It’s the playoffs.
Would you rather clinch the series on your home court/field in front of your own cheering, ecstatic fans, or on your rival’s court/field in front of their dejected, crushed fans?
Home court all the time. I think it is rather mean to just wish to see the other tea’s fans unhappy.
I seriously doubt most professional athletes are concerned about making other teams’ fans feel bad (unless we’re talking about Philly fans). I’d much rather clinch at home.
Opponent’s field, because they have an advantage there. I’m a do it the hard way kind of guy.
Do I get to hear the lamentations of their women?
As a fan, definitely home. I mean, if you can wrap it up away, do it, but it was so nice to see the Blackhawks win one in Chicago last year. Plus I was at the United Center in '97 when the Bulls won #5 against the Jazz, and that was just epic.
Home
Slight preference for home, but it really doesn’t matter to me. Winning is what matters. I couldn’t tell you where any of the Chicago sports championships were clinched that I was alive for.
One of my greatest sports memories was in the NFCCG January 1989 when the 49ers destroyed the Bears in one of the coldest games on record. One of the things that made that game so sweet for me is that nobody in Chicago was giving SF any chance of winning. Bill Walsh even appeared on a Chicago TV show the day before the game and the interviewers refused to even ponder that the 49ers might possibly win. Being that it was in Chicago against a “team of destiny” made the victory all more satisfying.
It seems to me the further you get into the playoffs, the more important the “win at home” answer becomes.
For the fan’s sake, it’s nicer to do it at home. I can see the appeal of humiliating your opponents on their home field and getting to hear the lamentations of their women if it’s a real RIVALRY, like Cubs-Cardinals or Spurs-Arsenal or something. Not so much if it’s just the team you happened to be matched up with in the playoffs.