Becoming a fan of a new team

[tm3308]

Not sure why this came to mind right now, but it's something I've wondered about. Has anyone else ever had trouble becoming a fan of a new team? I've been watching hockey since the 2010 Olympics, and in the NHL, the Blackhawks were the obvious choice to root for in Iowa City. But I wouldn't call myself anything more than a casual fan, despite genuinely liking the team and the sport. I just don't feel the same sort of connectivity with the Blackhawks as I do the Cubs or Hawkeyes, or even Iowa State or the Bears (I don't really care that much about the NFL, but I grew up with the Bears every Sunday because my dad is a fan). The highs don't feel as high; even during their Cup runs, I couldn't get *really* excited without it feeling a little forced compared to how I feel during Iowa or Cubs games.

For the people who started watching a new sport and picking a favorite team like that, did you have similar experiences? Does that ever change, or does it always just feel different than it does for the teams you grew up with?

 

[besserheimerphat]

When we moved to WA, I stopped really following the Packers and Sox and immediately jumped on the Seahawks/Mariners. I agree that I don't have the same emotional attachment to the new teams. Here's my metaphysical take: part of the attachment to a team is the relationships it helps foster with friends and family. When you don't have those relationships, your attachment to the team isn't as deep/intense.

All of my WA sports folks are colleagues. None of my family are Seattle fans. So while I primarily follow the Seattle teams I don't "love" them.

 

[CycloneNorth]

Living in Nashville I get far more Titans/Preds news and probably know more than I do about Vikings/Wild but I don’t feel a connection.

I think it’s pretty hard to attach to a new team unless you have a strong reason, know a player/season tickets/kids

 

[Al_4_State]

My brother was always a front runner as a kid. Hawkeyes, Cowboys, Bulls, Red Wings. But once he had a reason to switch allegiances, he did.

When he decided to go to ISU, he became a Cyclone fan and is fully invested. When he moved to Minneapolis and decided to put down roots there, he ditched his childish attachments and went all in on the local squads. For him it was all about having a more genuine connection to these institutions than the previous ones

 

[CloneFan4]

Not sure why this came to mind right now, but it's something I've wondered about. Has anyone else ever had trouble becoming a fan of a new team? I've been watching hockey since the 2010 Olympics, and in the NHL, the Blackhawks were the obvious choice to root for in Iowa City. But I wouldn't call myself anything more than a casual fan, despite genuinely liking the team and the sport. I just don't feel the same sort of connectivity with the Blackhawks as I do the Cubs or Hawkeyes, or even Iowa State or the Bears (I don't really care that much about the NFL, but I grew up with the Bears every Sunday because my dad is a fan). The highs don't feel as high; even during their Cup runs, I couldn't get *really* excited without it feeling a little forced compared to how I feel during Iowa or Cubs games.

For the people who started watching a new sport and picking a favorite team like that, did you have similar experiences? Does that ever change, or does it always just feel different than it does for the teams you grew up with?

You need to let things happen organically.

The teams I follow outside of those my dad raised me up with (Cubs, Iowa State, Vikings) just happened naturally.

Seeing Vince Carter live led to becoming a Raptors fan, watching the Hoiball of soccer led to becoming an Arsenal fan, and being dragged to visit Notre Dame and attend a game led to following them as well.

Every time I've tried to force it, Blackhawks in my case too, I've ended up a fan of a team with that which I have little emotional investment in.

 

[intrepid27]

As a long time Raiders fan I've flirted with this idea for the past 10 years. The nice thing about this is their success cycle has almost been opposite ISU so usually one of the two was not embarrassing.

My quandry is this. If I switch to a winning program, I will look like bandwagon fan which I detest. If I switch to cheering for a bad program I might as well stick with the Raiders.

 

[mj4cy]

Since the Favre year, I've become a pretty big Vikings fan...I think only because the disappointments they cause me are very similar for ISU....so there is a level of comfort there.

 

[SpokaneCY]

When we moved to WA, I stopped really following the Packers and Sox and immediately jumped on the Seahawks/Mariners. I agree that I don't have the same emotional attachment to the new teams. Here's my metaphysical take: part of the attachment to a team is the relationships it helps foster with friends and family. When you don't have those relationships, your attachment to the team isn't as deep/intense.

All of my WA sports folks are colleagues. None of my family are Seattle fans. So while I primarily follow the Seattle teams I don't "love" them.

I think you can only have 1 first love. ISU, Colts in football and sorta Pacers for bball. I can watch WSU or UW but have zero emotional attachment. SeaHawks will always hate because of Carroll.

What's fun is watching a game with someone who is way emotionally invested because you get a glimpse of the irrationalness of fandom...

 

[SpokaneCY]

You need to let things happen organically.

The teams I follow outside of those my dad raised me up with (Cubs, Iowa State, Vikings) just happened naturally.

Seeing Vince Carter live led to becoming a Raptors fan, watching the Hoiball of soccer led to becoming an Arsenal fan, and being dragged to visit Notre Dame and attend a game led to following them as well.

Every time I've tried to force it, Blackhawks in my case too, I've ended up a fan of a team with that which I have little emotional investment in.

When we lived in Indy we "knew" (lived next to) some of the players. Jeff Herrod was our next-door neighbor (LB and now battling with brain stuff) and we'd see Jeff George, Quentin Coryatt, Steve Emtman and a few others so we had a personal attachment. Still love my Colts but not in the way I love my Cyclones. Sweat, blood, tears, fiancé, degree, debauchery all make for strong bonds...

 

[KnappShack]

It's sports. No biggie. Especially professional sports.

I grew up a Cubs fan but really enjoyed the Angels when I moved to California. Now that I live in Chicago again my interest in the Cubs isn't there. No biggie.

Life changes. Interests and friends change. Sports are entertainment only.

 

[I-stateTheTruth]

The most natural ways for this to feel comfortable:

1. If you move to a new area and start to attend games 2. If a favorite player goes to a different team; when Hornacek went to the Jazz, I developed an affinity for them (which returns when Niang is getting rotation mintues) or 3. and this is just for extreme cases, if you sleep with a cheerleader of the team, you can develop an affection for that squad.

 

[AdRock4Cy]

I am a free agent NFL Fan right now. Have been a Redskins fan since 1991, but I really cant stand them any more becuase they are terrible and I hate their owner Dan Snyder. I am leaning becoming a Bears fan, but open to other suggestions.

 

[Cycsk]

This happened to me as a Cyclone fan. We moved from Chicago to Ames. After a few years, the accessibility to Big 12 games (of several sports) was so cool that I became a deeper Cyclone fan than I had ever been for anything in Chicago.

 

[STATE12]

I'd consider myself among the biggest of Viking/Cyclone fans, never really cared for baseball.

Wife's family are/have been big Cubs fans for a long time. Went to my first MLB game in Chicago early in the season of 2016, and said the atmosphere was better than expected after only tuning into games on TV and getting bored previously. Felt like I could then be come a fan...until they went on to win the World Series that year.

I just didn't feel like I could be the guy that became a fan the year they won it all. It felt dirty in a way, that I hadn't been through the rough years to really appreciate that great year. Same reason major success for the Vikings/Cyclones would be so much sweeter being a diehard through the worst of seasons.

 

[Knownothing]

I am a die hard Red Sox fan. I was a die hard Celtics fan. However, I no longer am die hard Celtics since Bird, Chief, McHale and all of them retired. I still have a Celtics flag I hang but I have no idea who even plays for the Celtics. So in other words I was a fan of Boston teams and cool uniforms. I still Rock Celtics gear from Time to Time. I am now down to the Packers and Red Sox and I am starting not even care about the NFL. I care more about College sports now and the Red Sox. I did the Bulls thing for a while but that was because of Jordan and could care less about them now. Guess I am kind of an NBA front runner guy, even though I don't care about the league.

 

[Buster28]

I would say it's kind of like "love." It either happens or it doesn't - can't be forced. Sometimes it just sneaks up on you when you're not paying attention, then -BAM!- you're a fan who loves their (new) team. It could be a single moment you were able to see on tv or in person. It could be some sort of connection you feel with an individual athlete, for any reason. Proximity doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the love of a team, as indicated by people surrounded by news of their local franchises, but who feel no personal attachment. And, yes, love can fade just as easily as it appears.

 

[BoxsterCy]

Grew up in small town NE Iowa back in the small black and white TV days so gravitated to who I saw the most on TV for pro sports on network TV, the Yankees (Mantle!), the Celtics (Havlicek!) and the Packers (Bart Starr!). Also listened to Hawkeye football and basketball on the radio, was rare to see any TV for them. It was in the middle of the 20 year streak of without a winning record so it was not frontrunning. Hawk hoops were pretty good in the 1960's. Obviously switched college sports to Cyclones when I went to ISU but it wasn't a big rivalry in 1969/1970, we didn't even play them in football or basketball. Even with Hawks being decent in hoops the big story was Drake in basketball. At some point at ISU I started following the Lakers. Remember watching them at the Cave Inn in the playoffs.

Moved to Twin Cities like 40 years ago but have never warmed to the local teams. Don't follow NFL much but if I had to pick a team it would still be the Packers. Same with NBA although I'd probably pick the Lakers still if watching them didn't cause your eyes to bleed. And still a Yankee fan and have a Mickey Mantle scrapbook somewhere in a box of old keepsakes. Went to their World Series and enjoyed the experience but never became a real fan.

 

[Cydkar]

Not sure why this came to mind right now, but it's something I've wondered about. Has anyone else ever had trouble becoming a fan of a new team? I've been watching hockey since the 2010 Olympics, and in the NHL, the Blackhawks were the obvious choice to root for in Iowa City. But I wouldn't call myself anything more than a casual fan, despite genuinely liking the team and the sport. I just don't feel the same sort of connectivity with the Blackhawks as I do the Cubs or Hawkeyes, or even Iowa State or the Bears (I don't really care that much about the NFL, but I grew up with the Bears every Sunday because my dad is a fan). The highs don't feel as high; even during their Cup runs, I couldn't get *really* excited without it feeling a little forced compared to how I feel during Iowa or Cubs games.

For the people who started watching a new sport and picking a favorite team like that, did you have similar experiences? Does that ever change, or does it always just feel different than it does for the teams you grew up with?

Quite the stealth "I want to be a Cyclone" post.

 

[Dandy]

Not me personally but I have a friend who was a big San Diego Chargers fan because he liked LT. After college he moved to Minneapolis and hated it when the Chargers moved to LA and LT is obviously long retired so he switched to the Vikings.

 

[heitclone]

Nothing compares to ISU, I wouldn't entertain the idea of rooting for any other school. Pro sports I'm much more casual, other than MLB, die hard Cards fan. The NFL and NBA were ruined by fantasy sports and free agency, now I'm just more in to watching players I like than teams, especially with more ISU guys in the NBA. I consider myself a Bears fan but after Fred to the Bulls, I have no NBA allegiance, it was just too tough balancing the fact it was an awful hire for my favorite team and the obvious attachment ISU fans have for Fred.

I think this could change if I lived in a metro area with more pro teams but I'm just a much bigger college sports fan. It does seem like pro sports are more bandwagoney. I have friends that switch teams every few years but have remained loyal to their college teams for our entire lives.