I was talking to a diehard Lakers fan the other day, and he was explaining to me how he can turn on the hate for a player as soon as he leaves the team, but only really hated one or two players while they were with the team.
Now, I can hate a player *because* they join a team (I'm almost like that wrt the Jazz, but if Grant Hill suddenly joined them I would just be sad), but suspend the hate because they're on my team? I'm not that loving a person. I've actually started disliking entire teams because the wrong player (coughShaqcough) joined them. Makes much more sense that way.
But that was back in the day. Shaq pretty much ran me out of basketball. Before he was all that, though, we had the Celtics and the Pistons and the Bulls and the nice Lakers, and cheering for those teams had continuity and a good fun feeling.
These days I'm just all about the tennis. Individuals make it much simpler.
My boss used a not-that-dirty word on a phone conference that I was on today, and I realise I'm a 9-5 prude. Maybe the dirtiest person at the krav centre, but get me in business casual and I clutch my pearls at the word ballbuster. I have no idea what that's about.
But most people root for their city's team, or the city closest.
Oh, I completely understand that. I arbitrarily root for teams from cities I live in or have lived in. But it's weird when the team doesn't really "represent" the city.
And years ago, teams didn't change up the roster as often as they do now.
Right. When the team make-up really was from the home city, it made more sense, but now it's all different and stats are weird because who cares how many whatevers Team So-and-So has had? All that stuff happened to previous incarnations of Team So-and-So! It has no bearing on the performance of the current team! Except perhaps psychologically.
crossing fingers and keeping her mouth shut in the -t and Dana corner.
Did you know that certain universal physical constants lie within a very narrow range, so that if any of several fundamental constants were only slightly different the universe would be unlikely to be conducive to the establishment and continued existence of the Goat Curse?
Heh.
The Yankees are hated, the Cubs are lovable losers... it's all just part of the theatre of the game.
But it's weird when the team doesn't really "represent" the city.
One of the many reasons I am, and always will be, a Packers fan.
I just got fed up with seeing a full-color photo (usually large and above the fold) on the front page of the paper after every football game, whether they won or lost. Often with a headline about the results. And then, YEARS of treating fans badly - at one point people had to use a special credit card (MasterCard or Visa) with the football team's mark on it to buy season tickets. The previous owner built a new stadium out in Maryland that's not easily accessible by public transit (which means fewer fans crowding the Metro on weekends, which is fine). Then they instituted fairly high parking fees; when some fans tried parking in a parking lot nearby that was empty on Sundays, they had security guards blocking their direct path to the stadium and forcing them to walk the long way around (the official story was that it was for safety reasons, but someone pointed out that the long way around involved a lot of walking on busy streets with no sidewalks and no marked crossings). Then there was the fuss when, for one game that was supposedly sold out, there was a mass of people attending from the opposing team (turned out that several thousand tickets were released to a ticket broker ... but weren't available directly to locals). Then there was the story about the woman - retired, a grandmother - who was going to have to file for bankruptcy because she couldn't fulfill her contract to buy season tickets (she didn't have the money for the tickets, they refused to speak to her when she called, and were holding her to the purchase agreement ... after which they would repossess the tickets and re-sell them). There was also the man who'd signed a contract for season tickets but didn't check off how many years he wanted it for ... so someone at the sales office checked off the longest period (wouldn't tht be considered fraud?). The team management encourages tailgate parties before games and beer sales during ... but there have been stories about security being either inadequate to control aggressive drunks or unwilling to break up fights. Then they started not only forbidding people to bring in their own food and drink, but searching people as they entered the stadium, to make sure they had to purchase overpriced stuff from the concession stands. Finally, when fans started waving derogatory signs during games, they banned all signs. And they're losing. Badly.
Sounds like professional sports to me.
I am from Detroit. I've heard we *have* professional sports organizations, but I don't think that means what they think it means.
I knew a guy in college who went on to play for the Lions!
I have done some work, but still not enough. Boo!
