Jim Sharkey wrote:
>
> Julia Thompson wrote:
>
> >Jim Sharkey wrote:
> >>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.
> >
> >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),
>
> They might be nice people, Julia. But I've heard and known a fair larger
> number of them living in NJ, and I see the prevailing attitude of the
> Yankees' Manifest Destiny an awful lot.
>
> And don't even get me started on Cowboy fans in New Jersey. How the heck do
> you become a Cowboy fan, living in New Jersey???
Dunno. How do you become a Redskins fan living in California? Those of
my husband's co-workers who aren't Raiders or 49ers fans are Redskins
fans. They give him grief, and he gives them grief, as appropriate.
:) (BTW, my husband telecommutes. The office he's based out of is in
Alameda, CA.)
> >I hate the Yankees because I was raised a BoSox fan.
> >
> >I hate the Lakers because I was a Celtics fan in 1987.
>
> Inter-team rivalries do have an impact, no doubt. I have to give you these,
> Julia. You're talking about some bitter rivalries there.
>
> It doesn't explain why a Cubs fan still would hate the Yankees.
Maybe they're bitter because the Cubs have never won a World Series and
the Yankees have an annoying habit of winning them reasonably often?
I'm not saying this is why, but if I were a Cubs fan and hated the
Yankees, that might be my rationalization.
> >I hated the Bears for over 10 years because of one lousy stinking
> >Superbowl.
>
> Your own fault for rooting for the Patriots. :-D
My parents' fault for living in New England so that I might end up
rooting for the Patriots. ;) (I was pretty sure that in their more
recent Super Bowl appearance, they were going to lose, so I just rooted
for Green Bay to save myself the grief.)
> >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.
>
> All good examples, I'll grant.
>
> Maybe I've met the wrong fans, but most of the Cowboy/Yankee fans I've known
> are insufferably smug about their teams' successes. It's not to say that
> they are rude or unlikable people; their sense of "Title Entitlement" just
> seems to make other people root against their teams on principle.
>
> How many other teams can you see shirts that say "I root for Team X and
> whoever is playing the (Yankees or Cowboys, depending on what Team X is)?"
> It just can't be a coincidence. :)
All I know is having seen "My favorite team is the Red Sox and whoever
is playing the Yankees" shirts, and I think I've seen "My favorite team
is the Cowboys and whoever is playing the Redskins", but that's all I've
seen. Although you might get hurt wearing an anti-Cowboys shirt around
here, and it's my perception that people in Texas tend to hate New York
sports teams anyway, so my experience is probably extremely skewed.
> However, I will posit, then, a corrolary to my initial theory: Certain
> people resent success. The only thing worse than an arrogant fan of a team,
> is one whose arrogance is justified. The success of those teams does feed
> the resentment people feel. Possibly the two work together, so to speak, to
> generate the venom that is directed at those teams?
I'll buy the first sentence of the corollary no problem. As for the two
working together, that's a reasonable theory. I just haven't seen it as
badly as you apparently have.
> >(And am I a total pain in the butt as a Cowboys fan? Be honest.)
>
> No empirical evidence, I'm afraid. I mean, in the year+ that I've been on
> the list, sports has come up, what, maybe three times as a discussion longer
> than one or two e-mails? But I don't get that sense from you about the
> 'Boys.
>
> Still, I'm sure if I saw you in the silver and blue, as much as I like you,
> I'd still have to fight down the urge to give you the official New York
> wave. ;-)
I'm insufferable to watch the game with at times, I'm sure. I find
myself having to tone it down on Thanksgiving when we're watching with
Dan's relatives. Once the game is over and I've had an hour to express
whatever feelings about it I still have, I try not to be too nasty.
Although I'll gloat at my sister when the Cowboys beat the Redskins.
And she'll take it reasonably well, actually.
Oh, and I have a jersey. Blue on white. (The white jerseys are lucky
for Dallas.) Number 22. But I don't wear it unless there's a game on.
Julia
