The Hometown Team Debate.

[Brandwin]

I jumped on the 49ers bandwagon as a pre-teen. They were winners and what kid doesn't want to root for a winner?

My dad didn't really follow sports, no older brothers etc... I just picked the Niners and stuck with it.

I have stuck with them through the hard times as well though.

[Cane_Mutiny]

Re: The Hometown Team Debate.

If you grew up in a city or market with a team, you should root for that team unless you have strong family ties elsewhere. I grew up in Miami and hence I am a diehard fan of only Miami teams. 'Canes, Marlins, Heat, and to a lesser extent the Dolphins and Panthers. Unless I end up living somewhere else for a really long time, I would never consider myself a "fan" of another city's teams. Right now I'm going to college in Atlanta but I don't consider myself a fan of any Atlanta teams (nor do I even like any of them), with the obvious exception of my college's teams (but that's DIII...).

It's annoying to see fellow Miamians who root for random teams. Some older people are transplants from other places who grew up elsewhere, so that's one thing. But people my age who pretty much all grew up in Miami have no reason not to root for our hometown teams...

[Acid]

Re: The Hometown Team Debate.

I don't think it matters unless it's a huge change from team to team. If you like the Celtics, Yankees, Red Wings, and Cowboys (or a variation similar to this). Obviously, you're a douche and should be ridiculed.

[raidersbball20]

Re: The Hometown Team Debate.

born in South Dakota and my older brother liked the Packers for some reason so I followed him and I still love them. It was tough though in a city full of vikings fans. The worst was going to school after the vikings would beat them.

Then I like the Twins because I just grew up watching them and the same goes for Nebraska football. For college basketball I like the gophers because my cousin went there and for NHL I've always liked the Ducks because I liked the movies when I was little

[Po Pimp]

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 !!!!!!

Same for me...word for word!

[TimmeH]

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?

I'm surprised anyone's arguing with you in NC. When I stayed down in Raleigh for a few weeks, I swear there were more Redskins/Steelers fans than Panthers fans around me lol

I typically root for the local teams. But it's a bit hard for me at times as I'm a fairly unbiased person. Like I couldn't stand the Packers during Favre's final years there. For most sports, I have a team outside of the state I root for as well for whatever reason...Chargers for football, Mariners for baseball, etc.

[dickey1331]

Re: The Hometown Team Debate.

I was born and lived in Arlington so Im fans of all teams in the Dallas area. I lived in New Orleans for a little bit since Im in the military and I grew to like the Saints. I would never put them above my Cowboys but I do want them to do well. Also its funny seeing all these "new" Rangers fans we have had recently. That makes me mad. Ive stuck with them through all these crappy years and now we get "fans". Also I have noticed living in Anchorage, it is full of bandwagoners. Ive never seen so many Lakers/Cowboys/Yankees/etc. fans.

[The GIGGAS]

Re: The Hometown Team Debate.

I'm glad you guys are more accepting of "weird" fanships, like mine. Granted, Virginia's kind of a wasteland for sports, other than the Maryland/DC and NC connections, but I'm not a fan of most of those teams. Most of these teams stuck when I was a lot younger, and I just don't want to change. Sure, at times it may have been tempting, but **** that. I'm a fan of these teams for life (for better or worse, I suppose).

NFL: Jacksonville. I was 8, and I liked the uniforms. It's transformed to my insane fandom that it is now.

MLB: St. Louis. I admit, I fell in love with the Cardinals during the Big Mac home run chase.

NHL: Detroit. I followed around Dominik Hasek, and once he finished, I figured I'd stick with the Red Wings.

NBA: Washington. Ditto for Jordan. I saw Jordan as part of the Wiz and just stuck here. Excited for the team to go back to red white and blue again.

NCAA: Virginia Tech. Grew up and still live in Blacksburg. Been to many a game. Just because I didn't go to the school, some people think that I shouldn't be a fan. **** those people.

NCAA: Radford. The school I went to. Not nearly as big a fan as I am for VT, but I do enjoy it when my alma mater does something good.

[Hova57]

Re: The Hometown Team Debate.

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.

I love all my philly teams and living in pittsburgh make me love them even more. Its sad listening to sports radio and people make comments about philly all the time, like they really know what the city is about. But what's funny with the exception of hockey there really isn't an instate rivalry no one in philly can give two sh*ts what teams in pittsburgh is doing except for hockey. it gets on my nerves Steelers fans are annoying as hell just because you live here doesn't mean you have to be a fan.

[Dog]

Re: The Hometown Team Debate.

I love all my philly teams and living in pittsburgh make me love them even more. Its sad listening to sports radio and people make comments about philly all the time, like they really know what the city is about. But what's funny with the exception of hockey there really isn't an instate rivalry no one in philly can give two sh*ts what teams in pittsburgh is doing except for hockey. it gets on my nerves Steelers fans are annoying as hell just because you live here doesn't mean you have to be a fan.

Like I said in my other post, the Flyers/NHL are a distant 3rd, but I still hate Sidney Crosby

[snepp]

Re: The Hometown Team Debate.

I don't think it matters unless it's a huge change from team to team. If you like the Celtics, Yankees, Red Wings, and Cowboys (or a variation similar to this). Obviously, you're a douche and should be ridiculed.

This post makes poopydude sad.

[superjames1992]

Re: The Hometown Team Debate.

I'm surprised anyone's arguing with you in NC. When I stayed down in Raleigh for a few weeks, I swear there were more Redskins/Steelers fans than Panthers fans around me lol

Yeah, there aren't a lot of Panthers fans around here, especially with Carolina being 0-5 now...

My loyalty lies with the Panthers, though.

My college loyalties lie with the school I attend (NC State) and the place where my dad is from and I lived for my middle school years (which is when I started to watch football/basketball) in the West Virginia Mountaineers.

One thing that does bother me a bit is seeing people wear other college gear on a major college campus. Walking around NC State, I see lots of people with Texas, Florida, Ohio State, and even DUKE () gear on. I have a ton of WVU stuff back at home, but I don't wear it around campus; I only wear it when I'm at home in Greensboro.

My NBA preference is the San Antonio Spurs, since my best friend was from Texas and got me into the NBA. Turned out that there were a lot of successful years in that run before it started going downhill a few years ago. Probably not going to be too much success in the near future, either, with Tim Duncan and Ginobili eventually retiring, but oh well. Times of dominance come and go.

I don't care for baseball too much, but I've been to 10 or so Rays games in my life, so I root for them the most when I watch baseball. I used to like the Red Sox when I was younger, but I have no real connection to it and attending so many Rays games (well, they were the Devil Rays and sucked back then...) got me into Tampa Bay more so than Boston.

For NASCAR, I've loved Jeff Gordon since I was two years old. I take it that I probably started liking him because he was good and won a lot of races (plus he was a new and upcoming driver when I started watching), but I'm not sure! You can't blame a two year old for bandwagoning!

I also watch the IRL, but really have no preference as to who wins other than the fact that I root against Danica Patrick in all circumstances, just as in NASCAR Jimmie Johnson is public enemy #1.

[KG]

Re: The Hometown Team Debate.

Fan of all local teams.

Wiz
Redskins
Caps (not a huge hockey fan)
Nats (same as hockey)
Hoyas

I'm not a fan of people who like multiple Pro Teams in varying cities. Colleges I don't really care about for reasons like superjames. Except for Dook. I HATE them and all their fans.

[SPTO]

Re: The Hometown Team Debate.

I'm a fan of the local teams....Well except in College football because who gives a flying fadoo about CIS football! I remain a ND fan though because that was the team that I get the most exposure too.

Anyways, I don't mind people having teams they root for other then their local team as long as there's a solid reason for it such as liking a specific era in that team's history and having respect for the tradition of said team or being more a fan of a star player from another team.

I can't stand bandwagon jumpers though as they latch on to any particular team just because it's "cool".

[l3ulvl]

Re: The Hometown Team Debate.

...its funny seeing all these "new" Rangers fans we have had recently. That makes me mad. Ive stuck with them through all these crappy years and now we get "fans".

I went through this when the Tigers got good. I suffered through the 119 loss season in '03, and all the mediocre seasons before and after since around '90 and nobody here cared about Detroit aside from the Cecil Fielder years. Suddenly in '06 we get good and make it to the WS and all these previously invisible Tigers fans start cheering and going crazy. Isn't it more rewarding to cheer them through thick and thin when they do finally succeed?

NFL: Jacksonville. I was 8, and I liked the uniforms. It's transformed to my insane fandom that it is now.

I started liking Jacksonville as a "backup" team because I love their colors. I'm a Lions fan and they'll always be my favorite, but on the side I root for the Jags too. It used to be a ritual for me to buy Madden and play a franchise with my Lions. Then after a few weeks start one as Jax and do a fantasy draft, with half my selections being Lions filler players lol.