# Introducing Sports Teams **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [June 11, 2023, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/introducing-sports-teams/985312 "2023-06-11T01:53:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/introducing-sports-teams/985312/1 "2023-06-11T01:53:10Z")
I watched some of the third Stanley Cup hockey game. They introduced the away team in a fairly succinct way, while the crowd booed each player vociferously. Then they introduced the home team, spending about twice the time, using more lighting and theatrical effects, saying “your” team, while the crowd went crackerhoop. Though I don’t care about either team, it struck me as a sucky and unsportsmanlike thing to do. More suited to a fixed wrestling match than a playoff final. I think both teams should be largely introduced the same way. And booing should be reserved for those who might merit that. I also wondered what the most unsportsmanlike introduction an away team has received in modern times. Is this a broad trend in a less mannerly age? Or does one just expect little from people from Florida? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/introducing-sports-teams/985312/2 "2023-06-11T03:31:08Z")
Giving the home crowd something to boo about has always been a part of professional sports. These aren’t eight-year-old junior hockey players we’re talking about. They can take the booing, and some probably enjoy it. I’ve seen the same thing happen at regular season baseball, football, and basketball games, and fortunately, booing is usually as far as it goes and nobody gets hurt. Now think about what happens at European football or rugby matches both inside and outside the pitch and you might agree that some good-natured booing is far from the worst thing a home crowd can do to a visiting team’s players and fans. That’s really unsportsmanlike to me. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/introducing-sports-teams/985312/3 "2023-06-11T12:10:30Z")
What’s you’re describing would be fine for the Olympics but just about every other competition features the home team as the ‘good guys’ and the visiting team as the ‘bad guys’ Although, in Florida with so many transplants, you’ll often find half the fans cheering for the visiting team! Not the case last night, the Florida fans may be fair weather, but there’s not a huge Vegas to Florida pipeline excluding OJ Simpson! As far as going too far, I do remember this incident from college football. [Alabama PA Plays 'Take The Money And Run' And 'Son Of A Preacher Man' For Cam Newton - SB Nation Atlanta](https://atlanta.sbnation.com/georgia-bulldogs/2010/11/26/1837537/alabama-take-the-money-and-run-son-of-a-preacher-man-cam-newton) The PA announcer got fired. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/introducing-sports-teams/985312/4 "2023-06-11T12:36:33Z")
Just part of the home field advantage. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/introducing-sports-teams/985312/5 "2023-06-11T14:49:38Z")
Yeah, I’d prefer home announcers to announce the player lineups the same way. It seems juvenile and inane to do otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/introducing-sports-teams/985312/6 "2023-06-11T14:54:03Z")
I don’t care what the crowd does. Or the announcer appealing to the home crowd. But the introductions of each team should be roughly the same. I’m sure professional players can take it. But with civility already becoming a rarer thing, professional leagues set an example for amateur ones and for youth leagues. Is there a point at which it becomes too much? There seem to be lots of examples of unsportsmanlike behaviour in the news at lower levels. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/introducing-sports-teams/985312/7 "2023-06-11T15:28:02Z")
I got to say some of this stuff is in the same league as only letting fans with local area codes by tickets for the first week of sale. Not every sport need devolve into wrestling theatrics. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/introducing-sports-teams/985312/8 "2023-06-11T15:31:03Z")
Guess I’m old fashioned. Get offa my lawn! ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/introducing-sports-teams/985312/9 "2023-06-11T15:44:35Z")
The Bulls during the Jordan era used to do a whole thing. It’s not new. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Zn6kiimEsYc/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AH-BIAC4AOKAgwIABABGFUgZShOMA8=&rs=AOn4CLDVjpF1blONzWGtC9rDGck4Q6E1AA "Chicago Bulls Introduction - 1997 NBA Finals Game 6") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zn6kiimEsYc) ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/introducing-sports-teams/985312/10 "2023-06-11T15:54:30Z")
I don’t think it’s new. Maybe the ancient Athenians used to boo the Spartans. Crowds expressed their views on gladiators. But in Florida they beat up mascots. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2023, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/introducing-sports-teams/985312/11 "2023-06-12T00:13:21Z")
I’m gobsmacked that anybody would still consider this worthy of comment in 2023. Hyperbolic home-team player introductions have been all but universal at every sports venue, pro or college, for the last ten or twenty years. As noted the Chicago Bulls were the first team to become famous for it, during the Michael Jordan years (late 80’s through 1998). I suspect they weren’t the first team to do it, but as I say, they were the first that I know of to _become famous for it_. In sports, as in life, things that are popular and get attention tend to get copied. Enhanced high-definition video and arena lighting made it easy to one-up the next team. By the year 2010, at the latest, this type of pregame audio and video was all but universal. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2023, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/introducing-sports-teams/985312/12 "2023-06-12T00:16:27Z")
Red Wings were doing it, too, back around 1997-2000, at one of their peak times in recent history. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2023, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/introducing-sports-teams/985312/13 "2023-06-12T00:17:33Z")
So if this has been an increasingly accepted practice for three decades, say, would you say things have in general become more civil and sportsmanlike during that time? Many things happen in sport that generate far more comment and attention than they merit. I’m not persuaded this is one of them. I’m not persuaded this is all for the good. I didn’t like reading Canadian fans were not allowed to purchase away game playoff tickets, since all is apparently fair, so stacking the stadium is so acceptable and reasonable and commonplace that one might not reasonably hold a contrarian opinion. So where did that idea begin? If only having home team fans in the stadium is reasonable, what is not? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2023, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/introducing-sports-teams/985312/14 "2023-06-12T01:19:37Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > would you say things have in general become more civil and sportsmanlike during that time? Or you could say things got more fun for the home crowd. It puts bums in seats. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2023, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/introducing-sports-teams/985312/15 "2023-06-12T01:26:17Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > would you say things have in general become more civil and sportsmanlike during that time? Yes. Players make a lot more money, and are more likely to interact outside the sporting arena. In the NFL, there’s a group of Tight Ends who all train together. Players may attend other’s charity events. They may have the same agent. Back in the day, Jackie Robinson _retired_ rather than play for the Giants. In the 1970s NBA, Kermit Washington broke Rudy Tomjanovich’s skull. Hockey was far more brutal when being a “goon” was a legit role for a player. The theatrics don’t contribute to unsportsmanlike conduct, in my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2023, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/introducing-sports-teams/985312/16 "2023-06-12T02:10:58Z")
Those are fair points. But athletes are role models even if they do not wish it. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2023, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/introducing-sports-teams/985312/17 "2023-06-12T03:27:20Z")
But you’re not complaining about the athletes, you’re complaining about the PA announcer. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2023, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/introducing-sports-teams/985312/18 "2023-06-12T03:29:36Z")
Yes, fair enough, though it’s not just the announcer. And the defence of athletes themselves becoming more sportsmanlike and professional over time, while debatable, also does not apply to the announcer. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2023, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/introducing-sports-teams/985312/19 "2023-06-12T15:38:44Z")
The home announcer is more enthusiastic about introducing the home team, and that’s a bad thing? ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2023, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/introducing-sports-teams/985312/20 "2023-06-12T15:46:27Z")
No. But extreme differences in enthusiasm could be tacky and unsportsmanlike. A playoff in a serious sport is not the same as Hulk Hogan wrestling Bob Marcus. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/introducing-sports-teams/985312.md?page=2)