A purer version of the game? More raw talent?... 

I watch both, but the college game has the following benefits:

• Every regular season game is meaningful
• More offensive/defensive schemes to take advantage of available players
• Subjective, but I like the OT rules and clock stoppage for the moving of chains.

Regarding the OP:

• Vancouver Canucks:  Hometown team.
• Denver Broncos: Started following the NFL when the team was really good, with Elway and TD.  Been a fan ever since
• Clemson Tigers:  Friend who introduced me to the college game is a huge fan.  Got fed a lot of games and the team was good.

[rguinn]

31 minutes ago, MoeFOH said:

Ah, got it. Thanks for that. : )

Luckme10 hits on some good points. I’m also a fan because it’s quite a bit more dynamic than the NFL, particularly on offense. There are 3-4 variations of offense vs. 1 in the NFL. Plus I find the playoff system (and the old system) to determine a national champion a lot more intriguing. Every game matters vs. in the NFL an 8-8 team could potentially make the playoffs and win it all. Recruiting high school talent then developing the talent also adds another dimension. In many states, high school football is equally if not more popular. 

[MoeFOH]

13 minutes ago, rguinn said:

Luckme10 hits on some good points. I’m also a fan because it’s quite a bit more dynamic than the NFL, particularly on offense. There are 3-4 variations of offense vs. 1 in the NFL. Plus I find the playoff system (and the old system) to determine a national champion a lot more intriguing. Every game matters vs. in the NFL an 8-8 team could potentially make the playoffs and win it all. Recruiting high school talent then developing the talent also adds another dimension. In many states, high school football is equally if not more popular. 

Interesting. I'm assuming college football has good tv coverage, too? Anything but the top level stuff suffers in that realm here in Australia. You have to get out to the games. And we don't have a big population base like you guys, so the depth/quality is not great. 

Totally agree about the playoff series. The NRL (National Rugby League) here has 16 teams. Top 8 gets you into the playoffs. Usually team 7 and 8 have a 50/50 record or worse. I understand it keeps fans interested for longer, but it's a dud system that doesn't reward teams that have excelled all year long. I like the way the soccer does it: you have the most points after playing each team twice, you're the champion. End of story. Playoffs are catered for in cup competitions. 

This year in the NRL, the entire top 8 are separated by just two points. For and Against deciding the finishing order. I've felt that a lot of teams have slackened off in the lead-up to the playoffs, once they knew they'd booked their place. It has hardly made for great games and viewing. 

[rguinn]

Yes, coverage is excellent although most all games are played on Saturdays. Your Rugby league sounds a lot like the direction of the NFL. Once teams are locked into the #1 spot for the playoffs they often let their star players sit out a game, sometimes two. Not fair to the fans that pay good money to come to the games but the teams are protecting their investment and chance at winning a championship so I suppose it goes both ways. 

I do wish Rugby had more coverage in the States. It seems like an awesome sport but even soccer has a difficult enough time breaking through TV ratings here. I always check out a Rugby match when I see it on, it’s just not often. 

[Puros Y Vino]

Cool question.

I formed my personal team allegiances early as a kid, (around 8/9 years old).

Baseball, Yankees (AL), Reds(NL).  When the Jays came to town I dropped the Yankees and the Reds.

Hockey: Leafs.  Born in Toronto, easy pick.  Been disillusioned ever since.   But for once since the Gilmour/Sundin days, the team is looking good.

Football. CFL. Edmonton Eskimos. Grew up watching Warren Moon dominate the league.  NFL: Eagles. I got a Jaworksi jersey one birthday.  I liked that the colors were similar to Edmonton and stuck with them (more or less). Last years Superbowl victory was a pleasant surprise.  I don't watch a lot of football. I just follow the standings.  

Soccer: mostly international play. Italy.  Not much into the leagues. 

[Diabolicalpherpher]

For me it’s where I grew up rooting and attended.  Broncos, avalanche, Rockies, nuggets and UCLA. I also root for hometown teams where I’m located but the original teams will trump any hometown teams.  Then there are teams I despise... Raiders, USC, Red Wings.  Overall though, I just root for good games/matches if I am watching them.

[havanaclub]

Growing up in Ontario playing hockey as a kid, everyone liked the leafs. You were either a Montreal Canadians fan or a leafs fan. I wanted to be different. Brett Hull at the time I was playing in the early 90s was the man, winning several goal scoring titles. His best year 90-91 season he played 78 games had 86 goals and 45 assists for 131 points. For three years he scored at least 70 goals, a pure sniper. As you can see he was at the time my idol. Got my first Hull jersey and that was it. I am a ST LOUIS BLUES fan. Die hard! We will win a cup before I pass!
Jays fan, Raptors and Steelers fan. My college ball team is USC. When I did my schooling in the states there was a lot of college football on TV and I really got into it. Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart were beasts and their high flying offence was easy to watch. I became a Trojans fan.



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[BrightonCorgi]

18 hours ago, JGD said:

Same here. Born and raised outside of Boston - so the Boston teams have my heart (although I’m a msuch bigger football and baseball fan than hockey and basketball).

Another Masshole here and stick with the local teams.

[joshhooper7]

19 hours ago, Colt45 said:

I was born and spent the first thirty years of my life in South Boston, so Bruins, Sox, Celts, and Pats are simply a way of life.

my whole family is from D street. If you couldn't tell from my interests, we share a lot of commonalities!