Sports Fans...

[bulldogsmsu]

I was talking to a friend the other day about football and I know him as a Tampa Bay fan. He said he used to be Washington fan then a this fan and now a Tampa Bay fan. I started to think about that and wondering how can someone change from one team to another?
I have been a Saints fan and MSU fan and can't imagine changing my teams. Even if I had gone to say Florida for my MBA or another college for my masters could I ever change who my favorite team is. Has anyone else been another
fan prior to becoming an MSU fan? I just can't see how this happens.

[RossDawg82]

As a huge Tampa fan myself (grew up in Tampa), there is no switching teams. He jumped off the wagon during our down years. I still rock the Pewter Orange every Sunday during the season and I will always be a Bucs fan. Now I might like other teams, but if they play the Bucs then there is no question who I am going for.

[BrunswickDawg]

Grew up an UGA fan - went to MSU and became a fan - now find most of my UGA friends to be obnoxious.
Does just giving up on the Falcons count?

[Barking 13]

I was born a Bulldog. My dad was from Green Bay... there are a few other teams I "like" , but I will never support or wear anything other than Maroon and White, or Green and Gold.. point blank, period...

[Johnson85]

I was talking to a friend the other day about football and I know him as a Tampa Bay fan. He said he used to be Washington fan then a this fan and now a Tampa Bay fan. I started to think about that and wondering how can someone change from one team to another?
I have been a Saints fan and MSU fan and can't imagine changing my teams. Even if I had gone to say Florida for my MBA or another college for my masters could I ever change who my favorite team is. Has anyone else been another
fan prior to becoming an MSU fan? I just can't see how this happens.

It's different for professional sports. You have to sort of adopt your team in the first place. If you live in a city with a professional team, you at least have some justification for being loyal to a team. But otherwise, you're cheering for an organization you have no affiliation with, who doesn't know you, who just wants to make money off of you, and whose players for the most part are only as loyal as their contract requires. It's all sort of crazy, so if you end up cheering for a team because you like the players on it, and the players change out to players you don't care as much about and a new team has players you like, why not change alliances?

But as you can probably guess I'm not much of a professional sport fan. Enjoy watching them, but I'm not really a fan of any particular team and don't really understand how anybody that doesn't grow up going to a particular team's games really becomes a loyal fan of a team.

[RossDawg82]

It's different for professional sports. You have to sort of adopt your team in the first place. If you live in a city with a professional team, you at least have some justification for being loyal to a team. But otherwise, you're cheering for an organization you have no affiliation with, who doesn't know you, who just wants to make money off of you, and whose players for the most part are only as loyal as their contract requires. It's all sort of crazy, so if you end up cheering for a team because you like the players on it, and the players change out to players you don't care as much about and a new team has players you like, why not change alliances?

But as you can probably guess I'm not much of a professional sport fan. Enjoy watching them, but I'm not really a fan of any particular team and don't really understand how anybody that doesn't grow up going to a particular team's games really becomes a loyal fan of a team.

Makes a ton of sense. I will watch other games (except Ole Miss) but I will never be a "fan". I bleed Maroon and White and I always will.

[blacklistedbully]

Grew up a Saints fan, being from the Gulf Coast. Became a Bulldog fan when I attended college there. Had the pleasure and agony of being there when we had Bellard, Bond, Cooks, Hull, Haddix, etc, etc. Probably why I have always had a hard time thinking of us as a "bad football program". My perspective is skewed because we were damn good back then. I expected to beat most every team we played. But I did not escape the "Dead Indians", as we would lose in the strangest ways, even then, often to obscenely shitty officiating.

But I moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in the mid-80's, just in time to get on board with Walsh, Montana, Clark, "The Catch", etc, etc. I pulled for the 49ers and Saints. Still do, but have gradually become less passionate about the Saints, as SF became my team. But it was totally because of my connection to the area. I have never even considered switching alliances due to record or relative quality of the teams.

[starkvegasdawg]

I'll always be a State fan. Nothing can change that. However, I have had a slight change of heart in the nfl. I grew up a huge falcons fan. My dad was always a saints fan. I'm sure you can guess the fun in the house twice a year. I hated the saints and he hated the falcons. However, 10 years ago he died unexpectedly and I think sort of as a "in memory" of him I started finding myself pulling for the saints more and more...except when they played the falcons.

[MSUDawg4Life]

Interesting topic.

I'm actually from Washington, D.C. and I've been a Dallas Cowboys fan since I was about three years old. Same with the Lakers. No changing. Ever.

As far as college goes, I liked a couple of teams growing up. Namely, Michigan and Miami. However, upon moving to Mississippi and just happening to come across a MSU game on the radio I became intrigued. Something about Jack Cristal's voice and the way he called the game drew me in. After visiting the campus in the 11th grade, I was sold.Die hard Dawg ever since through all the ups and downs.

[esplanade91]

It's different for professional sports. You have to sort of adopt your team in the first place. If you live in a city with a professional team, you at least have some justification for being loyal to a team. But otherwise, you're cheering for an organization you have no affiliation with, who doesn't know you, who just wants to make money off of you, and whose players for the most part are only as loyal as their contract requires. It's all sort of crazy, so if you end up cheering for a team because you like the players on it, and the players change out to players you don't care as much about and a new team has players you like, why not change alliances?

But as you can probably guess I'm not much of a professional sport fan. Enjoy watching them, but I'm not really a fan of any particular team and don't really understand how anybody that doesn't grow up going to a particular team's games really becomes a loyal fan of a team.
It's about commrodary. Grew up a Saints fan because I was so close to New Orleans and they were ALWAYS on every Sunday. I can go anywhere in the US pretty much and hold a conversation with just about anyone wearing Saints gear. There's a Saints bar in the city roughly 1200 miles away from NOLA and I walk in there for games and it feels like home.

It irritates me when people just pick a random team, usually the good ones, and claim they're a fan. Maybe I'm a dick, but you have to earn it. Be born somewhere or live somewhere... That's your team, and don't start liking them when they're good and quit when they're bad.

To say pro teams don't do anything but suck money out of fans, that's not true. I didn't even grow up in New Orleans or Louisiana but Saints ALWAYS made their way to town when I was a kid to have meet and greets and be involved in the community. Chris Paul was at every single charity event it seemed like in Biloxi before he was traded.

[smootness]

Born in TX, grew up in GA. Started a Cowboys/Astros fan but quickly switched to Braves...made the switch to the Falcons when the Cowboys ceased being good. But now I could never switch, at least from the Braves.

But I've always been a State fan. Went to school at UGA and never changed...I don't even think of myself as a bigger UGA fan now than I ever was, which is not at all. It's just who I am, I have no interest in another school. I went to one football game at UGA, in 05 or 06 when State came to Athens.

[godlluB]

I was born and raised in Tennessee (I never attended UT, although one of my siblings did). I was a die-hard UT fan until I moved to Starkville for grad school. For a couple of years, I still rooted for UT, but after a while I fully converted to MSU. As an alumnus, an MSU employee, and a resident of Starkville for 20 years, my veins now run as Maroon as anyone. I do still root for Tennessee (and Vandy) when their success doesn't hurt MSU, and I may hate Alabama and Kentucky even more than most MSU fans.

I knew that I had fully converted from a Vol to a Bulldog during the 1998 championship game, when in the 4th quarter I found myself cheering for Dear Old State, even knowing it would cost Big Orange a National Title.

[The Croom Diaries]

Born in TX, grew up in GA. Started a Cowboys/Astros fan but quickly switched to Braves...made the switch to the Falcons when the Cowboys ceased being good. But now I could never switch, at least from the Braves.


I am in this exact same scenario with NFL teams. I grew up rooting for the Cowboys using being born in Dallas as my justification even though I lived in Atlanta (but they were just really good and I was just a kid)...Falcons were my number 2. When the 'boys starting getting in trouble with drugs in the mid-90s I lost interest and starting rooting for the Falcons as my #1 team and have ever since. But I feel no real loyalty to the Falcons and Hawks other than they are my local team. If I were to move to another place, say Charlotte, I think I would pull for the Panthers and Bobcats. The Braves are different though - I don't think I could ever leave the Braves...although my die-hard attitude seems to fade every year as I get older.

[spiritual_machine2005]

I was raised in a sports neutral family. Dad went to Memphis State, mom went to Blue Mountain College. My grandfather was a huge Cubs and Cardinals fan. I started out going to college at Ole Miss....so I was a casual fan while there. Then I transfered to MSU to finish bachelors and get my masters. During my time there I became a MSU fan and will always be one. I always cheered for Ole Miss too when we weren't playing them...but as the years go on my hatred for Ole Miss grows.