Do you really hate a sports team? If so, which one?

[Least_Original_User_Name_Ever]

Out of the 4 major sports, here’s the list:

Baseball: The Yankees. I think that some of their fanbase is interesting and knowledgable, but unfortunately, they’re saddled with SUCH a bandwagon wing of their fanbase, it really taints it all. Again, if I could go door-to-door and raise money to make the Yankees go 0 and 162 for every year I’m living, I’d happily do it.

Football: I hate the Cowboys. I’ve also started to develop a little hate for the Redskins as well ever since I was there for the game in which they thrashed the Lions and some of the fans were oh so gracious. Actually, some were very nice…most were. But there were some kids that were there and younger than we were trying to give us shit. We were like “Yeah, but we can buy beer, you little snot.”

Basketball: The Bulls and the Heat. Really, I dislike the superstar du jour and how the rules flex around that player. For years I never bought anything Nike because I hated Michael Jordan that much.

Hockey: I think it’s in my blood to hate the Original Six teams, but when it comes to the playoffs, those go away and I want to see all of the Original Six.

College: Notre Dame and USC.

[kidchameleon]

@racer72

Wouldn’t it be easier to just hate Chris Berman? That’s what I did.

Not as long as Greg Gumble, Dick Vital and Joe Theisman are still around. There’s only so much hate I can have for announcers.

[dogbutler]

@Rysto

As a fellow Sens fan, the answer for me is the Buffalo Sabres. I loathe the Sabres. They’re such whiners. They cry about everything. About a year ago Chris Neil drilled their captain with a completely legal hit. Oh, but Drury was a star player, and Neil just a goon, as and we all know that it’s against the rule to throw body checks against the stars. So in response, their coach sends out a trio of meatheads to attack Ottawa’s best players(and by attack, I mean grabbing them and throwing punches at their heads until the scrum was broken up). They even sent a player to attack our goalie! The most disgusting thing was how the Sabres came out and accused Ottawa of attempting to injure players. Excuse me? We’re not the ones sending goons out to fight stars.

There was also a completely classless incident during the last playoff series between the two teams. In one game, Ottawa’s captain and best player threw an admittedly illegal hit on one of the Buffalo players. He should have been given a minor penalty on the play but the refs missed the call. The Buffalo player was shaken up a bit but didn’t miss so much as a single shift. After the game Buffalo cried loudly for a suspension on the play, and went as far as to say that the it was doubtful whether the Buffalo player would play in the next game. Of course, the whole thing was a total lie and was a transparent attempt by the Sabres to get Alfredsson suspended for a game; the Buffalo player played in every game in the series and wasn’t even hobbled, let alone unable to play(Lindy Ruff clearly attended the Pat Quinn school of being a completely classless asshole).

Buffalo also has well-deserved reputation as being the worst group of divers in the league. They clearly take inspiration from European soccer. And despite what a certain peacock-clothed CBC commentator might say, it’s their North American players who are the worst offenders.

The good news is that, as good as Buffalo is at drafting talent, their management is completely incompetent at retaining it. They managed to lose both of their best players in the offseason despite both being willing to sign for below-market value a year ago and managed to overpay their third-best player. Now they’re well on their way to losing their top offensive defenceman at the end of this season. They don’t do quite as good a job as messing up their team as the Leafs, but they do try.

I also hate the Buffaslugs. Between the crying and diving, and the drunken Slug fans that invaded the RBC Center in '06, there’s not a lot to like.
Honorable mention: New Jersey Devils(Scott Stevens, anyone?)

-dogbutler, Carolina Hurricanes fan.

[EllisDee]

Eagles, Ravens, and now Chargers.

I actually root for the Cowboys and Redskins in a “pride of the division” context. Never the Eagles.

[jsc1953]

@JpnDude

Since I’m a life-long Dodgers fan, I loathe the San Francisco Gints (not a typo). I grew up in the LA area and went to university in the Bay Area. When I attended games at Candlestink (again, not a typo), I would always root for the team playing against them.

As a lifelong Giants fan, I hate you right back.

Lastly, being a Cal alumni, I hate Stanfurd’s and sUCkLA’s sports teams (no typos). I think I still have the shirt I wore to some college games. It reads in the front, “UCLA Sucks!” and in the back, “But Stanfurd Swallows!” GO BEARS!

As a Cal alum…uh oh. Go Bears!

I hate USC. Despise their fans, their arrogance, their sense of entitlement, their domination of the Pac-10, and especially their band.

[jsc1953]

@jsc1953

I hate USC. Despise their fans, their arrogance, their sense of entitlement, their domination of the Pac-10, and especially their band.

@airblairxxx

But Stanford and Cal are so cute, so unthreatening. They’re the Zac Efrons of the Pac-10. Cal thinks they have a rivalry with us, but a long time ago we knocked them to the ground, took their colors and fight song, and doinked their girlfriends.

You see?!! See what we have to put up with??? God, I can’t wait until Pete Carroll abandons your team to the wrath of the NCAA and jumps ship for the NFL.

I kid. All in good fun.

No, I don’t.

[Queen_Bruin]

@jsc1953

You see?!! See what we have to put up with??? God, I can’t wait until Pete Carroll abandons your team to the wrath of the NCAA and jumps ship for the NFL.

I kid. All in good fun.

No, I don’t.

Pete Carroll coaches for USC; Airblairxxx went to UCLA. We already fired our coach and got a new one.

[Freddy_the_Pig]

Have I mentioned lately that I hate the Chicago Cubs? Probably, but it never hurts to mention it again.

[jsc1953]

@Queen Bruin

Pete Carroll coaches for USC; Airblairxxx went to UCLA. We already fired our coach and got a new one.

Ah. Hence the “stole their fight song” reference. All you SoCal types look alike to me.

[Diogenes_the_Cynic]

I hate the Packers. If the Packers were playing al Qaeda, I’d root for al Qaeda.

I am enjoying the game today so far.

[Diogenes_the_Cynic]

Well, it was going good for a while there. Now the officials have had to step in and take matters into their own hands. The League wants Favre in the Superbowl. The zebras obviously have their orders to take care of the Packers.

[Kid_A_1]

@Diogenes the Cynic

Well, it was going good for a while there. Now the officials have had to step in and take matters into their own hands. The League wants Favre in the Superbowl. The zebras obviously have their orders to take care of the Packers.

Ha! Maybe if they didn’t botch the placement the first time.

[mamboman]

The Indian Nation Cricket Team, and their supporters.

India are playing Australia out here in a Test Cricket series. In the first game, Australia absolutely hand it to India - they humiliate them (which is what Australia does) and expose to the world that India is a team riddled with division, poorly led and full of players who look very good playing for draws on flat pitches back home but are sadly out of their element playing on the more balanced pitches out here.

Australia’s win is #15 in a row - the world record is 16, also held by Australia.

So India slump off to Sydney, and the wheels really fall off for them. They have Australia in a tight corner by day 1, but the Aussies fight back and again, heavily trounce the frankly nowhere near good enough Indians to win test #16 on the trot.

Now, the Indians go berserk. They have an issue with the umpiring having got a couple of bad calls during the game (the Australian got some bad calls too, but you don’t hear them complain because that’s not our team policy). Furthermore, during the game, one of their players racially abuses an Australian player, is found guilty for it and suspended for 3 games. The Indians, judging by quotes form their star player Tendulkar and Board Chairman, don’t think that racial abuse deserves to be punished (despite it being a Federal crime here in Australia), so this adds to their hubris.

So the Indians lock themselves up in their hotel room and threaten to go home. The Australian public says “so what”. The Indian Cricket Admin, as well as their fans, change tack and start accusing the umpires not of incompetence, but of cheating and start accusing Australian players of being in on it.

The reaction from the Australian public starts to turn ugly. The press starts suggesting its time India did indeed go home.

The Indians do the maths, see themselves short $25 mil from the tour cancellation, and skulk out of Sydney to continue the tour.

The next game is in Perth, on a greentop wicket which will very much suit Australia’s fast bowlers. These are people it is a good idea not to piss off (in cricket, unlike baseball, it is quite acceptable to try and hit the batsman with the ball). The Australian public is thoroughly sick of these whining, petulant Indians. The Australian team has had it’s honour and honesty called into question by a team desperate to find any distraction from having to face up to its own inadequacies.

Win #17 looks like a good thing.

So the Indian cricket team disgusts me and a good many other Aussie cricket fans.

[PharmBoy]

Mhendo;

Fellow Baltimorean here.

Of, course, I share your loathing of the Yankees. However, there is no team I hate more than the Indianapolis Colts, the f*ckers who, in the dead of night slunk away on their belly with the proud history of a made-in Baltimore team. I really hope they get to play New England, and I hope they get destroyed. DIE, Colts, DIE!!!

<attempts to regain composure>

Okay, I’m fine now.

[Queen_Bruin]

@jsc1953

Ah. Hence the “stole their fight song” reference. All you SoCal types look alike to me.

:dubious: You should at least be able to tell the difference between a tean in your own system vs. one that is not.

But then maybe not being able to see past the Bay Area is a Berkeley trait.

[flickster]

@Diogenes the Cynic

I hate the Packers. If the Packers were playing al Qaeda, I’d root for al Qaeda.

I am enjoying the game today so far.

Hey Dio, How’d that work for ya?

[The_Understander]

@Diogenes the Cynic

Well, it was going good for a while there. Now the officials have had to step in and take matters into their own hands. The League wants Favre in the Superbowl. The zebras obviously have their orders to take care of the Packers.

I feel your pain, brother.

I have a feeling the Cowboys will ‘take care’ of the Packers too, if you know what I mean.

(When NFL golden boy meets NFL golden boy…)

[What_Exit]

@PharmBoy

Mhendo;

Fellow Baltimorean here.

Of, course, I share your loathing of the Yankees.

I have an odd question for you and Mhendo.

Overwhelmingly Orioles’ fans hate the Yanks first in baseball. You know that overwhelmingly it is the Red Sox that Yankees fans hate. How does it feel to not actually be the rival of the team you hate?

I just got thinking about this and I realized that despite being a Giant fan and hating the Cowboys, we are rarely the most hated team for any Cowboy fan and so it feels a little weird to me.

Yankees vs. Red Sox, Cubs vs. Cards, Dodgers vs. Giants are true and ancient rivalries where the hatred runs strong both directions.

I am wondering if the fans of teams that consider the Yanks their arch-rivals feel weird that it is not reciprocated?

Jim

[drm]

@Diogenes the Cynic

I hate the Packers. If the Packers were playing al Qaeda, I’d root for al Qaeda.

I am enjoying the game today so far.

I’m getting to the point where I hate the Packers as well and for me it isn’t even the packers fault. It’s ESPN and everyone who slurps Favre every second sentence.

My ultimate nightmare would be to have Green Bay vs. New England in the superbowl. They should just get it over with and have the play by play announcers blow Tom Brady and Brett Favre before the game.

It gets tiresome, that’s all I’m saying.

[mhendo]

@What Exit?

I am wondering if the fans of teams that consider the Yanks their arch-rivals feel weird that it is not reciprocated?

Not really. And, as far as i can tell from other Orioles fans, none of them care very much either.

Also, the way i’ve seen some Yankees fans act at Camden Yards, it seems that some of your compatriots don’t necessarily share your ennui regarding the Orioles.

Finally, let’s face it, the degree of hate that sports fans have for another team is often (at least partly) a function of that team’s success. Look at some of the most hated teams in this thread—Yankees, Cowboys, Lakers, Patriots. All teams with (quite recent) periods of considerable success.

If the Yankees for some reason went into a prolonged decline, battling the Devil Rays for last place in the AL East every year, i’m willing to bet that plenty of Yankee-haters would, over that same period of time, develop a certain amount of indifference. It’s hard to really get your hate on for a team that sucks. Which probably also partially explains your indifference to the Orioles.