Why do you like certain pro sports teams?

raiden031

Legend
I have been wondering this for years and have not received a convincing answer. The only logical reason I see for supporting a team is due to it being located where you currently live or where you grew up. But that is obviously not the only reason because I see people walking around with jerseys of every team out there, and they didn't all live in the city of that team.

Do people like them because they have success (winning championships)?What happens when they start losing?

Do people like them because they have a player that they admire? What happens when that player retires or is traded?

I was once a redskins fan but I find difficulty in supporting them these days because its almost a new team of players every season. They have made it to the playoffs maybe twice in the past 15 years, and I just don't care to watch football anymore. For some reason I have never been able to attach myself to the Ravens, who are only 20 minutes away and whom are alot more successful.

I can understand the love of college sports, especially if you attended the school or had family that attended. But with pro sports it seems the only common bond the people have to them is their location.

What other reasons are there to like certain pro teams?
 

DRtenniS1112

Semi-Pro
I used to play ice hockey with a kid that has been drafted into the NHL. Whatever team he is on will be my favorite.
Another reason is what the team stands for. For example, college hockey, my father likes Minnesota because all of their kids used to be from Minnesota. He thought it was neat that they took all local kids and were still that good.
 

ceejay

Semi-Pro
I like Real Madrid, and I reckon its down to their philosophy on the sport. Until recently, they bought all the best attacking players in the world to try and create a dream team, and score the best goals ever seen. Money didn't use to be an object, except when buying defenders. Defenders weren't entertaining, so they didn't buy any.

Obviously, they were great to watch. However, since their relative decline, I haven't seen as much of them... but I still pine for the days where they'd just splash millions every summer and buy some other superstar who could showboat all game. It was what football should have been.
 

Geezer Guy

Hall of Fame
My boss is catholic, and he's an avid supporter of Notre Dame.

I live in KC, so I'm a Chiefs and Royals fan. However, once I move away I doubt if I'll continue to support them.
 

Feña14

G.O.A.T.
I support Chelsea and always have done, there are alot of new fans now that come to Stamford Bridge who are just there because they are glory hunters, if Chelsea weren't as good as they are, you could guarentee that you wouldn't have alot of the fake fans that turn up these days. My Dad's from London so he has supported them all his life so naturally his son does too.

I think I would of probably been kicked out onto the streets if I had of said I was going to support any other side ;)
 

emcee

Semi-Pro
I like the Dallas Cowboys because when I was a kid watching, they were winning. Everyone liked them. Then they all became Packers fans, Rams fans, and Patriots fans, but I stick with my team. All the teams I liked were ones I chose as a kid for not good reasons (they were winning, my friends liked them, etc.) but then i just stuck with them.

It is convenient to like a local team though...
 
I really enjoy watching certain individual players in sports, so I like to watch their respective teams, but my favorites are the teams from Seattle, where I grew up.
 

Noveson

Hall of Fame
Sometimes it's individual players, sometimes it's their coaches, and sometimes it is the place. For me usually I just like the way the team plays the game, for instance the Colts because their high powered offense, and the Bears because of Urlacher and the defense. For college sports it is usually just the school for me, not how good the teams are.
 

Phil

Hall of Fame
I have never understood how ANYONE outside of the Dallas area could like the Cowboys. I can excuse the poor, ignorant souls who are trapped into living in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area (or were born there), but anyone else...WTF?

I like any team that is playing the Cowboys. "America's Team" my a**!
 

FitzRoy

Professional
I have never understood how ANYONE outside of the Dallas area could like the Cowboys. I can excuse the poor, ignorant souls who are trapped into living in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area (or were born there), but anyone else...WTF?

I like any team that is playing the Cowboys. "America's Team" my a**!

I've always hated them as well, but that's probably because they were winning every damn year at the time that I was getting into football more seriously (age 12-13 or so), and that bandwagon was way too crowded with obnoxious people.
 

emcee

Semi-Pro
I've always hated them as well, but that's probably because they were winning every damn year at the time that I was getting into football more seriously (age 12-13 or so), and that bandwagon was way too crowded with obnoxious people.

That's why I hated the Rams for a long time.
 

emcee

Semi-Pro
And I never bought into Dallas being "America's Team". I just liked them and still do. Has nothing to do with America.
 

CanadianChic

Hall of Fame
I am a very loyal fan and also very random. I will pick a team based on some obscure thought at the moment and stay with them. It has nothing to do with a particular player, per se, only a feeling of pride that I have when they win and I cheered for them, or especially when they lose and I cheered for them. Again, nothing to do with location, only a choice made and I am in for the long haul. I have a favourite hockey team, baseball team and tennis team (this one is actually due to nationality) and I stick with them through thick or thin.
 

Kabob190

Rookie
i am from california and i am a dolphins fan because of dan marino. when i was a kid first getting introduced to football my cousin was the largest niner fan i have met to this day. i liked the niners because of him. so i was turned on to football at a very young age. i was watching it before i could remember. i saw a game of the dolphins were marino was just baller, cant remember what game as i was a kid. then another. that was enough niners shifted to the number two spot. to this day i like the dolphins and niners are my second favorite. though both teams are coming out of a pretty bad slump i stayed a true fan and now it looks like glory time is in the near future, i hope.
 

10sfreak

Semi-Pro
I've liked the Cowboys (AMERICA'S TEAM!!!) since I was about 5 or 6, back in the late '60s. As kids, we played "cowboys and Indians," and nobody wanted to be the Indians, 'cause they were always the bad guys, and were always getting killed! That, and the fact that there were so many Washington Foreskin fans around me (I was living in Norfolk, VA. at the time) made me a Cowboys fan, and I've just stuck with them all these years. The mid-late '80s were rough, just as the late '90s until recently, but I still stuck with them. (Ok, I did put my "fanship" on hold while Dallas had Quincy Carter as the QB). IMHO, to turn my back on them just because they weren't winning would be tantamount to treason. After all, they are America's Team! (Btw, the "America's Team" moniker was from the NFL, NOT the Dallas Cowboys. It was based on the fact that Cowboys memorabilia outsold all the rest of the NFL teams combined. They were, in fact, the most popular team in football, with more fans all over the country than any other team.) And we're on our way back, baby!
 

Phil

Hall of Fame
I've liked the Cowboys (AMERICA'S TEAM!!!) since I was about 5 or 6, back in the late '60s. As kids, we played "cowboys and Indians," and nobody wanted to be the Indians, 'cause they were always the bad guys, and were always getting killed! That, and the fact that there were so many Washington Foreskin fans around me (I was living in Norfolk, VA. at the time) made me a Cowboys fan, and I've just stuck with them all these years. The mid-late '80s were rough, just as the late '90s until recently, but I still stuck with them. (Ok, I did put my "fanship" on hold while Dallas had Quincy Carter as the QB). IMHO, to turn my back on them just because they weren't winning would be tantamount to treason. After all, they are America's Team! (Btw, the "America's Team" moniker was from the NFL, NOT the Dallas Cowboys. It was based on the fact that Cowboys memorabilia outsold all the rest of the NFL teams combined. They were, in fact, the most popular team in football, with more fans all over the country than any other team.) And we're on our way back, baby!

I thoroughly enjoyed the fact that in the 70's and early 80's, each time they played the Cowboys-even in exhibition games-the Steelers physically demolished the Cowboys. It made my heart jump for joy...the Steelers players felt like I did, and they were able to act it out.
 

KBalla08

Semi-Pro
Im a fan of the:
Detroit Pistons (NBA)
Detroit Red Wings (NHL)
Detroit Tigers (MLB)
Detroit Lions (NFL) yes, even though they suck lol
Michigan Wolverienes

because i was born and raised in Michigan, and will always be their fans, even though I am in Texas now. I will never stop rooting for these teams, even if I dont go to UofM for college.

I am also a big fan of the Patriots because I liked Tom Brady so much when he was in college, and whatever team he went to I was going to be his fan, and lucky for him he went to a team where he won 3 Super Bowls.
 
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