I'll cut to the chase: I don't have a favorite NFL team. When I was a kid it was the Raiders, but only because 1) I liked their uniforms, and 2) we had this Sports Illustrated video called Crunch Time that had a segment on Howie Long (this was mid-80's, so pre-commercial/broadcasting Howie) and I thought he was cool. I half-heartedly switched to the Saints in high school, mostly because no one else liked them and, again, I thought their uniforms were cool. Finally I had a brief relationship with the Pats, but only because I liked their logo (The Flying Elvis), they started that year 6-0 (this was before any of the Super Bowl rings), and they played in a place called "Foxboro".
Not good reasons for having a favorite team.
After discussing this with a co-worker his eyes lit up and he said, "You're lucky. You haven't had one team since you were a kid, so you get to choose yours." He then added a wistful "I wish I were you..." and began weeping on my desk (he's a Dolphins fan).I realized he was right -- in the unwritten rules of sports fandom you have to stick with your first team or you are fickle, disloyal, a traitor or a bandwagoner. However, according to the Childhood Stupidity Clause and the Absence of a Local Team Clause (also unwritten*), I now get to choose my team. An amazing opportunity, as I am able to apply my adult intellect to an important, lifelong decision that is typically made when you are a child.
So here's my question: how do I choose?
It's a seemingly simple question, but one that opens into a vista of challenges and questions as difficult to deal with as the Windows Operating System of that name. For instance: players and coaches change, so how do you use that? Same with playing styles, owners, and even cities. Uniforms can be a factor, though a minor one. History and tradition is good, but I gravitate more towards teams that I actually like to watch play (i.e. the Titans/Ravens are about as entertaining as a Pistons/Spurs Final) and this is also subject to change. And, in the end, couldn't you say teams really pick you? So should I be doing this anyway?
See what I mean? A whole frightening vista. I suppose it's all fodder for another post though.
Here's what I do know:
- I'm already a Cubs fan, so I have no extra emotional will to expend on another beleaguered, hapless team with a long history of losing/choking. Thus, the Lions, Saints, Jets, and probably Cardinals (I'm not sure their current streak erases their vast history of ineptitude) are out.
- I also have no interest in a team whose owner is clueless/potentially unstable. Thus the Raiders and Cowboys are out.
- Even disregarding #2, the Cowboys would still be out.
- So are the Pats, Colts, and even the Cardinals ala the Bandwagoning Rule.
So where do I go from here?
*Actually, I think these are written. I remember the Sports Guy doing an article on something like this. Anybody know where it is?
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3 comments:
You have made excellent points that well illustrate the futility of choosing a team. You left unsaid the most despicable method of selection, which is to find the team that you think will win the most. That one is despicable, yet equally futile.
Can you see where this all leads? It leads to random selection, my friend. I suggest procuring a modest selection of football cards, and if those are unavailable, writing the name of every candidate team on pieces of paper. There will likely be certain teams that you just can't accept, like your past loves the Raiders and Saints, or the Cowboys because your classmate in 1992 with the Starter jacket was a douche. Don't write/include those.
Now devise a somewhat elaborate selection process, and execute it. Making the process elaborate is important, because it will give the final selection gravitas, and make it seem very fateful. Simply drawing out of a hat in one try won't do. May I suggest having three or four rounds of selection?
You obviously don't have to use this way, but I am very excited to hear which team ends up being your team. Also, if you don't use my way you're a fairy.
The direction the NFL has been headed, most especially this season; picking just one team is an expensive and quite possibly disastrous decision. My suggestion, pick two that you love in different conferences, that way when one fails spectacularly you may have another shot of at very least having a team to root for in the home stretch. I have been saddled with a lifelong love of the Cowboys (hiss all you want, I’m used to it), thanks to Troy Aikman a very long time ago, that’s a team I have been unable to shake even throughout all the garbage. For every player worth his jersey (Barber III, Witten, Ware), there’s some mouthpiece or hype hugger who derails the whole thing. I guess that’s the Jerry Jones way though, so it’s a question of culture… that won’t change until Jones drops the reins which is about as unlikely as the Lions coming back from the dead to have a perfect season next year. So, I have the Chargers to fall back on… been to a few games, I enjoy watching them play, love the atmosphere… but it snuck up on me over time. I can’t stand their baby blue jerseys or seemingly uninspired logo, so it’s never been about merchandise with them, it was about the games they played, the personnel and the way they went about it – more or less. That’s when I knew that I was a fan, didn’t expect to be one. So I was left wanting come last weekend, but at very least I had a team in the running (such as it was) after the Jones Boys fell to their own ego.
I guess it’s about philosophy and culture. If you agree with a time honored defensive style of play or a frenetic, ever evolving offensive juggernaut and then you’ve got your air/ground scenario on top of that… select your team from there. Does watching a stalwart defense get your blood pumping or do you love to sit back and watch offensive touchdown after touchdown? Follow a coaching mantra perhaps; the Lovie Smith/Tony Dungy type or the John Gruden/Bill Bellechik school of thought, but even that’s risky with the slate of downed coaches this season. Players are no better, one of my closest friends is a lifelong Packers fan, but when Favre left he was torn …was he a Favre fan or a Green Bay follower?
I hate to say this, but when Brady dropped in game one, every other team had a gleam in their eye that said “Maybe WE can win this thing!” Every year is so completely different; I mean the Dolphins went from one win to clinching the division? Go with the Lions and Rams, that way there’s nowhere to go but up.
I like to choose my teams that I follow based on their histories. In the NBA, I got the Jazz because of the Utah connection, but I had to choose both in the NFL and MLB. In baseball, I chose the Yankees for their history (this was back in the 80s when most would prefer to fix themselves a turd sandwich rather than watch the aforementioned turd sandwich that was Donnie Baseball and the Yankees). I loved the classic pinstripes, the history, and the amazing players they had in the past. My unrequited love for them came back to be for the best when they dominated the AL for about a decade there, which was nice.
As for NFL, I initially did the same thing. I had a nice fling with the Chicago Bears during the Jim McMahon/Ditka years, but when Ditka left I did too. I hopped on with the 49ers at the tail end of the Montana years and have been with them since, even though I think they've been disastrously managed since Eddie DeBartolo was kicked out as owner. I would recommend looking around for a team who's history you can like and appreciate and then tossing in your lot there. Good looking unis are a definite bonus, as nobody could be a Tampa Bay Bucs fan with their creamsicle unis of the 70s/80s/early 90s. I'm not as big into the NFL anymore, but I still like to see that the Niners are doing good.
Best of luck choosing! Might I suggest up-and-comers the Falcons?
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