Why fans hate their teams

There is a host of Eeyores out there that like to garner attention for themselves. They love to complain about everything and solve all of the problems, and they're front-and-center when everything is going bad.

When things are going well, they're sulking in the corner, because nobody will listen to them. As soon as there's a loss, they're on every talk show claiming everybody should be either fired or traded.

 

This is great subject matter for a psychological study that's for sure.

I could throw out things like trying to live vicariously through others, trying to relive in a fantasy sense, dreams that were snuffed out for them years ago as young athletes. And when things don't go their way again, those feelings of negativity and rejection surface again, only with a greater degree of pain and hurt.

Or I could say that they use these teams as props to inflate their self importance or their self worth in life, maybe because they may not have a lot going on their life that they view as important or grand, or holding a certain stature they might wish to attain. And the teams' failures become their own personal failures, again dredging up deep feelings of hurt that they've felt time and time again in life.

But I would just be guessing. ;D

I will say, though, I'm often humored by the type of criticism some fans levy. I've got no problem if you want to criticize a manager or coach's strategy or the front office personnel moves. Or you want to boo a clear lack of effort on a player's part. But, someone who wants to criticize a baseball player for striking out or a quarterback for throwing an interception into an oncoming blitz, when said person can barely walk up the stadium steps without losing their breath. Let's see you hit that 88 mph curveball or take that hit from the linebacker, mister.

 

Well there is that new Patton Oswald movie...

But I agree with the hypothesis that they see the team as an extension of themselves - similar to political ideology. Of course they couldn't be wrong in making a bad choice in which team they support, their "faith" in the local team can't be wrong - and any development that threatens that foundation of their being is unwelcomed and met with aggression like a bacteria or other flu bug.

 

And some of us see a fat wife as a positive, actually. I'm just saying.

 

They think they're right. And they like being smarter than the people running the show.

Example, my school's hockey program. Lots of old folks and donors hate the coach, who replaced a living legend that died while behind the bench. New coach doesn't have the personality of the old, firey guy and isn't as personable at meet and greets and other donor events. So from day one people were predicting he'd fail.

He went for 4 Frozen Fours in his first six years and has since put up two losing seasons, ending the U's decade long NCAA tourney streak. These people now think they were right all along. The idea that he was doing a good job for years 1-6 and is now doing a poor job is like talking Martian to them.

So I'd agree with the other poster that a lot of times its personality that rubs people the wrong way. That and losing.

 

LOL

 

The better question is, why do people "love" teams based solely on geographical proximity?

It's totally illogical.

Say you were a 10-year-old kid first exposed to the Kansas City Chiefs when Joe Montana was the quarterback, and Montana happened to be your hero. You naturally root for the Chiefs because of your affection for one player. But why would you continue to care about the Chiefs when Steve Bono became the quarterback? Further, why should you care about the Chiefs 15 years later, when Matt Cassell is the quarterback and there is no player on the team of any redeeming value? Wouldn't it make more sense to cheer for another team that had players you actually like, such as the Indianapolis Colts?

It makes a little more sense in college sports, where much of the roster is likely to be made up of players from your area, and you may have allegiances based on where you went to school, but geographical fandom of professional sports is asinine.

 

As Seinfeld says, they're rooting for laundry.

http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/1/0/9/1/0/p109101_index.html
Jacobson, Beth. "Rooting for Laundry: An Examination of the Creation and Maintenance of a Sport Fan Identity" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, Hilton San Francisco & Renaissance Parc 55 Hotel, San Francisco, CA,, Aug 14, 2004

 

To answer the geographical question, I was born and raised in upstate New York and lived there until I was 38, then moved south three years ago. I am a long-suffering Buffalo Bills and Sabres fan as well as a Syracuse University fan - basketball more than football, though I root for both. And no, I didn't go to school there.
Part of the reason for the allegiance, I suppose, is that I've always felt the rest of the country doesn't even know or care that upstate New York exists. You say "New York" in Florida, Texas, California or even here in Virginia and immediately most people picture New York City. That's not where I'm from at all; in fact, I've only been there twice in my whole life. So I definitely have a chip on my shoulder about that.
So on the rare occasion when one of my teams does well - like when SU won the national championship in 2003 - I felt like it forces other people to acknowledge our meager existence, even if only temporarily. And in a place known for snow, gray skies, a weak economy and not much else, that counts for a lot.
By contrast, I have a friend who still lives up there and he roots for the L.A. Dodgers, Philadelphia Eagles, Utah Jazz, Ottawa Senators and the University of Michigan. I always found that to be more bizarre than rooting for the teams I grew up following on local TV and radio and, sometimes, in person.

 

Emotions aren't logical. Being a fan of a team means making an emotional investment.

After the playoff sweep against the Dodgers last year, my years of Cubs-hating finally came to a boil and I just absolutely did not want to root for them anymore. I spent the entire offseason avoiding them and hanging out on message boards for fans of other teams. I had one picked out, and I watched that team's Opening Day game. They lost and I felt nothing. By the time the Cubs came on that night, I couldn't resist watching them.

We're nearly a calendar year since I decided I wanted to stop being a Cubs fan, and the best I can say is that I care about them a little less than I did before, but I still can't claim to be a fan of any other team.

 

I don't think it's asinine, but it certainly isn't required that you root for the home team. I know some people (such as Bill Simmons) have said that if you were raised in or near a city that fielded a team, you have to root for them. I don't understand that at all. The way I see it, I didn't choose where I was born. So why should I pick that city's teams?

I grew up in Virginia. My teams are the Ottawa Senators, Toronto Blue Jays, Arizona Cardinals and Indiana Pacers. Luckily, if I ever take a job in Indianapolis or Phoenix, my two American allegiances are the easiest to give up. I have no college team since I've covered college sports for basically my entire time spent in journalism.

 

Because Tony Romo sucks, that's why