Fan "Rules" 101 - College & Pro

TheAdvocate

Platinum Member
Mar 7, 2005
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It's a recurring discussion on sports talk radio that reared its head again today, locally.

Big debate about when you can say "we", and what teams you can root for. Pretty close to a consensus that the "rules" for College and Pro sports are different, but I think they're just about the same.

Here are mine:

College

1. "We" - ONLY if you actually attended the school, and preferably only if you graduated. Alumnus does mean graduated, after all.

2. Always root for your undergrad school above all else, and any grad school second. This means that if you attend(ed) one school and root for another, you're a bandwagon fan and/or wannabe and should be ridiculed as such. Be proud of what you are and root for your alma mater.

Pro

1. "We" - ONLY if you are a regular attendee at games, or have some other real stake in the team. Preferably only season ticket holders or other recurring butt in the same seat through good times and bad. Basically, the longer and more often you attend, the more you earn the right to say "We".

2. Always root for your hometown team above all else, and the city you grew up in second. If you live in one city/state and cheer for another team in another city/state, you're a bandwagon fan and/or wannabe, and should be ridiculed as such. Be proud of where you live/grew up and support your hometown team.

The only exception to the above rules should be if the team/coach seriously disgraced your school/hometown, or continues to engage in something offensive, like paying players (college), having a loudmouth jerk as a coach/player, having thugs on your team, repeatedly making the blotter, or repeatedly making the blooper reels for total ineptitude.

Flame suit on. Rip away.

EDIT - I posted this topic because we have so many douchebag bandwagon fans in the SE. It's absolutely nauseating how many fairweather, frontrunner fans we have (especially in College sports). Most fans of bigger colleges haven't ever stepped on campus other than on a home game saturday, and many fans of successful pro teams haven't ever bought a ticket and forget that they're fans everyday their team loses. It's a totally different mentality than the NE or the Midwest, where families are and have been fans for generations, through good and bad. Not sure how the west coast is.
 

LS20

Banned
Jan 22, 2002
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ill root for whomever i want thanks. teams exist because of the fans , no matter how dedicated
 

ElFenix

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Mar 20, 2000
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i sent this into the voice of the Houston Texans, when the big discussion about people buying tickets to Texans games in order to boo the Texans and cheer Vince Young came up a while back:

The accident of 31 billionaires allowing a local billionaire to accept a half a billion dollar subsidy is no reason for me to be a fan.

he wrote back that he was sorry i felt that way.
 

TheoPetro

Banned
Nov 30, 2004
3,499
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take every steelers toolbag wannabe fan OUR OF NORTH EAST OHIO! thank god they did so bad this season. I only saw half as many rothelstoolbag jerseys while walking to class this year.
 

yllus

Elite Member & Lifer
Aug 20, 2000
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yllus's Hardcore Fan Rules

1. You may refer to a team as "we" only if you have played at least one game for said team.
 

chrisms

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Mar 9, 2003
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"2. Always root for your hometown team above all else, and the city you grew up in second. If you live in one city/state and cheer for another team in another city/state, you're a bandwagon fan and/or wannabe, and should be ridiculed as such. Be proud of where you live/grew up and support your hometown team. "

So if I grew up near Seattle, and moved to Denver, I should root for the Broncos. But then I should be proud of where I grew up and support the Seahawks. Your rules make no sense.
 

Conky

Lifer
May 9, 2001
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Beachboy's hardcore fan rule:

If you've ever bet money on them you have the right to call them your team. ;)
 

TheAdvocate

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Mar 7, 2005
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Originally posted by: chrisms
"2. Always root for your hometown team above all else, and the city you grew up in second. If you live in one city/state and cheer for another team in another city/state, you're a bandwagon fan and/or wannabe, and should be ridiculed as such. Be proud of where you live/grew up and support your hometown team. "

So if I grew up near Seattle, and moved to Denver, I should root for the Broncos. But then I should be proud of where I grew up and support the Seahawks. Your rules make no sense.

Sure they do. Just don't root for the Cowboys or the Patriots and you're fine.

Capeche?

One of my friends says I need an exception for the Pros for the star player that went to your school. Not sure that I agree.
 

TheAdvocate

Platinum Member
Mar 7, 2005
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Originally posted by: Beachboy
Beachboy's hardcore fan rule:

If you've ever bet money on them you have the right to call them your team. ;)

lol. touche.

then again, that might fall under "real stake in the team".
 

oogabooga

Diamond Member
Jan 14, 2003
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Originally posted by: Beachboy
Beachboy's hardcore fan rule:

If you've ever bet money on them you have the right to call them your team. ;)

Only if you won ;) If you lost you have the right to mock the team.


btw: I Cheer for teams from where I grew up :thumbsup: not where I live.
 

Linflas

Lifer
Jan 30, 2001
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Those rules are a load of crap. If you have continually rooted for a team without switching whenever their win/loss record doesn't suit you then you are not jumping on a bandwagon irregardless of where you live vs. where the team is located. And I totally agree with yllus when it comes to the use of "we" when refering to any sports team.
 

Pacemaker

Golden Member
Jul 13, 2001
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Originally posted by: TheAdvocate
Originally posted by: chrisms
"2. Always root for your hometown team above all else, and the city you grew up in second. If you live in one city/state and cheer for another team in another city/state, you're a bandwagon fan and/or wannabe, and should be ridiculed as such. Be proud of where you live/grew up and support your hometown team. "

So if I grew up near Seattle, and moved to Denver, I should root for the Broncos. But then I should be proud of where I grew up and support the Seahawks. Your rules make no sense.

Sure they do. Just don't root for the Cowboys or the Patriots and you're fine.

Capeche?

One of my friends says I need an exception for the Pros for the star player that went to your school. Not sure that I agree.

There is a difference between respecting or liking the player and being a fan of the team. I like Peyton Manning as a player, but if he's up against my home town team of the Bears, he's not getting my support.

Also, I now live in Tampa and have hated the bucs for years because they used to be in the Bears conference. Should I suddenly change this simply because I happened to move?
 

mugs

Lifer
Apr 29, 2003
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Originally posted by: TheAdvocate
Alumnus does mean graduated, after all.

No, it doesn't. It means you graduated or attended.

I think it sounds lame when you refer to your team as "we" regardless of where you live. ;)

I think it's a bit elitist to say you have to be a regular attendee at games to be worthy of saying it though. Tickets are expensive. Not everyone can afford them. In fact in some places the only people who can afford to go to the games are not the diehard fans.
 

Pacemaker

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Jul 13, 2001
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Originally posted by: Linflas
Those rules are a load of crap. If you have continually rooted for a team without switching whenever their win/loss record doesn't suit you then you are not jumping on a bandwagon irregardless of where you live vs. where the team is located. And I totally agree with yllus when it comes to the use of "we" when refering to any sports team.

Oh yeah and I agree with this. Also, there are many people how have other teams they like besides the team they REALLY like. Does that make them a bandwagon jumper to cheer for that team when their #1 is out?
 

DefDC

Golden Member
Aug 28, 2003
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Hehe.. I went to Ball State (Indiana) but grew up in Columbus, OH, but now live in South Bend, IN. (Notre Dame) I'm a Buckeye, by law, I think.... But I still like both other teams.

Living in northern Indiana, fairly close to Chicago is a trip right now, with the Colts/Bears Superbowl. Everyone's pretty happy around here right now!
 

brandonbull

Diamond Member
May 3, 2005
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Originally posted by: Pacemaker
Originally posted by: TheAdvocate
Originally posted by: chrisms
"2. Always root for your hometown team above all else, and the city you grew up in second. If you live in one city/state and cheer for another team in another city/state, you're a bandwagon fan and/or wannabe, and should be ridiculed as such. Be proud of where you live/grew up and support your hometown team. "

So if I grew up near Seattle, and moved to Denver, I should root for the Broncos. But then I should be proud of where I grew up and support the Seahawks. Your rules make no sense.

Sure they do. Just don't root for the Cowboys or the Patriots and you're fine.

Capeche?

One of my friends says I need an exception for the Pros for the star player that went to your school. Not sure that I agree.

There is a difference between respecting or liking the player and being a fan of the team. I like Peyton Manning as a player, but if he's up against my home town team of the Bears, he's not getting my support.

Also, I now live in Tampa and have hated the bucs for years because they used to be in the Bears conference. Should I suddenly change this simply because I happened to move?

That's why I hate the fan base in Tampa. Too many 1 game fans of another team. 15 games out of the year you are a Bucs fan and then instantly switch to some team from the city you moved from 15 years ago.

If you are planning on making the new city a long term residence, time to change teams.

 

slsmnaz

Diamond Member
Mar 13, 2005
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Originally posted by: TheAdvocate
Originally posted by: chrisms
"2. Always root for your hometown team above all else, and the city you grew up in second. If you live in one city/state and cheer for another team in another city/state, you're a bandwagon fan and/or wannabe, and should be ridiculed as such. Be proud of where you live/grew up and support your hometown team. "

So if I grew up near Seattle, and moved to Denver, I should root for the Broncos. But then I should be proud of where I grew up and support the Seahawks. Your rules make no sense.

Sure they do. Just don't root for the Cowboys or the Patriots and you're fine.

Capeche?

One of my friends says I need an exception for the Pros for the star player that went to your school. Not sure that I agree.

First off, being a fan has zero to do with what you wrote. You pick a team for different reasons and cheer thru good and bad. Where I went to school, many of the 100,000+ fans in attendance did not go to school there and many do not even live in the state. However they support the team/univ with their ticket $$ and their donations. Your "rules" just make you sound ignorant.

Many people in a state do not have a local pro team and choose to follow one where their fav player goes. For example, many in TN cheer for the Colts because of Peyton Manning. We did not have a pro team and the Colts have some very smart marketing people. Actually my fav player plays for the Broncos and I know many others who cheer for Denver just because he plays there.

You have proved your opinion on athletics should be considered crap from here on out.
 

UncleWai

Diamond Member
Oct 23, 2001
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There's no way you can ask me to root for any of the Seattle teams right now. Being a fan of loser teams sucks.
 

hdeck

Lifer
Sep 26, 2002
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So you're saying that since I graduated from UT, the only team I can cheer for and still be a "real fan" is UT? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Cheering for a team just because they are doing well makes you a bandwagon fan. Living in Houston, if I want to cheer for UH I'm going to do it, and I fail to see how it makes me a wannabe.
 

TheAdvocate

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Mar 7, 2005
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Originally posted by: Pacemaker
There is a difference between respecting or liking the player and being a fan of the team. I like Peyton Manning as a player, but if he's up against my home town team of the Bears, he's not getting my support.

I went to school with Peyton, met him several times. I'll root for the Colts from time to time, but don't consider myself a fan of the team. Just him.

Also, I now live in Tampa and have hated the bucs for years because they used to be in the Bears conference. Should I suddenly change this simply because I happened to move?

Interesting dilemna. Rivalry exception? Sounds like a good idea! Thanks. I didn't think of that.
 

Stuxnet

Diamond Member
Jun 16, 2005
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Originally posted by: TheAdvocate
2. Always root for your hometown team above all else, and the city you grew up in second.

WRONG

(agree with the rest)