The rules of fan loyalty

[Eric_the_Red]

As I have posted a few times, I am a fan of multiple teams. In football, I've always liked the Bengals first, Colts second. In baseball it's Reds, and then the Red Sox.

I have a co-worker grilling me about this, saying that I am not a "true fan" if I root for more than one team, especially if the other team is more successful. Also, it is apparently against the rules to root for a football team in the same conference or baseball team in the same league.

Where do you guys fall on this?
Am I forced to pick just one team from each sport? Are fans allowed to switch their loyalty over the years?
Or, is it okay to root for more than one team?
What obligations, if any, do the organizations have to their fans, or should they expect blind loyalty?

[Revering4Blue]

I have a co-worker grilling me about this, saying that I am not a "true fan" if I root for more than one team, especially if the other team is more successful. Also, it is apparently against the rules to root for a football team in the same conference or baseball team in the same league.

Horseapples.

Root for teams and players that you like.

Simple as that.

[Mario-Rijo]

As I have posted a few times, I am a fan of multiple teams. In football, I've always liked the Bengals first, Colts second. In baseball it's Reds, and then the Red Sox.

I have a co-worker grilling me about this, saying that I am not a "true fan" if I root for more than one team, especially if the other team is more successful. Also, it is apparently against the rules to root for a football team in the same conference or baseball team in the same league.

Where do you guys fall on this?
Am I forced to pick just one team from each sport? Are fans allowed to switch their loyalty over the years?
Or, is it okay to root for more than one team?
What obligations, if any, do the organizations have to their fans, or should they expect blind loyalty?

The truth is it only matters if it matters to you. Personally I get what your co-worker is saying I do give guys a hard time for that myself at times, it's just for fun as far as I'm concerned. Although I will add this little nugget, if you talk trash about anyones team then by all rights you should only have 1 yourself. That's the Die-Hard level of fandom, you get 1 team in any one sport and you must live and die with it. You can be a level headed die-hard and give respect where it's due and also root for another team that's not your own but only when you are actually rooting against the team they are playing because it has some positive/negative effect on your team in an indirect way. If you are more a fan of the sport than any one particular team I.E. a casual fan (of sorts), but you tend to appreciate a few of them it's ok but in order to be a die-hard you must boil it down to one, I think.

As far as the organizations go they don't have any rights as far as I'm concerned, greed has seen to that IMO.

I "root" for (and consequently am a strict fan of) the following:

Die-Hard
MLB - Reds
NFL - Bengals
NCAA - Buckeyes

Somewhere between casual and Die-Hard:
NBA - Chicago Bulls (I wish I was more casual so I could jump on the LeBron bandwagon, but my own pride won't allow it)

I also think you can be a die-hard fan of a team but you can appreciate certain other things. My favorite NFL player of all time is Barry Sanders followed by Carson Palmer. I like GABP ok but I love Fenway park. When March madness gets here I reserve the right to root for any team in any circumstance as long as I have a bracket going (with exception to rooting against Ohio State, no can do). Etc., etc. Woody Hayes would kill me but the reality is I want Michigan to win every game that they don't play us (of course it has more to do with selfish reasons for my own team).

[Hoosier Red]

I'm all for root for who you like, but because I've seen the "Southland" promo on TNT roughly 40000000000032 times in the last week, I think it translates to sports.

You're a Bengals fan because you don't know how to be anything else.
I live in Indy and suppose I want the Colts to do well, but it just doesn't get me on a gut level.

I'm a Bengals fan and a Reds fan and have been for life. THe only fandom I changed was from UC to IU when I went to the latter for college.

[Roy Tucker]

There is the fan where you paint your basement in team colors, get a team logo as a tattoo, and name your first-born child after a team famous player. If the team loses, you seriously contemplate suicide. Your wife says "no season tickets or I'm walking" and you open the door for her. Your cell phone ring is the team fight song. You go to games and paint your face and spend $1000 on some outlandish team costume trying to get on TV. Somebody criticizes your team and you get into a fist-fight over it. They know you by name on radio talk shows. You hassle other people what may dare to admit they could possibly like another team because that thought causes you to have violent shakes.

If you're like that, you are probably a true fan.

[blumj]

Horseapples.

Root for teams and players that you like.

Simple as that.

Yes. I can't even really just watch a random game with 2 teams I don't care anything about without eventually winding up rooting for one or the other to win it. It just happens.

[BRM]

There is the fan where you paint your basement in team colors, get a team logo as a tattoo, and name your first-born child after a team famous player. If the team loses, you seriously contemplate suicide. Your wife says "no season tickets or I'm walking" and you open the door for her. Your cell phone ring is the team fight song. You go to games and paint your face and spend $1000 on some outlandish team costume trying to get on TV. Somebody criticizes your team and you get into a fist-fight over it. They know you by name on radio talk shows. You hassle other people what may dare to admit they could possibly like another team because that thought causes you to have violent shakes.

If you're like that, you are probably a true fan.

Or a nut.

[Eric_the_Red]

What if I want to paint one wall Bengals' orange and the opposite wall Colts blue, with one black and one white wall in between?

[Hoosier Red]

What if I want to paint one wall Bengals' orange and the opposite wall Colts blue, with one black and one white wall in between?

You'd have an ugly room.
And people would think you're a Broncos fan.

[BRM]

You'd have an ugly room.
And people would think you're a Broncos fan.

Well, a Broncos fan should have an ugly room.

[westofyou]

I have one wife and only one team in each sport, BUT I'm allowed to look at other teams.

[RichRed]

I have one wife and only one team in each sport, BUT I'm allowed to look at other teams.

Good way to look at it. I like to look at the Red Sox, Chargers and U. of Virginia but I'm married to the Reds, Redskins and James Madison U.

Still, I say be a fan of as many teams as you like, unless of course one of them is the Cowboys or Cubs.

[Mario-Rijo]

Well, a Broncos fan should have an ugly room.

[Joseph]

ETR, my gut says you have to pick only one team if you really want to claim to be a big fan.

On first blush here it appears you have your teams you grew up rooting for [Bengals and Reds] and you later chose some teams who actually win [Colts and Red Sox]. It kind of comes off as bandwagony in my opinion. I'm not saying thats the case, just that it can easily be perceived as that.

[Eric_the_Red]

ETR, my gut says you have to pick only one team if you really want to claim to be a big fan.

On first blush here it appears you have your teams you grew up rooting for [Bengals and Reds] and you later chose some teams who actually win [Colts and Red Sox]. It kind of comes off as bandwagony in my opinion. I'm not saying thats the case, just that it can easily be perceived as that.

With the Colts, it was that I admired Manning and Dungy. Sure they were good, but not Super Bowl winners yet. Bandwagony? Perhaps, but it wasn't that I was looking for the best team out there.

Definitely not the case with the BoSox. I really liked Nomar and the Sox before they were beating the Yanks. Plus, I hated the Yanks, so that helped.

And in the marriage analogy, that is the same example my co-worker gave. The comparison falls apart when you realize that married people makes vows to each other and (should) work as a partnership. If sports organizations have no responsibility to the fan, then the analogy doesn't work.