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tofu_chipmunk wrote:srossi wrote:kargol wrote:clawmaster wrote:Please note DePaul is no longer my team. I tossed them on the woodpile a long time ago.
See, this is perhaps why Americans don't "get" football. It's easier to change sex than change your team. You won't come across ANYone at a match who said they used to support Arsenal but changed to Chelsea cos they liked the colours better or something. And you can't up and move a team across the country - it's only ever happened once and there was such an outcry about it the rules were changed to stop it happening again; and the team formed to replace the original is now (in league position terms) back to where they were when they were moved. Supporter culture in the States is very different to the rest of the world.
That's another ridiculous generality. Most Americans live and die by their teams even in the bad times too. And I bet some brits abandon their teams from time to time.
Agreed. I switched my college teams when I decided on what university I wanted to go to. I switched NFL and NBA teams when Charlotte got the Panthers and Hornets, and I actually got a "home team" to root for.
So your evidence that Rossi is right is to provide evidence that I am right?
Some people stop going if their team descends down the divisions. True enough. But that's usually cos it's expensive to watch rubbish. Leeds were getting 30,000 last year in the third division. Imagine someone in AAA or whatever it would be baseball getting 180,000. Our average attendance has been over 20,000 for about 15 years even though we've never won anything and have three much more successful teams within 15 miles. And if people stop going, they do NOT support anyone else. It's inhuman.
I agree with your assessment to an extent, but I think the main difference between the American sporting rooting interest and the British one that you're missing is the number of sports for which to root. Consider the four major American sports. We're talking about 120 or so major professional franchises spread across...what?...50 or so different cities? And that's not even taking into account Division 1 college sports. Then you take that 120 number and quadruple it and take that 50 number and triple or quadruple it. Now we're talking nearly 500 teams in probably 200 or more cities for whom to root.
Now let's examine the British alternative. Besides football, what other sporting event are you going to attend live on a regular basis? Rugby? To my knowledge, there's no provincial teams to speak of, nor does it evoke the same passion that football does (whereas in America, the passion one fan has for, say, baseball may be equal to the passion he has for basketball). Cricket? Don't make me laugh. That's even more of a niche event than rugby. What else do you have? I know there's some fringe ice hockey and basketball leagues, but those are probably the equivalent of American D leagues and probably even more of a niche thing than cricket.
So what's the point? Team sports in America comes with options, especially with different types of sports, thus there's much less of a "pigeonhole". So your pro baseball team's doing crappy? Oh well. There's only two more months until college football starts. See, knowing that eases the pain of a crappy baseball team quite a bit, and perhaps as a result, you become a bit less "rabid" of a fan in comparison to their British counterpart. The bottom line is, all team sports in America are in direct competition not only within their own league (think the stink the Baltimore Orioles put up a few years ago when it was announced that the Montreal Expos would be moving 40 miles to the south to DC, in direct competition with thier market) but with all other team sports as well.
In Britain though, football (soccer) is pretty much it as far as team sports go. It's an island unto itself, and they have a virtual monopoply on mainstream sporting rooting interests. On top of that, you add in this ingrained element of rabid provinciality that more often than not finds its roots at the local pub, and viola--you have dedicated, lifelong fans of a team regardless of how well or poorly said team is doing. Hence the outcome is the perception that the Brits are more "loyal" to their teams; in actuality though, you've few if any other options, and will continue to root for your team regardless not so much out of loyalty, but rather just so you can have something to do during the winter.
Now please note that I'm not saying the British version of rooting for sports is better than the American version, or vice versa. I'm just saying they're different, that's all.
Last edited on Fri Jun 18th, 2010 07:15 pm by dogfacedgremlin34
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"I'm putting your worthless fucking ass on ignore so I don't have to read anymore of your pompous arrogant New York big shot bullshit. Good fucking riddance, fuckhead."-Angelic Assassin to rossi