Lets light things up: I've been having this discussion a bunch recently: can you really root for more than one team? | The Boneyard

Lets light things up: I've been having this discussion a bunch recently: can you really root for more than one team?

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Most of us on here were rooting for the big east to get more teams in and were rooting for the ones that got in (if they aren't playing us) because it's good for the conference. I get that. But let's say st johns got in? Are we really rooting for pitino with our hearts? Do we really love kalkbrenner like a 1st cousin?

The reason I bring this up is this: I have friends who are Big Ten fans who, even though they are ohio state fans, were rooting for Michigan in the bcs championship. Also, have seen this from some SEC fans now pulling for Bama. A business next to my home here in TN is flying a Bama flag and a UT flag! Come on!

Also, there are those who say, let's use baseball for this one, "I'm a Reds fan at heart, but the Rangers are my AL team. I also root for the Padres because I went to SDSU"

I don't know. This is not an indictment. Just a conversation. Can you really have room in your heart for two teams in the same sport??? Or during events like March madness?
 

Waquoit

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I say no. In a given game or series I can usually find a rooting interest without becoming a fan. But being a full-time fan of two teams that might end up fighting for the same trophy, no. Hard to believe now but I was once a huge Bruins fan. My first book report was on Phil Esposito's auto-biography. I thought I could root for two teams when the Whalers joined the NHL but I could not. I hate the Bruins.
 
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ridiculous. if we were in the acc there's no freaking way i'd be rooting for syracuse or duke to win a chip if we got knocked out. but the BE is different b/c we need the tourney credits.
 
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storrsroars

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I will root for more money to come our way in the tourney, which means pulling for BE teams. Until they play UConn, in which case eph 'em.

That said, living in Pgh married to a Pitt double grad, I know the Panthers quite well, to the extent of being able to have a spirited, knowledgeable conversation with any Pitt fan on what they do/don't do well. And this year they were actually a fun team to follow (and should've been in over UVA).
 
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If you root for the other teams in your conference, its really just an extension of rooting for your own team, since anything that raises the conference stature, and generates more money helps your team as well.

(would anyone one be happy if we were a one bid conference even if we were the one bid ?)
 

Chin Diesel

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Generally, no.

As a kid in the 70's and 80's I knew plenty of people who had a favorite AL team and NL in baseball or AFC and NFC team in football.

I used to root for Red Sox amd Mets but 1986 86'd any love I had for the Mets.

For football I was a Rams fan and a Jets fan. After Rams traded Dickerson I stopped rooting for any NFL team.

The college conference thing is odd. I'm in the middle of SEC country but not located near any one school. On any given day on the beach amd hotel balconies I'll see LSU, Bama, Auburn, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida and FSU (yes, I know FSU is ACC) flags.

There is some generic SEC love but it's pretty rare for any other school to root for Bama, especially Auburn fans. That is a very small overlap.

Yes, I wanted Creighton and Marquette to do well and I rooted for them for the game they were in. And yes, in general I root for BE teams in non-conference games. But that is for selfish reasons because I want UConn to get max credit for beating those teams in conference.
 
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I will absolutely adopt teams, particularly Big East teams, that are making a deep run if we've already lost.

West Virginia in the 2005 to 2010 timeframe were fun to root for.

If we're still in it that occupies 100% of my interest.
 
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My Brother and I went to UConn. He went to Michigan for grad school. So I have a soft spot for UM.

I grew up a Red Sox fan then moved a few blocks from Wrigley Field and became a huge Cubs fan. I root for them both. Hardly ever a conflict of interest.

In DC, I have adopted the Washington Capitals but not any other Washington teams.

My answer is YES. You can root for multiple teams.
 
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I legit root for the Seahawks and Bills in the NFL. Their close Super Bowl losses from 2015 and 1991 still hurt my heart, and if a genie popped out of a golden lamp and told me I could change one of them, I'd have trouble deciding which to pick given the circumstances, even though I do like the Seahawks better. So, yes, it is possible to actually be a fan of more than one team in the same sport. However, I've also liked both of those teams since I was 10, 12 years old, and had such a big appetite for NFL football that I actually had positive and negative emotional responses to a lot of teams. Plus, not supporting one of the local NFL teams meant that I didn't see my team every weekend on TV, and if you're a kid who loves pro football and is only seeing your favorite team play two or three times a year, there's a lot of room to adopt multiple out-of-market teams, since as a fan, you want to have something to care about. It's just more fun that way.

But as someone who went to UConn for multiple degrees, I can't imagine caring much about another university (save CCSU, where members of my immediate family went) in and of itself. If I am rooting for Big East teams, it's because UConn is in the Big East again. And as an adult, I can't imagine adopting a new MLB, NFL, or NBA team, since I already have long-established rooting interests. There's just no room for being passionate about a second team. In fact, if I was becoming a fan now, given the existence of streaming access to every team's games, it's unlikely I'd have space for a second pro team either.
 
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Couldn’t care less about Marquette, Creighton. They’re soft. Pseudo-contenders. All those Friars, Deacons, and Johns too. We can win a title in any conference. I don’t look to those bums for support.
 

NowInStorrs

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You can but one has to take precedence over the over(s). Like if they meet up, who are you going to root for? I grew up in CT and UConn has been my team since I was a little kid. However, I went to college somewhere else and I hope that school has success as well. That said, if they ever run into UConn, I'm cheering for UConn.
 
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I think there are degrees. I was rooting for Marquette and Creighton. I don't really care that much about them and don't know any grads. It helps the Big East and UConn if they do well and I get no pain from rooting them on. I cannot root for Providence because of two people I know that are just insufferable about the school. I've realized that if I don't poke them after UConn success, it bothers them even more than bragging. If Syracuse was still in the Big East, I wouldn't root for them either.

I'm shocked someone mentioned an OSU fan rooting for Michigan. I know grads from both and I think they take as much pleasure in the pain of the other's losses as they do their own team's victories. It's not like the Big Ten needs more money or press.

One of my kids is looking at big schools right now. She is looking at UConn along with other ACC and Big Ten schools. I think I could root for all she's looking at (including former rival Pitt) although UConn will still take precedence. Syracuse? BC? Nope. I'd let them go if it was right for them, but I'd still root against them.
 
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I’ve gone on record with a big fat no. I wanted Marquette and CU to win a couple games but that’s it. I want UConn to be the top dog in BE. If we somehow stumbled and one of those teams advanced further than us, it would have negated our dominance this season.

As for the money, that’s a silly reason. The amount equates to decimal points in our $24M (not sure if that figure was verified) annual budget, once you get past the first weekend.

With most college sports, the regular season is being marginalized with post season tournaments. Don’t see how you can root for anyone but your team, and not hate everyone else.
 

storrsroars

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As for the money, that’s a silly reason. The amount equates to decimal points in our $24M (not sure if that figure was verified) annual budget, once you get past the first weekend.
IOW, you'd be happy with the BE being a one-bid league.

Now that's silly.
 
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IOW, you'd be happy with the BE being a one-bid league.

Now that's silly.
No, that’s why I said after the first weekend. Get your bids and a few to the S16, then be gone. Past 2 years worked out great, as long as we end up on top.
 

Hans Sprungfeld

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I used to root for Red Sox amd Mets but 1986 86'd any love I had for the Mets.

I had expansion team affection for the hapless early Mets that empowered me to root for their miraculous 1969 World Series victory.

I even retain a lifelong residual favorable disposition toward the Pirates, dating back to Bill Mazeroski's 1960 World Series home run, because my grandfather was a season ticket holder, even though I only ever knew my Poppy as gravel-voiced, partially-paralyzed a man enfeebled by a stroke. My parents met at Pitt, and I was born less than a mile from Forbes Field. Roberto Clemente was my first sports hero. In that sense, I can identify historical interest in two National League teams.

That said, I became a Red Sox fan slightly before November 1961 when I got a clock radio with a sleep timer as a birthday present. For certain, the radio preceded my first attending basketball games at UConn's Field House.

In 1986, WSBK was removed from the Brookhaven (LI) cable television channel lineup. It had previously addressed an historical eastern Long Island Red Sox fanbase emanating from the North Fork.

In 1986, I worked for a company that had box seats at Shea Stadium. My previous company also had seats at Shea. I was given 2-4 seats several times per season by both employers. Both companies were heavily weighted toward Mets fandom. I followed & watched & enjoyed them, especially that year when Red Sox games were no longer regularly on TV.

The capstone was joining much of the company huddled in a windowless conference room watching Game 6 of the NLCS on a black & white TV with crumpled aluminum foil added to the rabbit ears antenna.

I cede the floor here to Wikipedia, which reports well on the season, the series, and the Game 6 final that decided who would represent the National League in the World Series against the Red Sox.


But let's zoom in some.

I've looked up the dates and, armed with the facts, I am confident but not 100% certain of the exact facts required to support my memory. As is often said, "People will not remember what you said or what you did, but they will remember how they felt when they were with you."

October 13, 1986 was a Monday and Yom Kippur, so I was fasting from eating, and doing so as part of a 3-day weekend, during which my wife & I traveled with 15-month old daughter from Bellport to West Hartford to do a granchild-sharing visit by joining my family to break the YK fast. A year later my mother was hospitalized and in her life's final weeks, so this was the last of such gatherings.

Either in that day, with extended family gathered, or perhaps the day before while watching the Mets take a 3-2 NLCS lead, I revealed to my father that if the Mets were to win a 4th game against the Astros, I would be rooting for them in the World Series.

Among a number of famous, crushing moments as a Red Sox fan, I'd been in attendance at Games 1&2 of the 1975 World Series, and cried out, "No," when the choice was made to bring in a relief pitcher to 'save' what would have been a 2-0 lead over the Reds. I'd watched slack-jawed from Fenway's right field bleachers as Bucky ******* Dent's home run sailed off his bat in 1978. I'll stop there.

My father was a perceptive, dutiful, quietly accomplished man who was described in complimentary terms as "unassuming" in his Weaver High School yearbook. He cast a gentle side glance my way when I said I'd be rooting for the Mets. Nothing more.

Two days later, I was thrilled when the Mets won the legendary 6th game -- 7-6 in 16 innings -- and punched their ticket to their first World Series in 13 years.

And yet, even before the first Game 1 pitch, I knew that I'd be rooting for the Red Sox, just as I knew I was signing up to experience heartbreaking defeat in a new and permanently memorable way. Whiley co-workers agonized over the Mets, I was calmly, mostly secretly, bizarrely secure that they had no worries.

I do not recall my father making any comment prior to that NLCS game or before/during/after the World Series. He must have said something, but whether he did or didn't, nothing left an impression of criticism, gloating, "Told you so," or anything like that. I was given the full freedom of my own experience.
 
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I think there are degrees. I was rooting for Marquette and Creighton. I don't really care that much about them and don't know any grads. It helps the Big East and UConn if they do well and I get no pain from rooting them on. I cannot root for Providence because of two people I know that are just insufferable about the school. I've realized that if I don't poke them after UConn success, it bothers them even more than bragging. If Syracuse was still in the Big East, I wouldn't root for them either.

I'm shocked someone mentioned an OSU fan rooting for Michigan. I know grads from both and I think they take as much pleasure in the pain of the other's losses as they do their own team's victories. It's not like the Big Ten needs more money or press.

One of my kids is looking at big schools right now. She is looking at UConn along with other ACC and Big Ten schools. I think I could root for all she's looking at (including former rival Pitt) although UConn will still take precedence. Syracuse? BC? Nope. I'd let them go if it was right for them, but I'd still root against them.
Funny. Yes. My friend is a huge OSU fan and rooted hard for Michigan in the bcs game. Yet, he still hates Michigan during reg season. I don't know how that works.

My Dad went to Uconn, as did my mom, myself and all my siblings- except for one- he went to B.C. My mom would cry to my Dad for years asking him to put the "proud parent of a BC Eagle" bumper sticker on the car. He wouldn't do it. Never did it.
 
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I had expansion team affection for the hapless early Mets that empowered me to root for their miraculous 1969 World Series victory.

I even retain a lifelong residual favorable disposition toward the Pirates, dating back to Bill Mazeroski's 1960 World Series home run, because my grandfather was a season ticket holder, even though I only ever knew my Poppy as gravel-voiced, partially-paralyzed a man enfeebled by a stroke. My parents met at Pitt, and I was born less than a mile from Forbes Field. Roberto Clemente was my first sports hero. In that sense, I can identify historical interest in two National League teams.

That said, I became a Red Sox fan slightly before November 1961 when I got a clock radio with a sleep timer as a birthday present. For certain, the radio preceded my first attending basketball games at UConn's Field House.

In 1986, WSBK was removed from the Brookhaven (LI) cable television channel lineup. It had previously addressed an historical eastern Long Island Red Sox fanbase emanating from the North Fork.

In 1986, I worked for a company that had box seats at Shea Stadium. My previous company also had seats at Shea. I was given 2-4 seats several times per season by both employers. Both companies were heavily weighted toward Mets fandom. I followed & watched & enjoyed them, especially that year when Red Sox games were no longer regularly on TV.

The capstone was joining much of the company huddled in a windowless conference room watching Game 6 of the NLCS on a black & white TV with crumpled aluminum foil added to the rabbit ears antenna.

I cede the floor here to Wikipedia, which reports well on the season, the series, and the Game 6 final that decided who would represent the National League in the World Series against the Red Sox.


But let's zoom in some.

I've looked up the dates and, armed with the facts, I am confident but not 100% certain of the exact facts required to support my memory. As is often said, "People will not remember what you said or what you did, but they will remember how they felt when they were with you."

October 13, 1986 was a Monday and Yom Kippur, so I was fasting from eating, and doing so as part of a 3-day weekend, during which my wife & I traveled with 15-month old daughter from Bellport to West Hartford to do a granchild-sharing visit by joining my family to break the YK fast. A year later my mother was hospitalized and in her life's final weeks, so this was the last of such gatherings.

Either in that day, with extended family gathered, or perhaps the day before while watching the Mets take a 3-2 NLCS lead, I revealed to my father that if the Mets were to win a 4th game against the Astros, I would be rooting for them in the World Series.

Among a number of famous, crushing moments as a Red Sox fan, I'd been in attendance at Games 1&2 of the 1975 World Series, and cried out, "No," when the choice was made to bring in a relief pitcher to 'save' what would have been a 2-0 lead over the Reds. I'd watched slack-jawed from Fenway's right field bleachers as Bucky ******* Dent's home run sailed off his bat in 1978. I'll stop there.

My father was a perceptive, dutiful, quietly accomplished man who was described in complimentary terms as "unassuming" in his Weaver High School yearbook. He cast a gentle side glance my way when I said I'd be rooting for the Mets. Nothing more.

Two days later, I was thrilled when the Mets won the legendary 6th game -- 7-6 in 16 innings -- and punched their ticket to their first World Series in 13 years.

And yet, even before the first Game 1 pitch, I knew that I'd be rooting for the Red Sox, just as I knew I was signing up to experience heartbreaking defeat in a new and permanently memorable way. Whiley co-workers agonized over the Mets, I was calmly, mostly secretly, bizarrely secure that they had no worries.

I do not recall my father making any comment prior to that NLCS game or before/during/after the World Series. He must have said something, but whether he did or didn't, nothing left an impression of criticism, gloating, "Told you so," or anything like that. I was given the full freedom of my own experience.
I love stories like this. Great job as always. I'd read this in Harper's or the Atlantic.
 

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