The Fair - Weather Fan

[The Dad Fisherman]

My feeling is that you should always root for the home team....period. If you root for another team other than the home team it usually means you were a fair-weather fan at the time you 1st decided to root for a team.....probably picked a winning team then because your home team wasn't doing good.

Its fine to respect another team but if they meet in the play-offs you better be rooting for the home team.

I also don't mind transplants...If your a Yank-mee fan and I ask you where you grew up....If you say jersey, I'm OK with that....but if you say something like Revere.....you're a GD Traitor

[BassDawg]

Hey bloocrab, i'll try to elaborate my view,
eventhough that quote was taken out of context.
MikeP and i were talking about model franchises of the NFL.

You see, i am a fan of the GAME of football.
And, much to yer chagrin, that means being able to root for one's team from childhood
and still respect worthy opponents; especially within one's division,
as you would see them the most over the course of decades..........................

i never intimated that i was going to seek a seat on the NYG Bus,
merely voicing my respect for them as an original member of the NFL and my opinion of thier representation of the NFC East ~historically, competitively, and i respect thier recent dominance in last year's post season. that is all, and it does not make me any less capable of "driving the Pats Bus from Foxboro" to SB XLIII and beyond.

how did i become a Patriots fan, seemingly overnight?
point well taken and worth explaining.

NO, i did not join them in 2001-2002. They have been my "home team" since i moved to NE in 1999. however, my loyalty to The Skins prevented me from claiming them as my TEAM.

i am more than fanatical about football, having grown up in Oklahoma (GO SOONERS!!) where the pigskin is as revered as the rubber biscuit in these parts. FOOTBALL is one of the essences of Life to me, for better or for worse, and *i have considered a 12-step program in the past*. part of the OKlahoma dynamic is the absence of professional sports teams, which makes ALL teams available in that arena. being centrally located between Dallas, KC, St Louis; equidistant from Chicago to Houston/San Antonio; and the same distance from the East and West Coasts, roughly; do you begin to see my dliemma/options as a young lad? i LOVE Football, to a fault i am sure.

in short, i'm one of THOSE fans of the NFL that has thier home team (be it NFC or AFC) and then has an AFC/NFC (usually the opposite of one's Home conference) interest as well, prolly the home team of one's city if it happens to not be thier team already or there is that choice ~~STRICTLY and very simply out of my LOVE for the game and the sickness that has me choosing winners for each and every contest from week to week, among friends and not for gambling purposes. just for the sake of competition and in the spirit of "this team will win because of A, B, and C over that team". so, i have rooted for the PATS since '99; but did not claimed them, officially, at that time. ahhhh, but i digress.

in 2004, when Joe Gibbs came back into the The Redskins fold, i gave Snyder and Mr Gibbs two years to keep me as thier fan. it was a difficult decision, but with so much of the PATS in my face ~ such as, the combined genius of Coach Bill and misters Pioli and Kraft affronting me, with the witnessing of THAT dominant D, with the development of Brady into who he is today unfolding before my very eyes, and by the supreme nature of what the Patriots Franchise means to the NFL ~at the end of the 2006 season my decision was clear and definitive. and, i would say, not without merit and well before the vaunted off-season aquisitons that lead to the 2007 starting roster. *i have witnesses who are prepared to provide sworn affidavits to the date of my switched allegiance*

lastly, i would argue, that i am not fair-weather nor band wagon jumping! simply stated, i am aware of my surroundings and choosing to support MY home team. as far as whether or not i grew up in NE is concerned, that is a privelege that i was not afforded as a young boy, but a luxury i am more than HAPPY to indulge in ~NOW, and until my last breath. did ya read any of the stuff i slammed the Bolts Page with? when i join, i join wholeheartedly, bro! better late than never, i always say! the more the meerier, eh bloo? and, not without some degree of forceful *encouragement/coercion* from my Local #7 Ironworking bretheren .

Joined the SOX in '99 after my first Fenway visit to America's Most Beloved Ballpark. ya talk about yer no brainers!! it took me all of about two innings ~the intimacy of Tha Pahhhk, the unparalleled fan base knowledge and Love of the game, and the rabidity of Red Sox Nation has "fit me like a glove" since i first set eyes on The Olde Town Team and inimitable Fenway Park. also, i was still pissed off about the last strike and was living in Pro Sports' barren wasteland, SW FL, prior to moving to New England. BORING!!! although, some very fine inshore fishing to be had down there!



Sooooooooooo, like it or not, youse guys are stuck with me and i don't leave so easily as it seems.
if i may borrow from Elvis Costello, ".........my aim is true."

[bloocrab]

Bassdawg –

Your play on words are impeccable. If you could work a plug half as good as typing a whacked out explanation…. You’d make one heck of a fisherman. God help those fish if you can ever come up with a “Talking” lure <<:>>. You could probably sell saltwater to Striped Bass. In saying that, you have the right to your opinion and the way you perceive a “True” fan of the sport and equally, I have mine
.
Fortunately for me, my brain is not the size of an olive (at least not according to my last CT scan) and I still cannot understand how one can change teams at such a ripe age due to relocation. Perhaps you are in fact, a fan of the GAME and only wish that you could truly develop the LOVE for 1 single team. Sure, you can respect other teams, most fans do, but they don’t suddenly lose faith in their team and start calling that other team, THEIR team. You reference MikeP, (sorry for dragging you into this Mike) …to my knowledge, Mike is originally a New Yawker ?? (I think), Mike now lives on the Cape. Mike may respect the Patriots but he certainly did not lose his dedication to his life-long team, the Giants. I also don’t see Raider Ronnie getting Tattoo-ed any time soon with due to him living in this area. Its called devotion, whether you’re happy with the coach or how the owner is doing business, it’s win or lose. What happened to that “loyalty to the skins” you once had??? Does this mean that if you happen to relocate again, that intimate feeling you got the first time in “Tha Pahhhk” would suddenly pass like gas after eating a can of Boston baked beans... ?? …And let me guess, when the Celtics win the Championship, you’ll suddenly have green in your veins and be a Celtics fan too,,, right?

Ya know what? You can route for any team you’d like, you can call yourself a “Fan” of a different team every year for that matter, or just play it safe and call yourself a fan of the game – the choice is yours. We each apply our own label to ourselves in which can be read in many different ways. I was hoping to come to an understanding as to why grown men change teams. I have yet come to truly understand why. I was hoping, due to the dialog that you can sometimes put on these boards, that you would be able to convince me of this rational reason. Reading thru your explanation along with many of your posts whether fish related or not, I perceive you as a happy-go-lucky guy who is looking for that click or right group to fit in with. And I’m not making this about YOU or me, there are many people out there who “jump fence” when the opportunity arises, I’m just not one of them. I was a fan when Grogan couldn’t do it; I was a fan when Eason became the only QB to not complete a single pass as a starting QB. I was a fan when,…$^%*&%…(yes, I still shudder when I say his name)…Bill Buckner failed to place the glove on the field and allowed the ball to pass between his legs….it sucks, but it’s part of being a TRUE fan. I sat thru the shame so now I can STAND in the Glory.

Oh well, I still don’t get it………BUT……..,,,, welcome aboard. Don’t think your getting a seat in the front of the bus however, you gotta start in the rear with an aisle seat and respectfully work your way up.