To all of you Cub fans posting... What's the difference between the Cardinals and Cubs? Spoiler The Cardinals have won a World Series in their new stadium. I grew up in Central Illinois, halfway between St. Louis and Chicago. The split is nearly identically 49/49 Cardinals/Cubs with a couple White Sox fans tossed in (who side with the Cardinals anyways). Fist fights? Not so much. A little pushing and shoving on the playground over how bad Mark Prior and Kerry Wood let the Cubbies down. A little trash back and forth when McGuire beat Sosa back in '98. But by far the nastiest fan base I've ever seen was in Switzerland (Yes, seriously. Switzerland.) when Basel and Zurich had their footie match the summer before my senior year of high school. I was on the train with my dad and were stuck in with the Zurich fans heading West to Basel. We stepped onto the platform in Basel and were met with 3-400 Basel fans decked out in full regalia as bottles and small stones whizzed overhead into the Zurich crowd leaving the train. We managed to duck into a service area and watched a full scale brawl erupt straight out of Green Street Hooligans or The Firm. In fucking Switzerland. The melee was finally broken up when 30 or so mounted cops came charging in and separated the two sides. But not before several people got busted up with bottles, rocks, chains and clubs. My dad's a hard guy, and he was speechless. I've still never seen anything like it.
With certain teams, though, this is also a good way to catch a beating. Two of my friends found this out the hard way by being American in London during the World Cup. Sure, technically it was a draw. But with fans as arrogant and entitled as English soccer fans*, they treated it as if we had taken a shit in their living room. How dare those Yanks have the gall to not lose to us! Yeah, every team has some of those guys, but certain teams seem to have more of them. Some teams' fans throw snow balls at Santa Claus, others don't. Some teams' fans throw batteries at players, others don't. Make of that what you will. *English soccer fans are an odd breed. They, at least on an emotional level, genuinely expect to win the World Cup every four years, and are surprised and angered when they don't. They can't seem to let go of the assumption that they should be seen perennially as King of the Fucking Hill. Despite decades of evidence on the topic. It's as kind of like if Yankees fans had the same attitude as they do now, but had only won one World Series and it was in 1966. I have no particular hatred for them, but the attitude strikes me as amusing.
Dodger fans. Los Angeles managed to distill all of its trashiness, brutality, and stupidity into a few hundred thousand douchebags. The two specimens in the link above have the typical look about them. They don't confine acting out to LA though. The only times I witnessed any violence or threatening behavior during Diamondbacks games in Phoenix was when LA was visiting. The fact that they usually beat us only deepens my hatred for LA.
Finally, a post my baseball-hating ass can identify with! Look, I'm not a big fan of Gretzky (plus he's just not a cool guy to hang out with) and Yzerman is hands down my favorite player of all time, but to say that Gretzky wasn't a technically more skilled player is ridiculous, the guy owns every record in the book. Yzerman had the intangibles that Gretz lacked though, as he was definitely the tougher player and better leader. Someone brought up the whole "geographic place of birth is the only legitimate right to being a fan" argument and I gotta say, its prevalence among sports fans drives me crazy. I lived in 2 parts of Massachusetts, St. Louis, Missouri, and 2 parts of California before turning 12. I didn't even play hockey until I was 8 and had been living outside Massachusetts for 3 years, yet I'm supposed to be a Bruins fan? It's pretty annoying getting treated like a fair weather fan because my Red Wings fandom comes from experiences unrelated to living in the state of Michigan. What's not annoying is the blank expression on the born and raised in Detroit guy's face when he can't even name who plays on the Wings 4th line and has never heard of this "Ted Lindsay" guy. On a side note, since we're talking about asshole-ish fans I wouldn't feel right pretending this never happened. I went to Game 2 and 7 of the Wings/Coyotes playoff series last year and got into a fight with a 'Yotes fan in the stands during Game 2. Honestly, I don't even remember what it was about (I black out whenever I fight) but according to security A) I didn't start it or throw the first punch so they won't kick me out of the game and B) I definitely got the better of him. I'm still undecided on whether I should feel kind of good about the whole thing or like an enormous tool. I'm leaning towards enormous tool.
I was quite surprised to get through nearly three pages of thread without a single mention of my glorious hometown and it's reasonable fans.
I went to Mizzou and thought that Big 12 fans were serious about their football. They have nothing on the SEC. You wouldn't walk around Athens, Georgia wearing a Florida hat without getting physically assaulted.
You're aware that calling us soulless assholes is like calling a white person "cracker", right? But as long as we're playing, I might as well play to win the game.
Don't forget to show what happened a little later that year.... ...I don't know about you, but I sure could use a smoke now. You want a home run? I give you....
I know Yankee fans are smug and arrogant and such, but if there is any franchise in the world who deserves to be somewhat arrogant, isn't it the Yankees? I mean the team has won so much more than is reasonable. And don't give me that BS about them only winning because of money. Yes, their money has helped them significantly in the past 15 years, but before that Steinbrenner tossed around cash like crazy and it amounted to fuck all. Prior to those years, the Yankees held no monetary advantage. A small percentage of their championships and pennants can be attributed to money. As an aside, I'm about a big a Yankee fan as they come, but I'll be damned if I don't absolutely fucking hate that "dAaAaAaAaAaAa Yankees Win!" shit
You don't have 2 rings, you have seven. The third highest total in baseball. So stop pretending you're the Chicago Cubs. And I think that having A) 27 rings, B) the largest sports market in the U.S., and C) claim to the mecca of the golden era of baseball (Yankees, Dodgers and Giants in the 40s and 50s) entitles one to bragging rights and lofty expectations.
Its one thing to be proud of a team's heritage, its another thing to be bragging about dominance 60 years later. There are plenty of teams that have a proud heritage, and no doubt having such a history leads to a bit of pride. Take me for example, I grew up in Michigan and am a very proud Wings fan, some would say obnoxious at times (I can admit that), but believe me, 60 years from now I won't be bragging about how good the Wings were in the 90's/2000's.
Frankly, any sports fan who talks about and takes pleasure in success that occurred outside of his or her lifetime is being a twat. Moreover, the 2 recent rings (you're just being anal for the sake of being anal, and we both know it) are the EXACT REASON I was saying that Red Sox fans should stop pretending they are the Cubs. Also, I wasn't aware that the Yankees, Dodgers, and Giants combined forces to become New York Baseball, Conglomerated. Are you seriously suggesting that the Yankees somehow subsumed the legacy and success of their cross town rivals? That we should treat Willie Mays as if he wore pinstripes? Does this mean Mets fans get to start taking credit for the Yankees success? Who exactly denied this?
To which team are you referring? The Cardinals, who despite wins in '06 and '82 really hit their stride in the 40s? Certainly not the Red Sox, who have won twice in the past 10 years. The Braves, Red Sox, Yankees and the Twins all have been outstanding teams over the past 20 years.
I guess I should have made it explicit in my post, I'm talking about the Yankees fans bragging about their Golden Era.
That is patently absurd. Are you seriously telling me I can't derive ANY pleasure from the storied history of my team? That if I'm a Giants fan I have no right to go back and feel good about having a player like Christy Mathewson on those old teams? That "the Giants win the pennant!" means nothing? Taking pride in the history of your team is part of being a real fan. Even the Royals have their roots in one of the best baseball teams ever to take the field as part of the Negro leagues. Holy Christ - you are aware that the Yankees won the World Series in '77 and '78, and made the playoffs in '76, '80 and '81, right? And that they won 4 of 5 World Series from '96 through 2000? Does any of that that seem like 60 years ago to you? I admit that I read MoreCowbell wrong - but if you're going to argue your point, use facts.
Eh, depends. I wouldn't suggest it for most people, and if you do it I wouldn't advise being a loud mouth, but for the most part it's pretty safe. I grew up in Georgia, have been a lifelong Gator, and before transferring down to Gainesville I started school there. I used to wear Gator gear all the time and it was never really a problem, save for the occasional asshole on a game day. It probably helped that I was (am) a giant white guy with Tuscaloosa swoop, cowboy boots, surrounded by my friends who were also UGA students, but for the most part they were all focused on whoever Georgia was playing that weekend. If someone made a snide comment to get a rise out of me, I'd throw it back their way and more often than not it would end in us having beers or trading stories and talking shit. With all that being said, there's certain weekends in SEC country where if you're a visiting fan, you better be in a giant group that is basically a drunken band of brothers who's ready to go to jail if any one of you gets fucked with because it's going to be a brawl, or just shutting the hell up, get drunk, go to the game, and complain/gloat at a later time. I could write a book on the SEC roadtrips I've been on, the exploits/stories from working in THE bar to be at on a gameday at UF for years. I don't even give a shit about the NFL beyond fantasy football, I'm purely a college football fan.
The fake Italians are bad too but the big difference is that Italy isn't the US national team's arch-rival.
I see it this way; if you have a reasonable tie to a team, then I won't call you a bandwagon jumper. By reasonable I mean, you grew up in that location, attended that school, grew up watching that team with a close family member, etc. You're a fair weather fan if you only root for the team when they're winning, and nobody has a clue you're a fan when the team has a loosing record. I've found most douche bag fans are usually the fair weather fans. You will find die hard fans that are raging douches as well, but not as often and to some extent I'll give them a pass since they display a sincere vested interest in their team. Now a t-shirt slogan I saw in the mid 2000's best summed up the Yankee / Red Sox rivalry: nobody else cares. AFHokie