My loyalty to the Titans is being tested

#1
IPorange

IPorange

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#1
The problem with being a fan of a "new" team based in a city I never lived in is I don't have a lot of roots put down on them.

After growing up and being a bandwagon fan of the Packers due to Reggie White and, honestly, because I was 8 and they were winning a lot, I switched to being a Tennessee Oilers fan without blinking. It was exciting having a team repping one of the states a parent lived in (New Mexico, Idaho, and Alaska aren't getting an NFL franchise any time soon).

From eighth grade through high school, I wore Titans gear, admired the "toughness" of Eddie George and never-say-die attitude of McNair. (I thought about erasing that lest someone think I was meaning it in poor taste, but I can't think of a better way to describe the aura he had in those days)

But now, all vestiges of that early time are gone. The franchise is owned by a man who, respectfully, may be too senile to hold the reins. And I don't live in Tennessee any more. And I have no loyalty to Nashville. I can't name a player I'm crazy about on the whole roster right now, as a person or as a football player.

I'm having a crisis of NFL faith. Though my heart wanders, my eyes do not. I can't think of another team I'd rather follow. The Packers were just a youthful infatuation. People from Wisconsin annoy me, and the fatties wearing Green Bay jerseys around Denver that have crawled out of the wood-work disgust me.

I used to admire the Broncos... Do I force myself to convert, now that I live here?

Or do I have to stick it out with the Titans, despite their complete turnover from those early days?
 
#2
#2
Sounds like you were a fan of the players, not the franchise. Which is the case for many.

You live in Denver, therefore if you were to have a team, the Broncos it should be.
 
#3
#3
I am shocked and apalled that someone would consider changing their NFL allegiance.

There are some advantages in pulling for the local team. Just don't run out and buy a Tebow jersey.
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#6
#6
I get where you are coming from IP. Wycheck, Dyson, Bishop, Kearse, Carter,L.Neal, Matthews, that is just a few more great players from that era in Titan history.

I know what you mean. Seems like our standout player right now is Rob Bironas.
But you can't leave them now...I don't think you have much of a choice. :)
 
#7
#7
vader said:
I am shocked and apalled that someone would consider changing their NFL allegiance.

There are some advantages in pulling for the local team. Just don't run out and buy a Tebow jersey.
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Wait a damn minute, since when are you a Cowboys fan?
 
#8
#8
I adopted the Titans as my "other" team for a long time, simply because they were close. After years of terrible front office decisions, and the crap they pulled with McNair, I was over it.
 
#9
#9
emainvol said:
I adopted the Titans as my "other" team for a long time, simply because they were close. After years of terrible front office decisions, and the crap they pulled with McNair, I was over it.
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Yes, this is where I am coming from. This isn't a whim or recent thing. It's just that I am tired of watching this death spiral from a time when it was a competitive franchise to now when it seems hell-bent at staying a .500 club.
 
#11
#11
tigervol9802 said:
Go with your youthful vigor of the Packers.
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Strangely enough, I'd consider if they hadn't just won the super bowl. I'm not interested in front-running. I don't need a team to make me feel better about myself.

Not saying you are doing that, I'm just saying you are about to have more bandwagon fans than you can stand, as I think Green Bay is just getting started.
 
#12
#12
You stick with your team. Atleast, that's what I believe in. I certainly don't like the direction the franchise is heading but that's how it is sometimes. I didn't like the Dooley hire but I'm still as invested in the team as i always am.
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#15
#15
volball625 said:
You stick with your team. Atleast, that's what I believe in. I certainly don't like the direction the franchise is heading but that's how it is sometimes. I didn't like the Dooley hire but I'm still as invested in the team as i always am.
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My college loyalties don't waiver, even when we have cheating coaches and felon players. This is different. I don't have a strong tie to the Titans. Never really did-- except to the coach and players, which are no longer there.

Professional sports teams are like corporations, and I have trouble forming meaningful loyalties to corporations. If I had lived in Nashville, it might be different.


The more I think about it though, I'm just going to stick it out. I just kind of know how Raiders fans feel, now.
 
#16
#16
IPorange said:
My college loyalties don't waiver, even when we have cheating coaches and felon players. This is different. I don't have a strong tie to the Titans. Never really did-- except to the coach and players, which are no longer there.

Professional sports teams are like corporations, and I have trouble forming meaningful loyalties to corporations. If I had lived in Nashville, it might be different.


The more I think about it though, I'm just going to stick it out. I just kind of know how Raiders fans feel, now.
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You know me. There's your tie to Nashville.
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#17
#17
Usually it's wherever i'm from is who i have interest in. From about 1982 til 1996 i liked Washington, still kind of have a rooting interest in them but Dan Snyder has sucked most of the enthusiasm i had for them out of me. Joe Gibbs had that deal rolling back then and they just haven't been able to get it back since, may not.

As far as the Titans go, i'll be honest with you if they were named the Nashville Titans i'd probably still cheer for Washington with a mild interest in the Titans. They're named Tennessee though so i really can't root against them.

I don't follow players around. It's nice to see them succeed, but they move around too much so that to me just wouldn't be worth it and the definition of a band wagon fan.
 
#18
#18
I wouldn't worry about Tebow. It doesn't seem like any of the Broncos legacies are high on him.

In fact it seems like the only guy with the Broncos who was sold on Timmy boy was run out of town a few months back.
 
#19
#19
Cartervol said:
Usually it's wherever i'm from is who i have interest in. From about 1982 til 1996 i liked Washington, still kind of have a rooting interest in them but Dan Snyder has sucked most of the enthusiasm i had for them out of me. Joe Gibbs had that deal rolling back then and they just haven't been able to get it back since, may not.

As far as the Titans go, i'll be honest with you if they were named the Nashville Titans i'd probably still cheer for Washington with a mild interest in the Titans. They're named Tennessee though so i really can't root against them.

I don't follow players around. It's nice to see them succeed, but they move around too much so that to me just wouldn't be worth it and the definition of a band wagon fan.
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well to be fair, a bandwagon fan (definition-wise) is rather more someone who starts supporting a team only when they're successful or most successful (like if someone became a packers fan after last sunday) and then tends to disappear when they're not

rather than following as a fan of certain players...it'd be more the kid at my high school who wore a miami hurricanes hat everywhere from the end of the 01-02 up until their loss against OSU in the 03 fiesta bowl, after which he never wore the hat again

....that kind of thing
 
#20
#20
IPorange said:
Strangely enough, I'd consider if they hadn't just won the super bowl. I'm not interested in front-running. I don't need a team to make me feel better about myself.

Not saying you are doing that, I'm just saying you are about to have more bandwagon fans than you can stand, as I think Green Bay is just getting started.
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I don't doubt that in the least. I'm personally enjoying my friends who went and bought their purple and yellow #4 jerseys who suddenly have been die hard Packers fans again over the last month. And yes I've called every one of them out on it.

You live there, go with Denver.
 
#22
#22
Ya, I'm sticking with the Titans. A friend offered for me to try on his Broncos hat. I couldn't do it.

God help me, I'm a Titans fan and it is apparently a chronic ailment. My NFL future is dark with doom and deep with future tears of futility. So be it. I embrace the starless night. Go Titans.
 
#23
#23
IPorange said:
From eighth grade through high school, I wore Titans gear, admired the "toughness" of Eddie George and never-say-die attitude of McNair. (I thought about erasing that lest someone think I was meaning it in poor taste, but I can't think of a better way to describe the aura he had in those days)
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Well, what you described is the closest thing the Titans era has to the Oilers' "Luv Ya Blue" era. It was their prime. Now, they're in a state of limbo. If there's any time for your fandom to waiver, then this is it. On the bright side, it likely won't ever be worse than this.

I maintain that it's pretty difficult to passionately follow a team that lacks a franchise QB. Not only is winning tied to that position, but he also provides a face of the franchise. When you thought about the Titans, you thought about the HC, Jeff Fisher, before any player - and now that's even gone. To compound things, you're not in the state where you're exposed to the Titans.

I'm 99% sure that Munch and Reino will be picking a QB in the 1st RD of the draft this year. That pick will spark the energy for many fans, so hopefully when that happens, you'll feel the fire again. Props for staying loyal though! I can think of many Tennesseans flaking and hopping on the Colts or Steelers bandwagon, let alone out of state fans. :salute:
 
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