Jim Sharkey wrote:
>
> You know, I have a theory regarding teams like the Yankees, Cowboys, and
> Celtics, teams with (admittedly) traditions of excellence in their
> respective sports. For our non-American friends, these are sports teams
> that are adored by some, and equally reviled by others in our country.
>
> My theory is that people don't really hate those teams directly. That is,
> they don't hate the Yankees, et. al., because they're teams deserving of
> hatred in and of themselves. Those teams are hated because of their fans.
> It's the attitude of the fans of those teams that spur others to revel in
> their occasional failures.
I don't know about that. I haven't met and conversed with a Yankees fan
who wasn't a nice person (maybe I've just been very lucky in the Yankees
fans I've met), but I hate the Yankees. I hate the Yankees because I
was raised a BoSox fan. 'Nuff said about that one.
I hate the Lakers because I was a Celtics fan in 1987.
I hated the Bears for over 10 years because of one lousy stinking
Superbowl.
I hate the Mets on account of the 1986 World Series. My friend who is a
huge Astros fan hates them for eliminating the Astros for the Series
that year.
These are all teams I hate because of what they did at one time or
another to a team in New England. I don't hate the players, I don't
hate the fans, I hate the team based on the history of team X defeating
"my" team. I'm not a huge Celtics fan anymore (I'm more of a Spurs fan
than anything else as far as basketball goes), but I still hate the
Lakers.
In fact, the only team in any sport that I hate for behavior on the part
of the fans is the Philadelphia Eagles, based on what they did when
Michael Irving got hurt in their stadium. (And am I a total pain in the
butt as a Cowboys fan? Be honest.)
Julia
