Quote:
Originally Posted by JeremyLinFan
That's why.
In my mind, there's a pretty real distinction between being a fan of a team and being a fan of a specific player.
Fan of team: can happen at various points in one's life and develop in a myriad of ways. I myself grew up a Knick fan (although I lived in Jersey, the Nets were sololbad, but it's not like the Knicks were that good either), moved to LA, and "adopted" the Clippers (largely cause for season tickets, much cheaper than Lakers obvi). The hallmark trait, imo, of being a "fan of a team" is that once you become a fan, you stay with them through thick-and-thin.
Fan of player: I think the most common scenario is when a player you really like on your team gets traded/leaves as FA under non-douchey circumstances. Good examples for me are Eric Gordon or David Lee. I want these guys to do well and continue to have great careers. If I catch a Hornets/Woyas game, I'll root for them to win and play great. But the hallmark trait in this scenario is I want Gordon/Lee to do well wherever their careers take them. I don't suddenly invest in their entire new team's fortunes4lyfe, mainly b/c it requires too large an investment of time/caring about something. And I doubt most people would.
So I guess this is a long way of saying there is a difference between these 2 statements, imo:
1) I am a huge Heat fan.
2) I am a huge fan of Labron so I am rooting for the Heat to take it down.
Good post, but I'm wondering if there is another option, such as switching allegiance from one team to another when a specific era ends. Let's take my Pacers as an example. I've lived in Indianapolis for essentially my entire life. My favorite team ever is the early 2000s Pacers with Artest, Reggie, JO, Tinsley, Cap't Jack (who came on slightly later) et al. Then The Brawl happened and they blew it up. Would it be socially acceptable at that moment to start rooting for another team? It wouldn't have to be a jump on some bandwagon, let's just say I enjoyed watching a random early 2000s team that I had no geographical association with, like ... I dunno, pre-Dwight Orlando.
Would this have been OK? Would this be, like, betraying my city? If I were to associate myself as a Magic fan would people in my area be justified in giving me ****?
Sorry if this is dumb, but I've never really understood the culture of fandom in sports.