Story by Sofie Check
Somewhere around day 72 of quarantine, I was at my boyfriend’s house in Virginia with his extended family. We were sitting around the fire playing a game involving hypothetical questions where each person comes up with a different question to ask the group. My boyfriend started with the question, “Who is everyones number 1 sports villain; team or specific player?”
As the question went around the circle I sat there frozen unable to think of who my number one sports villain is. Does this make me not a true sports fan if I don’t have a deep hatred for any specific player or team? Or is it because the NY teams I root for haven’t been top contenders in the last 10 years? Sorry NY Knicks..it’s been a rough spell. I decided it was the latter.
Most sports fans have a specific villain based on their team allegiances, so if you are a fan of a football team that plays the Patriots often, you probably hate Tom Brady since he started winning rings in Boston. If you are a NBA fan and live in California, but you aren’t from the Bay Area, you probably hated the Golden State Warriors over the past 5 years. If you are a Boston Red Sox fan, you probably hated Derek Jeter and A-rod in their hayday. Many sports fans have their particular villain that is a product of the sports environment they grew up in. My question is, do you have to viciously hate a particular player, coach, or team in order to be a true sports fan?
My answer is no, you don’t. If you are more inclined to be a lover of sports in general, it is harder to think of a particular villain to direct your anger towards. While I have allegiances and roots for NY teams, I often find myself choosing a different team if I am watching a game that doesn’t involve a team I typically root for. I am a fan that likes specific players, sometimes those are on the teams I root for and other times they are in completely different divisions. Would you ever find me rooting for Ohio State when they’ve given Penn State a hard time for the past five years? Never, but if the Lakers and Clippers are playing, you bet I am going to root for the Lakers in that situation.
The bottom line is, being a sports fan isn’t about having extreme hatred towards a particular player or team, but rather feeling a connection towards specific players based on what they do on and off the court. There are also instances in sports where my team is out of the running and I pick a new team to root for during the postseason/playoffs. For example, it was amazing to be a bandwagon Nats fan this past baseball season and watch them find their groove and continue on to win the World Series. Some people might say that doesn’t make me a true Yankee fan, but if your team is out…shouldn’t any other team (outside of their division) be fair game? My favorite teams in every sport that aren’t my #1:
Baseball: Washington Nationals (They an outstanding run in the second half of the MLB season in 2019)
Basketball: Los Angeles Laker (Huge fan of LeBron rebuilding a dynasty for the Lakers will an All-Star studded cast.)
Football: Seattle Seahawks (I love Russell Wilson, they are a super progressive team)
It’s okay to leave hate out of sports and focus on the connection we have to teams and players, regardless of their affiliation to our favorite teams and geographical location. Thank you for coming to my Ted talk!
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