Awwww…ism’s widdle Giants fan still upset? What’s it like being a fan of the team that had one of the biggest chokes in baseball history? Maybe if you got rid of those sissy cream jerseys you’d win something in 50 years. The baseball gods don’t look kindly on teams that think they’re too good for home whites.
Spurs fans know that he play’s for the other side.
The Arse.
The only team sport I follow closely is University of Washington football. This makes Washington State University the hated rival.
How to you get a WSU graduate off your front porch?
Pay for your pizza.
Finally! I knew we’d eventually get to UW vs. WSU.
Some questions for the Americans…
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Given that most of the teams you profess to hate are a very long way from the teams you love - do you go and watch your team away? If so how are you treated by the home crowd?
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How does your love/hate survive in a country where a team can change towns at the drop of a hat? (This has only happened once in England and it killed the moving club (actually it has happened twice - The Arse-anal keep getting moved on by the council for anti-social acts, they are about to relocate AGAIN to a rubbish tip)
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What about international rivals? The USSR or Canada at Ice hockey for instance? And does the non-international nature of most American sport (and don’t try and tell me about Japan and Baseball) leave you with any regret that you can’t have a weekend like we have just had in which our three major sports teams beat (or are about to beat) South Africa (cricket), France (Rugger) and Macedonia (Footie)?
Interesting questions, Owl. The following are only my opinions, but what the heck.
- I live in northeastern Ohio where “hated rivals” are within easy driving distance. Football is where fans get the most riled up at games and a Pittsburgh or Cincinnati fan who goes to Cleveland for a game can expect rough treatment. A wise fan on the road either goes with a group for protection or roots very quietly. I’ve never been to Pittsburgh for a game, but I’ve seen numerous fights in the stands in Cleveland between Browns and Steelers fans at the old Cleveland Stadium. Security is much tighter at the new Cleveland Stadium so I think fist-fights are policed much better, but I still wouldn’t recommend a Steeler or Bengal fan go to a game at Browns’ stadium.
Also, I’m a Notre Dame fan and I’ve been to see the the Irish play at Michigan in Ann Arbor MI, at Michigan State in East Lansing MI, at Pittsburgh and at Ohio State in Columbus OH. The fans in Michigan, Michigan State and Pitt were very nice to visitors, while the fans in Columbus were not. One Ohio State fan even mocked me because Ohio State’s stadium held 20,000 more fans than Notre Dame’s does, which is a rather silly thing for anyone, even a sports fan, to get riled up about.
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Love/hate survives for fans even though teams move because frankly, the teams may move but if there is a big enough fan base that will pay for a new stadium, such as in Baltimore, Cleveland, St. Louis and Oakland for football and Milwaukee, Kansas City and New York City for baseball, the team will be replaced by a new one in relatively short order. NYC lost the Giants and Dodgers in 1958, and gained the Mets in 1962, and the newly christened NY Mets fans picked right up hating the teams they’d hated before. Similarly the new Cleveland Browns fans went right back to hating Pittsburgh and Cincinnati plus now hating, Baltimore, which was where the old Cleveland franchise moved.
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Intenational rivals don’t come into it at all. We have no need to have a rivalry with Canada or Mexico (or Japan or Ireland).
Red Sox fan - The Yankee$ must lose.
49er Fan - I’ve hated the Giants ever since Leonard Marshall planted his helmut into my beloved Joe Montana’s back. I also hate the Packers and the Cowboys.
For all you Yankee haters here’s a link to a very funny
Onion feature…