Is It Okay To Be a Fan of More Than One Sports Team?

That's what I think, too. Patriots and Colts fans fall into that category, too.

I think that is the funniest thing you've ever written.

that is one of the best comments in site history, along with a couple of Pean's nerdy jokes, esp the Zero Wing one on a pats live blog

Damn laptop, meant to give that a +, not a -...

Don't be ridiculous.

Dude, drop the either the Pats or the Broncos... Damn Broncos bounced us out of the playoffs two years ago. You can't be a fan of both, that's messed up.

That guy is some lucky bastard.

I understand how a New England fan could not be a Bronco fan. However, a Bronco fan could be a Patriots fan. If we didn't usually beat the Pats, then I couldn't be a Pats fan.

we?

We. As in Bronco Nation (if there is such a thing).

What about Vikings state and Patriots Region? are we going to win the superbowl? are we in love with AP...

I disagree JuT. I think it's more like bigamy than anything else. Lots of us have affairs with other teams. I've liked the Mets since Pedro signed with them, but once he leaves, that fling will be over. In hockey, I like the Red Wings because they had Pavel Datsyuk (young Russian) and Igor Larionov (ancient Soviet) on the same roster. I hate Texas football, but when they played USC in the Championship, I was rooting for them hardcore because I loathe USC so much.

But these are flings. I don't consider myself a true fan of any of these teams. The Red Sox, Patriots and Bruins are the teams I'm married to. Even my watching of tonight's Celtics game was adulterous, because if they ever go back to losing again, I'm back to not caring about NBA basketball.

And Nap, your statement: "If we didn't usually beat the Pats, then I couldn't be a Pats fan." See that to me means you're not a Pats fan at all. To me, a fan is a fan always, barring some major calamity like the team moving, or being banned for life from the stadium. Fandom should be unconditional.

If the Patriots lose in the Super Bowl, it won't affect my loyalty. If they go 19-0, and say 10 years from now are a 2-14 team, I'll still be a fan. Will you? If the answer is "No" then you're not a fan. You like them, but you're not a fan.

But those are my two cents. And yes, that's a shit ton of words for two cents.

I think the comments below kind of answer this question. I root for all of them until they play one another, and then I have to make a choice.

And JuT, I like calling the Patriots' territory "The Dominion of the Patriots." Dominion's a cool word and it alludes back to colonial times when this area briefly became the Dominion of New York and New England.

I don't know how long I'll be a Patriots fan. If they lose the Super Bowl, I'll be as much as fan as ever. Ten or twenty years down the road, though, I can't say. As for the Vikings, I'll always be a fan.

It's sports fandom, not a binding legal contract. A person can root for whoever they choose, whenever they choose, for whatever reason they choose. People have the right to mock them mercilessly if their reasons seem stupid, but that's the fun of being a sports fan! None of it really matters so we can do what we want, because it's only sports! Loyalty is praised and bandwagon-jumping frown upon, but does that change how things are done? NO! Band-wagons will always exist and front-runners will always exist, so that jerks like me have people to make fun of! Honestly, I'm a hypocrite too. I am a Pats fan first, then a Bengals fan, and then an Eagles fan. It's been that way since I was 9. I'm not changing now because someone may make fun of me. Whatever, who cares. I was a Bengals fan for that entire down period. That makes me a better fan than any cowboys, colts, steelers, 49ers, or packers fans. It's my right to think that. Because it's only sports! Let's ease up a bit and have fun being a fan. Teasing, and taunting should be aspects of that but let's not take it so seriously. Every fan of every team has a reason to look down at fans of every other team, and that's awesome.

When the playoffs roll around, I choose the Broncos no matter what.

Unfortunately, they didn't make it this year, so I couldn't choose them anyway.

To further specify if my two MLB teams are playing in the World Series....The Cardinals and The Rangers. I pick the Cardinals everytime. I was born a Cardinals fan, I became a Rangers fan.

Yep. Like the Rockies and Red Sox in the World Series. I like both, but there's just no way for me to go against my own state. I had to root for the Rockies.

I like the Indians, but I'm not really a fan. In fact, I'm not a big baseball fan period. I mainly like football and hockey. The Broncos and Patriots are in the same conference, but the Broncos have the Patriots number. It's like rooting for your little sister.

Zing....

OK, here are a few of them. I dislike the Yankees, Giants (MLB), Dodgers, Padres, and Orioles. And the Chargers, Raiders, Chiefs, Colts, Bears, Dolphins, Jaguars, Falcons, Saints, Eagles, Steelers, Browns, Lions, Rams, 49ers, and Jets. And the Red Wings, Canucks, Stars, Kings, Ducks, Wild, Flames, and Devils. And the Lakers and Heat. I dislike just about anybody that beats one of my favorite teams.

I forgot to mention that I also hate the Clippers.

The Nuggets should have beaten them.

<sarcasm>kudos for taking him seriously there Nap</sarcasm>

I like them, I'm just not a big fan of baseball in general. My biggest interest in baseball is rooting against the Yankees.

There's a difference between liking a team and being a fanatic. I'm not a fanatic about baseball, period. That doesn't mean that I can't like some of the teams.

Call it whatever you wish. There's nothing disloyal or wrong about being a fan of more than one team in the same sport. It's very common.

I only jump on the bandwagons of likable teams, and only rarely even then. If I were a real bandwagoner, I would be a Yankee fan, and I hate the Yankees.

I was a bandwagon Bucs fan for one game, when they played the Raiders in the Super Bowl.

You just called it what it is right there "I only jump on the bandwagon of likeable teams" that is the defintion of a bangwagon fan, period. It's not wrong, just accept your label and the crap that comes with it from the true fans of teams. I'm sure Kelsdad wouldn't be very welcoming of you into the Yankee fold for example.

and you get bonus crap for flaunting your bandwagoning like it's the cool thing on the block. If your gonna bandwagon and not get shat, your gonna have to keep it on the down low

I haven't gotten any grief from Patriots fans. Most of them are probably bandwagon fans too. And I enjoy watching them win, just not as much as when the Broncos win.

You weren't a Bucs fan, you were a Broncos fan who wanted to see the Raiders lose, so you supported the enenmy of your enemy. You were jumping up and down for joy when the Bucs won, you didn't run out and buy a John Lynch jersey.

The only reason I flaunt my Patriot fanship is that most people seem to hate them. So I stick up for them.

That's like sticking up for the Bulls in the 90s, that makes to sense. Their resume speaks for them, that's why people hate - duh, cause their teams can't compete. Defending the 90s Jazz or the current NFL eqivelent Chargers would make sense.

Defending the Chargers makes no sense.

I stick up for the Patriots against the Colts. I hated it when people claimed that Peyton Manning was better than Tom Brady because I disliked the Colts.

Hmm, Peyton is better than Brady. Whenever Peyton threw three interceptions in a championship game, he lost. Maybe we should take a hint from Brady's piss-poor performance last week as an indicator that, holy shit, he must have a pretty damn good supporting cast to pick up the slack.

See? There you go again. You're making me more of a Patriots fan every time you say that.

Corey, you really can't talk about piss poor QB performances. Lets set the scene: It's a cold, sunday night at Lambeau. Tynes botches the game winning kick at the end of the 4th quarter, so the game heads to OT. The Packers win the coin toss. What does your pretend MVP do? He throws a bad pass while going down into double coverage that lead to a GW FG. The funny thing is it wasn't 3rd down, he should have just gone down. Btw, letting the Falcons, Giants, and Vikings win on the road @ Lambeau ain't exactly something to brag about. Not losing a home playoff game in his career, is.

"whenever peyton throw 3 interceptions, he loses"

How does that prove he's a better QB? That just means that he can't make up for bad passes, which is a reason why he isn't as good of a QB as brady.

0 for 3 so far today Corey, better luck next time

I started hating the Yankees in the mid-90s when they started winning. The more they won, the more I hated them.

People should learn by now, that arguing with Nappy (or mostly anyone on this site) is like being a one legged man in an ass-kicking contest.

The Yankees win and you hate them, the Patriots win and you like them? Sounds like a bandwagoner to me.

Well Kelsdad, that means that he must not hate them as much, right? What is it now? 7 years? ;)

Pro, becuase college gets too complicated, family ties, alma ties, location ties, spouse ties... so on and so forth, child ties.

Good point, then I would say one team per sport. How can you seriously be a fan of two teams? Honestly. It doesn't make any sense. So you like one more than the other depending upon where they rank in the standings? Definition of bandwagoner right there, folks.

I like one more than the other based on the fact that I'm from Colorado and root for all Colorado teams, whoever they're playing.

Dude, your favorite team changes more often than the No. 1 on Ryan Seacrest's Top 40.

My favorite team is, always has been, and always will be the Denver Broncos. Why do you think I have a John Elway avatar?

Who is strangely enough wearing the jersey of the time in Broncos' history when they couldn't win a Super Bowl...Who knows, man.

He wore that jersey for fourteen out of sixteen years, dude.

That doesn't exactly prove me wrong.

So what if he's wearing the jersey of a team that couldn't win the Super Bowl? It's still the Broncos. I don't see what your point is.

Well, you never talk about the Broncos. You do nothing but ass-kiss the Patriots. Super, you have John Elway as your avatar. How exactly does that prove your a Broncos Superfan. In fact, I'm convinced; if there was a picture of John Elway and Tom Brady making out, I'd expect that to be your avatar.

I defend the Patriots because they're constantly under attack. The Broncos are not. Still, I talked about the Broncos as much or more than anybody else in weekly NFL prediction articles.

I've also made my case for John Elway being the greatest QB of all time on several occasions, and will continue to do so.

Can somebody get me a link on this, the alcohol is clouding my memory?

Link for reference Pean-o

If his seven rules were law, I'm getting a life sentence!

How did I miss that the first time around?

Also See: [MetsJetsDevis], [cityhockeyfever], and [Pittsburgh Gunny]

I strictly follow the first article of Justin's Fanship Constitution.

I'm certainly not that!

I knew somebody was going to link that!

Next Wednesday, because I wanted to make sure Brady would be in the lineup after that scary foot injury... Kidding. I was actually just lazy, I mean, why do something this week that you can put off until next week?

Case in point that Ddub is still in college.

dude, I might have a bigger tecmo party than superbowl party

I'm officially inviting everyone over to my place for drinks and trail mix during the Super Bowl. We can even play Rock Band on the 360 for pregame and halftime entertainment.

That's easy to say coming from a bandwagon jumper.

This isn't about why I like the Patriots. I'll write about that some other time.

Do you have several favorite movies? Musical artists? Songs? Foods? Sexual positions? Vacation spots? No. And if you do, grow up and enter the real world.

Of course I have several favorites for most of those. I like The Patriot, We Were Soldiers, and Raiders of the Lost Ark about the same. I like Dick Dale, Johnny & the Hurricanes, and other artists about the same. I like several different songs about the same, and I don't really have single favorite.

Admitting you have several favorite sports teams is like self-diagnosing yourself with MPD. Sorry.

And this whole debate about whether or not you can like a favorite collegiate player after he's been drafted by a team you don't like, well, here's the answer: cheer for the player to score 35 points/rush for three touchdowns/hit for the cycle but don't give a shit about whether his team wins or loses. Like me and my fanship for Dwyane Wade during the NBA Finals a few years back. Good for him. Fack the Heat. I'm a Bucks fan, no matter how much they suck.

fan

noun an enthusiastic devotee, follower, or admirer of a sport, pastime, celebrity, etc.: a baseball fan. [Origin: 1885–90, Americanism; short for fanatic]

You guys interpret it however you want. The word is short for a fanatic. There are many teams I cheer for, but according to this definition, I am only a fan of the Packers.

. . . and I'm fine with that.

You know, there's a lot more to the meaning of a word than can be found in a dictionary. Fan is also short for fancier, which is nowhere near as intense as fanatic.

I have never once heard of Fan being short for Fancier. I could be wrong on that though.

That's a great point Rawbeezeitz. I honestly think that one has their own opinion about what the definition of a fan is. Maybe for someone, it's something that can be found in a dictionary. Maybe, from another persective, you need to expand on the dicitonary meaning. Maybe for someone, it's as simple as liking a person on a team. There are many ways you can interpret the word fan, so whoever says that they're a fan of a specific team, I will respect them for their decision, unless they are not loyal to their team, and minor concepts once I get to know how what they do to follow their team (in other words, how big of a fan are they?)

Steel Town, isn't it short for "fanny" now? ;)

Romo is the NFC version of Brady I might have to foe you ; - )

That is a great synopsis of your teams Meg.

I wouldn't consider me to be married to a team. I'd consider them family since I root for all of the teams that are located in my home state (Massachusetts): Red Sox (twin brother), Celtics, Pats (first cousins), BC (distant cousin), etc.

I root for the Cleveland Indians because of Grady Sizemore I used to live in Ohio before I moved Kuwait. I root for the Cubs because my best friend is from Chicago, and he's a White Sox fan. I just like to be on opposing sides of him. ;)

I'm an Orlando Magic fan because I'm a die-hard Dwight Howard fan.

All of these are my examples of comparing teams to my life. (Not that I have a twin brother)

Don't you hate both Brady's and Romo's teams (respectively), JuT?

Although I love the Red Sox, Pats, Bruins (forgot about them in my last comment), Celtics, etc., I must say that I am a MUCH MUCH MUCH bigger MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, NCAA football fan compared to them. I respect the sport more than I respect the team. I like players on teams other than the team I root for, and I truly enjoy watching a game where two teams I don't root for are involved in it.

the cowboys are the eagles rival...

I promise you, if you go to an Eagles/Cowboys game, you'd understand

Tommy Hutton and Chris Boniol Approve

Tom Hutton?

Tommy Hutton the punter...jesus...

I told you, if the cowboys and Pats were to meet in the playoffs, my head would explode...the Giants isn't much better

I'd probably root for the pats over the cowboys...its the cowboys fault i hate them, but its the pats' fans fault i hate the pats...

I'm agreeing withy you, JuT. But I'm just saying that you hate both teams, so isn't Romo the NFC version of Brady?

And Billicheck's, of course. Don't exlude him.

Romo is severely overrated...

I mean, do you see me actually telling you Tom Brady is bad? No, I've actually defended Brady...He's arguably a top 5 QB of all time (assuming all things hold true until the end of his career)

And if he puts up some more numbers like he did this year and gets a total of 5 rings (or more)...there's no debate, he'll be the Jerry Rice of QBs...

If Romo were the Tom Brady of the NFC, he'd have a ring right now...he'd have replaced bledsoe and taken the cowgirls to the promised land...instead he plays good half seasons and somehow gets to the probowl...

Remember, the eagles still have the best QB in the NFC ; - )

Romo would've also would've beat Eli FACKING Manning!

And the guy in the video wouldn't have been so pissed.

http://www.y...=K2triiYXSY8

Romo and Brady are two very different quarterbacks... in style and the way they carry themselves on and off the field... plus, Brady wins in the playoffs ;-)

Jut, don't even get started on the Cowbabies... I'm not in the mood

Who is in the mood?

thank God there aren't any big talking cowbabies fans on this site or I'd lose it (and no Romi, don't ask what "it" is ;-P) Cowbabies < Yankees ; and we all know it is bad when that happens

There are a lot of great Yankee fans that I know. I'm actually pretty good friends with about 3-4 of them. Some of them have great knowledge of the game and have been fans for a long time.. and through the '80s as well (when they didn't win a single World Series). That is why I believe people like Kelsdad are very loyal to their team, and I respect him for that. I haven't seen many Cowboys fans, but I've heard that they're pretty arrogant.

To be fair to Cowboys fans, I don't know any reall Cowboys fans, just these pieces of crap from Philly and South Jersey that are frontrunners "Cowboys fans"... we only hear from them when the Cowbabies are winning though (coincidence? I think not)... And yes, there are some great Yankees fans (Kelsdad for example)... heck, my best friend is a Yankees fan (we don't really talk about it though ;-))... but given the choice, I will always be rooting for any New York team to prove wrong the statement that "you have to win atleast one game"

I'm good friends with a Lakers fan AND a Pistons fan. Not anywhere close to a Yankee fan, and I'm not best friends with them, but at least they're loyal to one team, and they love one of the 3 sports that I love.

There's only 1 superpower!

There's only 1 superpower!

Talk about our mom and we're droping the BOMB,

We're a gold medal winning superpower!

Well said, Falcon. Well said. Like I said above, I root for many teams due to the fact that I like many of their players, I used to live there, etc. There are an endless number of reasons why you'd root for a team, but I feel that if you are a fan of two or more teams in a specific sport, you're not being loyal to your team.

Exactly, I will root of the Patriots in the Super Bowl because I hate the Giants... but, if Green Bay was playing, it would be different because I'm not a Patriots fan

You must be the only non-Patriot fan to be rooting for the Patriots in the SB. Of course, I think the Giants will win. Just like how the Angels, Indians, AND Rockies would beat the Sawx. ;)

just what Romi and myself were saying... for that I gave you a plus (which is probably the only time I've done that)

Oh yeah: Well, just ask a fan of one of these teams:

MJD, believe this: It is known here that I am a Red Sox fan. What many don't know is that my former favorite player (who was my favorite player before Dustin Pedroia) was Derek Jeter. Now does that mean I'm gonna root for the Yankees? Absolutely not. I like a player on every single MLB team. Literally ...

I have respect for Jeter, but that is all... when it comes to fantasy baseball though, its all another story

well, I had known my best friend (who doesn't follow sports that much, like a casual fan, I guess) for two years before I found out he liked the Yankees... we were like 10 and professional sports just wasn't (and still isn't) a topic we discuss... I can't just go and say "fack you, you spankees fan!" plus, its good to be objective and see other people's sides of stuff

Yeah, you absolutely cannot like rival teams, and in some cases it's also unacceptable to date a fan of a rival team.

If I cannot like a player on a rival team, then consider myself an MLB fan instead of a Red Sox fan, an NFL fan instead of a Pats fan, an NBA fan instead of a Celtics fan, etc. Why do you have to dislike all the players on your rival's team just because they play for that team (unless their attitiude changes when they're on the team or something)?

Chargers fans can hate too, my bad. I may have missed 1 or 2 others.

1. Bill Belichick stole the Coach of the Year from Mike McCarthy. 2. Tom Brady stole the MVP Award from Brett Favre.

1. 16-0 is stealing from a guy that went 13-3? If anything he stole it from Romeo Crennel! The browns went 10-6 that's coach of the year.

2. 50 TD's is stealing the MVP, again if anything he stole it from Moss.

0 for 2 try again.  :D

Yes corey, Bill Belichick, head coach of the 16-0 Patriots didn't deserve to win coach of the year. But at least the playoffs vindicated your opinions, particularly about Favre as MVP. I mean without him, the Giants aren't in the Super Bowl.

Jesus, doesn't anyone in New England have a sense of humor? Thank God the teams there are doing well otherwise suicides rates may be skyrocketing.

or if they weren't winning, it would be like the 1990s again ;)

Actually can my real reason to dislike the Patriots be their fans? Should we make a Locker Room about that? "Can you dislike a team just because of their fans?"

The implication that you were joking in this manner comes after the fact and I think it's a cop out. Yes, the adding no after I corrected you was uncalled for, but I cry BS on the "you were only joking" thing. All the crap thrown the Pats way have their fans far more insufferable than they otherwise would be. It's a mexican standoff, drop the cheating crap (because they took responsibility for their actions and paid their punishments) and we'll stop over-reacting to every attack upon our team? It won't happen, so come monday the 4th thousands of New Englanders will end up with nluckle tatts that read "nineteen" just to annoy the haters. (not me though, too wimpy for knuckle-tatts ;) )

=) I do what I can do when I can do it

Your right Rawbee, my whole point was that Nappy is a Bandwagon/Frontrunner fan. Yet he wants to reprsent himself as a fanatic and a diehard - which he most certainly isn't by definition. He made this post to somehow defend himself in being a bandwagoner.

I really don't care what kind of fan you are, I have friends who cover all these kinds of fans. But you have to accept who you are and take what comes with it if your going to be flambouyant; and you are going to get shit from me if you can't handle who you are.

My biggest pet peeve is when 1999 and later Manchester United fans act like they are lifers, when they have never come within 3000 miles of Old Trafford. I had to train my older brother to be a United fan, but be measured and not run his mouth like he knew everything about the club because he read the history part of their website. You have to know your role and accept it.

Im a Sox and Phillies fan, I think I'm safe

And fanatic comes from Latin fanaticus which means inspired by a god.

Your argument based on the etymology and origin of the word itself doesn't hold weight because words change meanings, and the connotation of a word is entirely subjective.

You have your own definition of the word "fan." So according to you, one cannot be a fan of multiple teams in the same sport. But you have to understand that everyone else is going to come up with their own definition of "fan."

Its turned into a good little debate/discussion (even though everyone is agreeing that Nap is a bandwagoner) but, yeah, essentially you are 100% right, Nap can not cope that he is Skip

I missed the whole Nap15 is skip bayless jr. thing. Can someone give me quick overview of this?

I came up with it a couple of weeks ago in a seperate convo between me, Kelsdad and Nappy

Just read some things that dumbass tries to say, then force yourself into watching cold pizza one morning, and you'll see it right away...

Code imprint:

{{Napoleon15 Fan}}

You may be right. I like the Patriots a lot though.

this hidden gem deserves a few plusses...

Too bad I missed this whole thing... I would've had some fun.

I picked out at least 5 money jokes I could've made throughout the conversation.

I think my definition of "fan" is looser than some people's definitions.

sounds like a personal problem...

Check the Lockerroom Nap, there was already a conversation today about loose

BINGO!

Nappy is like a teenage boy who gets a girl to suck him off and then says "I love you".

LA that is so wrong!! So very very wrong! Thumbs up!