The Hometown Team Debate.

[Marino]

I always get this whenever someone asks me who I am a fan of. People will honestly bitch at me for not being a Panthers fan even though I live in Charlotte. They also wonder why I am a Dodgers fan if I am on the East Coast.

What do you guys think, does it really matter who you root for, home team or not?

[buckeyefan78]

Re: The Hometown Team Debate.

I always get this whenever someone asks me who I am a fan of. People will honestly bitch at me for not being a Panthers fan even though I live in Charlotte. They also wonder why I am a Dodgers fan if I am on the East Coast.

What do you guys think, does it really matter who you root for, home team or not?

There is a debate in the college football along the lines of rooting for more than one team, which is different than this but just saying.

I think everyone acquires their favorite team in one way or another and no way is really "wrong" unless you bandwagon...I guess.

I pretty much dropped following sports aside from college football as I aged but technically, when I was a kid, here it was and why...

NCAA: Ohio State - I'm from Ohio!

NBA: Lakers - I had an uncle who lived in LA and as a kid he would fly me out there and a Laker game was always the highlight of the trip.

NFL: Giants - My older brother somehow acquired a Giants helmet when I was very young. I used to wear it and so there ya go.

MLB: Tigers - I have no clue why but since it surely wasn't due to them winning...it's a safe pick.

[BurghFan]

Re: The Hometown Team Debate.

I was born in Pittsburgh, my parents were born in Pittsburgh, my grandparents were born in Pittsburgh so my loyalty is firmly rooted in Pittsburgh Sports and I honestly hate it when I see native Pittsburghers who don't root for a Pittsburgh team. I have relatives born in Pittsburgh but who now live in in West Chester, PA and just outside Raleigh but they for the most part still always root for the Pittsburgh team over the local team. Only exception is my aunt, but she gets a pass because she actually works at N.C. State so she roots for them instead of Pitt. I think you should always be loyal to your hometown team assuming your hometown has a team. If your hometown doesn't have a team in a sport is is outside a major sports market then you are free to root for whoever you want.

[buckeyefan78]

Re: The Hometown Team Debate.

I was born in Pittsburgh, my parents were born in Pittsburgh, my grandparents were born in Pittsburgh so my loyalty is firmly rooted in Pittsburgh Sports and I honestly hate it when I see native Pittsburghers who don't root for a Pittsburgh team. I have relatives born in Pittsburgh but who now live in in West Chester, PA and just outside Raleigh but they for the most part still always root for the Pittsburgh team over the local team. Only exception is my aunt, but she gets a pass because she actually works at N.C. State so she roots for them instead of Pitt. I think you should always be loyal to your hometown team assuming your hometown has a team. If your hometown doesn't have a team in a sport is is outside a major sports market then you are free to root for whoever you want.

Were you eating a sandwich from Primanti Bros. and listening to DVE as you typed that out cuz it is 100% Pittsburgh mentality?



But hey, gotta love Da Burgh.

[p_rushing]

Re: The Hometown Team Debate.

Usually you should root for the team you grew up watching. If you move later in life, then you should continue rooting for that team. If you live in a place for a long time though, you probably will develop some sentiment for the home team, unless they are a rival team. You might cheer for them from time to time and think it is good when they win, but you don't need to root for them or buy merchandise.

[TheMatrix31]

Re: The Hometown Team Debate.

I think it's dumb. No law saying I need to root for home teams. I was born in Fresno so there were no real "home" teams, even though we got certain teams on TV all the time. If I went by that, I'd be a 49ers/Warriors/Giants fan. I like my teams because I fell in love with them, and that would never change no matter where I moved. Braves because they were always on TBS, Suns because I got brainwashed by my bro, Texans because I never had a favorite team in football, and I figured "hey, why not?". Sabres because I liked using them in video games in the past and when I really started getting into hockey a couple years ago, I loved their playing style and the "hockey"-ness of Buffalo.

Long story short, there are a ton of reasons you fall in love with a team. No one should be bound to hometown teams.

[Gotmadskillzson]

Re: The Hometown Team Debate.

If you grew up in a major city like Chicago, New York or Boston then you really do have root for the hometown because those cities take their sports teams SERIOUS.

I grew up in Chicago......so for me.......

Da Bears !

Da Bulls !

Da White Sox ! F the Cubs and the whole prima donna northside of Chicago !

Da Blackhawks !!!!!!

Now I live in Vermont........so I see the Red Sox, Yankees, Patriots, Giants, Jets, Buffaloes, Bruins, Knicks, Celtics games all day everyday. Living in New England you got to support the New England team eating lobster rollls, steaks, drinking that home brew

[Dog]

Re: The Hometown Team Debate.

If you grew up in a major city like Chicago, New York or Boston then you really do have root for the hometown because those cities take their sports teams SERIOUS.

Ditto for Philadelphia.



For me its all about the Eagles 1st with the Phillies a close 2nd. The Flyers a distant 3rd and the Sixers a VERY distant 4th.

[l3ulvl]

Re: The Hometown Team Debate.

I don't have any problem with fans rooting for teams outside of their area as long as they stay loyal to that team. When I was growing up in mid michigan my best friend was an Ohio State fan... we had endless arguments about Mich v OSU but in the end I respected him for standing his ground, even though it was during the John Cooper era when Michigan actually did well. I haven't talked to him in awhile but I'm sure he's ready to talk his *** off now

[TheMatrix31]

Re: The Hometown Team Debate.

Too bad native Los Angeles sports fans are generally morons. I'd never associate myself with these guys even if I lived here my whole life.

[buckeyefan78]

Re: The Hometown Team Debate.

I don't have any problem with fans rooting for teams outside of their area as long as they stay loyal to that team. When I was growing up in mid michigan my best friend was an Ohio State fan... we had endless arguments about Mich v OSU but in the end I respected him for standing his ground, even though it was during the John Cooper era when Michigan actually did well. I haven't talked to him in awhile but I'm sure he's ready to talk his *** off now

Yeah, you don't switch teams...even under John Cooper.

You start going to therapy, drinking heavily, and wake up sobbing in the middle of the night...but you don't switch.

[TracerBullet]

Re: The Hometown Team Debate.

No it shouldn't matter. Like someone said, as long as you're not changing teams repeatedly and you can actually stick to liking a team I see nothing wrong with it. Shoot, I was born in Germany anyway. Moved between Georgia and Washington more than once. Lived in Washington most of it, but could care less about the Seahawks and the Mariners. I liked the Sonics though but we all know what happened there. If we got an NHL team up here though I would probably become a fan just like I did win the Sounders made it to the MLS.

[wrigleyville33]

Re: The Hometown Team Debate.

My mom is from the outskirts of Chicago, cursed me by putting on Cubs games on the tube for me in my younger years, still remember Kerry Wood's game in '98. My dad went to Virginia Tech, and my brother and sister go there now. I'm surrounded by Braves fans in Alabama that think they know something at baseball, but I usually just laugh at them. SEC fans take football way to seriously. I'm serious, no one has any class. They will rub it in your face if your team loses. There you go.

[MassNole]

Re: The Hometown Team Debate.

If you grew up in a major city like Chicago, New York or Boston then you really do have root for the hometown because those cities take their sports teams SERIOUS.

I grew up in Chicago......so for me.......

Da Bears !

Da Bulls !

Da White Sox ! F the Cubs and the whole prima donna northside of Chicago !

Da Blackhawks !!!!!!

Now I live in Vermont........so I see the Red Sox, Yankees, Patriots, Giants, Jets, Buffaloes, Bruins, Knicks, Celtics games all day everyday. Living in New England you got to support the New England team eating lobster rollls, steaks, drinking that home brew

Vermont is a wildcard with local teams. It borders both MA and NY so loyalties get divided between Boston and NY area teams. Generally people will pick one side and stick with those teams, though prior to 2001 most people were Giants fans in football regardless of allegiance otherwise, though that has probably evened out.

Myself I chose neutral teams to stay out of the NY-Boston debates, except in basketball.

FSU I chose because my favorite cousin went there with Deion Sanders.
In MLB I chose KC because they were Switzerland to NY-Boston and I liked George Brett.
In the NFL I chose Dallas because that's who my family rooted for.
In the NHL I like the Red Wings and Rangers because my cousin was a farmhand for each team.
In the NBA I went with the Knicks because of Patrick Ewing.

[boomhauertjs]

Re: The Hometown Team Debate.

Cleveland born and raised, so I'm saddled with that curse. A lot of people here follow Ohio State, but I consider OSU Columbus' pro team and I didn't go to school there, so I'm not really a fan. I'm a big Dayton Flyers because I went to school there.