Tennessee and ...

#1
hallowed_hill

hallowed_hill

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 11, 2010
Messages
291
Likes
0
#1
I'm pretty new around here, but I really can only talk about our 3-deep coming out of spring and argue the merit of late hoops signees for so long. So here's something i've thought about lately:

When is it OK to like/love/root for/pledge allegiance to multiple teams? Let's talk about this first in terms of Tennessee football. It's our common denominator; what we understand; what we are passionate about. When is it OK for someone to like Tennessee and ... ?

The question, of course, is more complex than just Tennessee football, though. I see these arguments most often with regard to professional football, i.e. Titans, Colts, whoever else your favorite team is. Many who don't like the Titans cite their lifelong love of another team as the reason they can't cheer for their home state professional team (not many colts fans use this argument, though!). The nuances of professional sports are simply different than collegiate athletics so we may need to talk about both and in slightly different ways.

Many of us probably like a team besides Tennessee on some level. At the same time, though, one of the biggest annoyances in sports is people who are "fans" of too many teams. The worst manifestation of this is the guy who's always loved Notre Dame in football, Duke or UNC (or both) in hoops, UCLA in women's softball, etc. I believe you can like multiple teams within limits, but where do we draw the line? I haven't necessarily developed a full-blown philosophy on the subject but have some opinions, nonetheless. I'm curious to hear what y'all think.
 
#2
#2
If all the franchises you root for are one of the winningest in their sport then you are not a fan at all IMO. I say this because to me a fan has to know heart break and bad seasons and have stayed true.

My BIL likes the following;
Yankees
Duke -BB
Patriots
USC - cfb

For those reasons he is not a fan. His only redeeming quality is he will root for UT when I am around.
Posted via VolNation Mobile
 
#3
#3
I hate bandwagon fans. They dont need to watch sports.
Posted via VolNation Mobile
 
#4
#4
My brother is a UT Football and UNC basketball fan. Needless to say, I give him crap for it every chance I get.
 
#5
#5
I think rooting is okay for teams you are connected to. Town you are from or school you went to or who your dad cheered for when you were growing up.

Most Duke bball fans and NYY fans fit none of those criteria which is one of many reasons to despise those teams.

For the sake of a marriage it is fine to cheer for your wifes team as well unless they are playing yours. Your wife should fully cheer for your team. The house divided crap is from folks with bad marriages whose primary identity and loyalty is in the wrong place.
Posted via VolNation Mobile
 
#6
#6
I am a UT football and UT basketball fan. Suddenly, I'm also a UNC fan, but I will always cheer for UT first and foremost, even in basketball. My reasoning for the second team is that I'm started my PhD at UNC this fall.

In general, I think it's okay to have a second team as long as you cheer for your primary team more than the second one. I will watch more UT games than UNC games (even in basketball), and I will cheer for UT against UNC. I am more active in the UT blogs.

In hockey, Nashville is only my secondary team because I was already a Lightning fan when we got a team in Tennessee, so I can sympathize with the discussion you talk about with the Titans. Fortunately, they're in different conferences, so it's not too hard to cheer for both. But the Lightning were the only team in the Southeast when I started watching hockey, so they were the natural choice.

In basketball, I'm a Spurs fan primarily because of David Robinson. As good a reason as any to like a team when there's no hometown option.

In the NFL, I mostly just root for players, not teams. I like the Colts and Chiefs more than others (right now) because they have my two favorite NFL players.

Basically, as long as you have good reasons for the team you pick and don't change based on who's winning, I'm cool with it. Also, as a corollary, in college sports, you need to cheer for the same team in all sports.
 
Last edited:
#7
#7
DD4ME said:
If all the franchises you root for are one of the winningest in their sport then you are not a fan at all IMO. I say this because to me a fan has to know heart break and bad seasons and have stayed true.

My BIL likes the following;
Yankees
Duke -BB
Patriots
USC - cfb

For those reasons he is not a fan. His only redeeming quality is he will root for UT when I am around.
Posted via VolNation Mobile
Click to expand...

Excellent point about knowing heartbreak. I agree this is one of the key elements to being a fan.

Your BIL is definitely the guy I am talking about. This discussion is to help us define parameters so we can educate people like that, thereby making the world a much, much better place.
 
#8
#8
Tennessee basketball
Tennessee football
Titans

and the Celtics. I think it's ok for me to be a fan of one team that wins sometimes.
 
#9
#9
I'm a Tennessee fan all the way in college sports. I support Virginia Tech a little, but only because my girlfriend is graduating from there and her family are all lifelong fans.

In pro sports, I have favorite players and cheer for them and their teams. I don't see pro teams the same way I do college teams. A college team represents an institution that's more than just sports- a pro team is just a franchise, a business.

I cheer for the Yankees, but only because I like what they've given to baseball over the years and some of my favorite players (Yogi Berra, Jorge Posada) were/are Yankees. I like the Braves because I grew up watching them (Chipper, Javy, Smoltz, Maddux, Glavine, etc.). My favorite baseball player of all time was an Oriole, Cal Ripken Jr.

I like the Red Wings in hockey, because that's who I saw on TV most often (along with the Capitals) when I was young. I don't particularly care about the NBA, so I tend to root for the underdogs, though I am a fan of Kobe Bryant.

And in the NFL, I like the Colts, for the obvious reason. The Packers are a team I enjoy watching, because a lot of my friends are fans, and I had some old Vince Lombardi on Football books when I was a kid.

Again, I prefer college sports over pro sports. College sports just feel right to me.
 
#10
#10
Its ok if the other teams you cheer for suck, because that is a testament to loyalty.
Posted via VolNation Mobile
 
#11
#11
I'm a Tennessee Football,Basketball, anything related to the University of Tennessee.. NFL i'm number one a Colts fan, but I also like to watch any team that has a former Tennessee player on it. I'm a fan, but not huge of Oregon. My best friend was gonna play football for them and he got me hooked following, and watching, but it hasnt really gone further than watching them. But its really all about the Orange and White.
 
#13
#13
Perfectly all right to have an "and" team. I couldn't watch March Madness without a kind of hierarchy of teams to pull for/against. In football, I was a big Bowden fan until they met up with the Vols, and I would have gladly swapped coaches.
 
#14
#14
I am a fan of Orange..... anything that wears the right color (Tn orange ONLY) and I hate a lot of other teams..... I don't find my comfort in the other teams I like but in the other teams I love to see get their arse beat.... To quote Popeye's dad from the Movie "Popeye".... "I has been hating a long time and me hate has done me good"
 
#16
#16
One of my ex girlfriends is a UT football fan, A Yankees fan, and a KY basketball fan.

I think you can understand why she is an ex.
 
#17
#17
Daloth said:
One of my ex girlfriends is a UT football fan, A Yankees fan, and a KY basketball fan.

I think you can understand why she is an ex.
Click to expand...

Now this is a man that has his priorities straight. I've been waiting for the guy who comes on here and tells us how he loves bama 'cept 3rd saturday in october because he married into it. I applaud you.
Posted via VolNation Mobile
 
#19
#19
I live in Starkville and married an MSU alum. 99% of the people I associate with daily are State fans. It's extremely hard not to like them. I'm just glad they're not in the East. Things will be interesting in '12 when we pick them back up.
Posted via VolNation Mobile
 
#20
#20
865dude said:
I hate bandwagon fans. They dont need to watch sports.
Posted via VolNation Mobile
Click to expand...

I HATE them too, and think they have serious mental issues, and root for frontrunners to feel better about themselves. I truly think they need mental help.
Posted via VolNation Mobile
 
#21
#21
UT fan across the board. As an alumnus I can't bring myself to cheer for anyone but UT. Most of my extended family are LSU alumni/fans which makes me cringe. My wife is a UNC alumn, but she doesn't really care about sports at all so I never have to hear any gloating. I will occasionally cheer for UNC depending on who they play and I consider them the lesser of the two evils in the Duke/UNC rivalry (This really only applies to basketball).

I haven't really closely followed baseball in a few years, but I do root for the Mariners. I grew up in Washington during the era of Griffey Jr./Randy Johnson/Edgar Martinez/Jay Buhner. I still check to see how they're doing, but there hasn't been much to get excited about for several years.

Living in Detroit now, I get pressured to root for the Red Wings, Tigers, and the Lions (Nobody in Detroit cares about the Pistons anymore). I don't mind the Red Wings, but I don't want to openly support them out of fear of looking like a bandwagoner. I've never really been into hockey that much, but I can definitely appreciate the Red Wings' history. I will never root for the Tigers. Don't know why, just can't get into them. That brings me to the Lions. It's pretty hard not to have pity on the Lions. The fan base is so beaten down and hungry for a winning season. I find myself rooting for the Lions to win just so the players and city can have something positive to get behind. While I wouldn't consider myself a Lions fan by any measure, I do root for them.
 
#22
#22
Tennessee - college

Predators - hockey

Titans -football

Grizzlies - pro basketball

Braves - baseball. I don't follow college baseball, but if I did. VOLS. Every team I follow is in Tennesse, or in the case of the Braves, the closest team to Nashville. I still don't see how people follow teams that they have no connections to. To each their own I guess.
Posted via VolNation Mobile
 
#23
#23
Tennessee football & Tennessee basketball. I root for UNC in basketball because my favorite basketball player of all time went there & I don't like Duke.

Pro football I like the Titans, I also like the Giants. Why would a country boy from Tennessee who hasn't ever stepped foot in NY like the Giants??....18-1.

I like to think of LSU as one of the Vols biggest allies. So I always pull for the Bayou Bengals when they aren't playing the Vols.
 
#25
#25
I cheer for Tennessee Vols in all athletic competitions first and foremost.
Having been born in Phoenix, I will always pull for the Devils, unless they play the Vols.
My Mom was raised in Wisconsin, so I cheer for the Badgers.
Her best friend (basically my 2nd Mom) went to Michigan, and I enjoy seeing them win.
Years ago I was in the Pride when we went to Notre Dame. The fans were the kindest fans ever. I also pull for them.

If any of those teams play the Vols, I hope we show them no mercy. If they play each other, I don't care about the outcome.

I also cheer for the Packers, Mets, Suns, and Grizzlies. Everton, too.
Posted via VolNation Mobile
 
New posts
You must log in or register to reply here.
Advertisement



Back
Top