Heresy or Good Fandom: Do you like star players on Rivals?

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DarrylStingley

DarrylStingley

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Whenever my Sox fan friends say "you know, you have to love Derek Jeter....he plays the game right blah blah blah," it makes me want to vomit. Violently. For hours. On them.

I mean, I never ever like anyone on the Yankees, Colts, Jets, Canadiens, Lakers or any other team I consider to be the Other.

Even if I didn't hate Tony Dungy with the fire of a billion burning hot, fiery suns -- and by the way, I do -- I would never be able to say "that Tony Dungy, boy do I really love him and the way he conducts himself."

The most I can ever say is that "I don't totally hate Jeff Saturday." But if Jeff Saturday slipped on Peyton's tampon and was out for the season, there is no set of facts under which I would feel badly for him.

My point is that I have no feelings of warmth for anyone on any of those teams. I root against them at every turn. Every hit for Jeter makes me want to vomit, and I root for only bad things for him. Same for Peyton and same for every rival.

Are you in my camp? Or do you quietly dig on Jeter and other Others because you respect their game?
 
I like a LOT of players in the NFL, for instance. Some of them do not play for the Patriots. A few that come to mind are Kevin Williams, DeMeco Ryans and Steve Hutchinson. Marcus McNeill even. I'd even admit to a perverse fascination with watching Bob Sanders play like a rolling ball of butcher knives.

Does it mean that I root for them when we happen to be playing their teams?

No way, but I like watching guys that are dominant at whatever they happen to do. Really good athletes who perform under intense pressure get me interested.

They can't all play for us.

Far as Jeter goes: yes, I will admit to having a grudging respect for the guy. I don't love nor hate him. I think he is a bit overrated, but a very smart baseball player who is far better than any shortstop the Sox have had since just before Nomar stuck a needle in his ass and ruined himself. I feel similar about Posada and Mariano Rivera. Long-time rivals who give you a run for your money most nights. I'll almost miss them when they are gone.
 
I like a few from other teams.

Dallas clark, Chad Pennington and John Lynch are my 3 favorites.
 
I used to really hate on Peyton... I would root for him and the Colts to fail no matter what. I really clung to the whole "choker" thing and the "sure you've got stats but where's the ring?"... Since the Colts won that SB, to my dismay, I admit, I was rooting for the Bears... anyways... since that point I've just respected Manning and his game. I still root against the Colts regardless of who they are playing... (with one unpopular exception... since Spygate I take the Colts over the Pats... I used to really like the Pats because I could always count on them to beat the Colts... but if the division is on the line... or playoff seeding involving Tennessee... I could most definitely pull for New England over Indy... but it would have to benefit MY TEAM...

You know, I'm a Marion Barber fan... that dude is awesome... and the Viking's Adrian Peterson is an absolute phenom... But I really am not a big backer of the 'boys or Vikes... Like that other poster was saying about Bob Sanders... I never hated on him... if anything I envied the Colts for having such a hard hitting safety. I don't really see anything wrong with liking a player to the point you wish they were on your own favorite team.
 
I love football and really enjoy watching it, especially when it's played well. There have been, and are now, plenty of NFL players I look forward to watching in action when I can. The team they play for doesn't matter to me a whole lot (unless they are playing the Pats or the pats need their team to lose for some reason).

These are a few guys I've enjoyed watch over the years.

Marcus Allen
Curt Warner
Earl Campbell
Terell Davis
Curtis Martin
Donnie Edwards
LT (Both)
Carl Banks
Chip Banks
Zack Thomas
Steve Hutchinson
Michael Strahan
Klecko
Dermonti Dawson
Howie Long
Emmit Smith


The list is almost endless now that I think about it.

Football is the rare sport that can be watched regardless of which teams happen to be playing.
 
Couldn't disagree with you more DS. I used to 'hate' everything about our rivals. I learned a new respect once I realized that they're out there busting their assess just as much as our players are and that the only thing that is dictating me hating and loving a grown man that I have never met, is where I was born and raised. Seemed kind of silly to me. :shrug:

That being said, there are professional athletes that I DO NOT like. Off the top of my head LtD is a prime example. But I never disliked him until he gave me a reason other than what uniform he was wearing.
 
Fully Tilted said:
Couldn't disagree with you more DS. I used to 'hate' everything about our rivals. I learned a new respect once I realized that they're out there busting their assess just as much as our players are and that the only thing that is dictating me hating and loving a grown man that I have never met, is where I was born and raised. Seemed kind of silly to me. :shrug:

That being said, there are professional athletes that I DO NOT like. Off the top of my head LtD is a prime example. But I never disliked him until he gave me a reason other than what uniform he was wearing.
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If you take that "silly" philosophy to its logical extreme, you may as well not follow sports. The only reason why you LIKE athletes who you've never met and don't give a shit about you is also where you born and were raised.

But you do root for such athletes and you care enough about them to post on an internet message board about them.

So what you call "silly" about my philosophy is really just a matter of degree. You've decided it's OK to LOVE Tom Brady (or whoever you really like or love on the Pats) but not hate Peyton Manning. That's completely fine -- to each his own -- but I think you should get a little lower on that high horse.

Rooting for a sports team is inherenelty illogical. When they win, you are not any richer and you have all the same problems you had before the game started.

For my part, the fact that Derek Jeter and Peyton Manning worked their ass off means zippo to me. I hope they fail every time, and that their professional lives are miserable to the extreme.
 
There are people that I wouldn't mind playing for us and then there are those that would make me shart everywhere if they came over to our side.
 
DarrylStingley said:
If you take that "silly" philosophy to its logical extreme, you may as well not follow sports. The only reason why you LIKE athletes who you've never met and don't give a shit about you is also where you born and were raised.
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Well, good thing for me that I don't live in extremes.

But you do root for such athletes and you care enough about them to post on an internet message board about them.
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Again, do I need to be "extreme" to want to discuss sports and athletes as a topic on the internet?

So what you call "silly" about my philosophy is really just a matter of degree. You've decided it's OK to LOVE Tom Brady (or whoever you really like or love on the Pats) but not hate Peyton Manning. That's completely fine -- to each his own -- but I think you should get a little lower on that high horse.
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Someone pee in your cheerios this morning? How ironic that you're telling me to get off my high-horse. I never called your "philosophy" silly. I said, it seemed silly for me to "hate" someone I've never met based upon the uniform that they are wearing. How you managed to make that personal is beyond me.

Rooting for a sports team is inherenelty illogical. When they win, you are not any richer and you have all the same problems you had before the game started.

For my part, the fact that Derek Jeter and Peyton Manning worked their ass off means zippo to me. I hope they fail every time, and that their professional lives are miserable to the extreme.
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Good luck with all of that. You can throw out any cliches about my high horse if you feel but I was simply stating that I choose to not expend this much energy, hating another human being and hoping for their professional lives to turn disastrous, as you.

I didn't start a thread opening the discussion, you did. If you don't like the answers that don't align with yours, maybe the internet just isn't your place.
 
Fully Tilted said:
Well, good thing for me that I don't live in extremes.



Again, do I need to be "extreme" to want to discuss sports and athletes as a topic on the internet?



Someone pee in your cheerios this morning? How ironic that you're telling me to get off my high-horse. I never called your "philosophy" silly. I said, it seemed silly for me to "hate" someone I've never met based upon the uniform that they are wearing. How you managed to make that personal is beyond me.



Good luck with all of that. You can throw out any cliches about my high horse if you feel but I was simply stating that I choose to not expend this much energy, hating another human being and hoping for their professional lives to turn disastrous, as you.

I didn't start a thread opening the discussion, you did. If you don't like the answers that don't align with yours, maybe the internet just isn't your place.
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What a ridiculous post. Honestlhy, I have no problem whatsoever with people not hating opposing players. I totally get that. What you don't realize is that your first post, like the one that followed it, essentially said that hating opposing players is just as silly. And I'll I'm saying is that your being a bit heavy handed when you say that, since rooting for players who could care less about you in the first place is silly.

I'm fine with the internet. And I'm fine with people who disagree with my opinions. I'm not fine with people saying that others who look at things differently have a silly philosopy, which is what you basically said, no matter how you parse the words.
 
DarrylStingley said:
What a ridiculous post. Honestlhy, I have no problem whatsoever with people not hating opposing players. I totally get that. What you don't realize is that your first post, like the one that followed it, essentially said that hating opposing players is just as silly. And I'll I'm saying is that your being a bit heavy handed when you say that, since rooting for players who could care less about you in the first place is silly.

I'm fine with the internet. And I'm fine with people who disagree with my opinions. I'm not fine with people saying that others who look at things differently have a silly philosopy, which is what you basically said, no matter how you parse the words.
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This is a dark day for Patriots Planet...
 
TommyD420 said:
This is a dark day for Patriots Planet...
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Meh, I just thought what Fully wrote about hating players being silly was a bit judgmental for my tastes.

To me, part of the fun of sports is demonizing the enemies. The fact that I freaking HATE the NY Yankees made the victory in 04 all the more enjoyable.

There were two HUGE components. My extreme love for the Sox. Seeing players who I truly love accomplish that was so special. At the same time, the other component, hate for asswipes like Jeter, Alice, Sheffield and Giambi made the victory over those MFers all the better.

I was delighted when the Sox beat the Indians, but I really couldn't summon all that much hate for them, and that was a part of why it wasn't as overwhelming as 04. Of course, the 86 years thing had something to do with that, too.

Think about all the Pats wins in the playoffs. The two over the Colts were way up there, even the division game in 2004, since they were beating the damn Colts and Peyton Manning.

To me, hating opposing players takes no energy at all. It's natural.
 
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