Rooting for the Losers

[moofs]

I'm curious, why does no one like the loser anymore?

Everyone has to root for the winner. NEVERMIND that most of us are relative (not absolute) losers to one degree or another, particularly in the financial and control arenas.

This country used to like rooting for the losers and underdogs. Rooting for the big guy in sports is the equivalent of rooting for Goldman Sachs to post an 80% profit for the quarter. It's [freaking] disgusting.

I personally root for guys with character and/or the ones who provide the most entertainment, which is what sports is. This whole "my favorite team/player has to win or else I'm not happy!" thing makes me a bit sick.

All this is before even considering the odds of winning relative to skill levels. The best team does not stand a 100% chance of winning simply on merits of being the best; ask last year's Cleveland team.

What's up with that? How does everyone seem convinced that if their sports team isn't winning that they need to be replaced, fixed, etc, etc, etc?

(Bear in mind that "Losers" would not apply to teams like the Golden State Warriors, as they're all a bunch of self-serving prigs. GS fans root like crazy for them anyway, but that doesn't mean I'm referring to them. Think old-school Cubs teams, for instance)

[Zubby]

....



/old man rant

[HTown_TMac]

Losers arent accepted

[moofs]

What, so I was around in the 20s and/or 40s?

I just want to know what the fascination with win-above-all-else is in sports fans. (in business it's obvious, but not so much in sports fans.)

Anyway, yeah it was a rant. GREAT ANSWERS FROM THE AUDIENCE, TOO!! 6 word, 3 dots, and a slash. I'ma have to study this for a bit to see if I can wrap my head around it.

[Zubby]

Well for starters I have 4 dots in that post...

Secondly I really have no idea what you are talking about.

Is it playing games for score? or is it that winning players are rooted for the most?

Anyway if you don't like this win 1st idea/attitude move back to Canada.
As far as I know America has always been this way, that why winners are more know, get more commercials/praise.

AND teams that haven't won in a while always have their heroes of yesterday who have won.

Thats why the world knows all the "great" teams, and teams like the Browns, Blue Jackets, and Warriors are jokes.



This has never changed, the only thing that has change is this new globalization of sports...

People root for teams and cities they never even been to because of a "star" player like that Martin Fan we got in the Landry trade.


I got a friend who supports the Lakers, the Cowboys, & the Yankees....

[moofs]

Well for starters I have 4 dots in that post...

Oh crap, my bad.

Is it playing games for score? or is it that winning players are rooted for the most?

Partly the latter, none of the former.

Anyway if you don't like this win 1st idea/attitude move back to Canada.

I... would have difficulty with that.

As far as I know America has always been this way, that why winners are more know, get more commercials/praise.

It has during our lifetimes, but not always. It's a recent development. Last 50 years for sure, more likely in the last 30 years with the national media explosion.

AND teams that haven't won in a while always have their heroes of yesterday who have won.
Thats why the world knows all the "great" teams, and teams like the Browns, Blue Jackets, and Warriors are jokes.

There are differences between being a great team and being a "winner". Winners in sports can, and often do, happen randomly. Great teams are remembered for a while (you'd apparently be surprised to know that the Browns and Warriors haven't always been jokes), but easily forgotten. 30 years from now, I doubt anyone will remember 1998-2003 Sacramento, 1988-1992 Cleveland, 1995-2002 Indiana, etc. They all won, and were highly entertaining, but because they didn't WIN IT ALL, they're all deemed either failures or tragedies (depending on the desired spin) in modern sports.

Yes, I've gone off on this before, but we have a VERY entertaining team right now; good characters, play hard, win at pretty good clips given their circumstances, but no one's really rooting for them strictly because they aren't winning enough in absolute terms. Iggy jumped off their fanbase this year, and he was FAR from alone in that regard. My complaint has nothing to do with some old sentiment. It's in not recognizing something of value (as much as entertainment provides value, anyway) simply because of some strange notion of vicariously winning through a sports team (just answered my own question again, ...just like last time...). If the sports team doesn't win, it needs to be fixed until it does win, and not just a lot, not just to the point of being good and/or entertaining, but win it all, and everything else be damned.

Anyway yeah. I've answered my own question yet again, so ... ... ... yeah.

I got a friend who supports the Lakers, the Cowboys, & the Yankees....

Poor misguided bastard. Especially that middle one, makes me feel dirty just thinking about it.

[MaxRider]

nobody root for losers
we do however root for underdog

[Zubby]

There are differences between being a great team and being a "winner". Winners in sports can, and often do, happen randomly. Great teams are remembered for a while (you'd apparently be surprised to know that the Browns and Warriors haven't always been jokes), but easily forgotten. 30 years from now, I doubt anyone will remember 1998-2003 Sacramento, 1988-1992 Cleveland, 1995-2002 Indiana, etc. They all won, and were highly entertaining, but because they didn't WIN IT ALL, they're all deemed either failures or tragedies (depending on the desired spin) in modern sports.

Yes, I've gone off on this before, but we have a VERY entertaining team right now; good characters, play hard, win at pretty good clips given their circumstances, but no one's really rooting for them strictly because they aren't winning enough in absolute terms. Iggy jumped off their fanbase this year, and he was FAR from alone in that regard. My complaint has nothing to do with some old sentiment. It's in not recognizing something of value (as much as entertainment provides value, anyway) simply because of some strange notion of vicariously winning through a sports team (just answered my own question again, ...just like last time...). If the sports team doesn't win, it needs to be fixed until it does win, and not just a lot, not just to the point of being good and/or entertaining, but win it all, and everything else be damned.

Anyway yeah. I've answered my own question yet again, so ... ... ... yeah.

See you are wrong again I am 21 and yes I know the Browns were good when they have Jim Brown... but that team is now the Ravens.

And yea the Warriors had there Mullins, Hardway, Webber, Spreewell

Which is WHY I said every city has their sport heroes, that hardcore fans, average fans, and people who don't really give a damn know about.
That Sacramento team is know as "One of the best teams to never win a championship" not as losers.
So is Reggie and that Pacer team.

Barkley, Stockton & Malone, Ewing etc. ARE NOT seen as losers... just unfortunate to play in the same era as Jordan.

You see?

Why do you think Cavs fans love Big Z so much?

He was one of the players along w/ Shawn Kemp, Terrel Brandon & Andre Miller they got/drafted and they thought they we destined for big things, but they didn't amount to anything.




I go to school up in Ohio and I can tell you this... wouldn't think that way about sports if you lived in a different city. Ohio sports fans know and love their teams.

You should change the title to include Houston...Hell most of the Houston fans on this board are band wagoners, YOFs, and now we have the worst homer fan on a forum I have ever seen...


Rest assure moofs America isn't all like this, & there are younger "real" fans.

BUT there is that increasing number of globalize band wagoners who just want to "fit in" or "always be right" They want to feel like they are apart of "something"

Hell, try going to a sports bar on a Champions League night... try to count all the Barcelona/Man Utd jerseys....
Now if those two teams don't go far next year, and Inter Milan and Bayern Munich make the finals again I guarantee you all those people with Messi/Ronney shirts will switch them to Eto'o/Robben.

[moofs]

See you are wrong again I am 21 and yes I know the Browns were good when they have Jim Brown... but that team is now the Ravens.

Touche. I'm largely NFL ignorant. Dunno if it entirely counts (it's not like the "Browns" fan base moved to Baltimore with them), but it's debateable (we still have Warren Moon, who was definitely not a Texan, but whatev)

You should change the title to include Houston...Hell most of the Houston fans on this board are band wagoners, YOFs, and now we have the worst homer fan on a forum I have ever seen...

I can go with Houston fans sucking ass; rooting for Austin teams in college, a Dallas team in football, and the Astros and Rockets only when they're winning. Just hearing people root for anything Dallas gives me diarrhea for a week.

I do mostly swim in the Houston sports scene, and it's pretty depressing (hence this latest round of bitching). Btw, we've had far worse homers here. Ask guy about them if you weren't here then, cause I forget their names. The two worst ones were both waived. Oh yeah, compucomp

Now if those two teams don't go far next year, and Inter Milan and Bayern Munich make the finals again I guarantee you all those people with Messi/Ronney shirts will switch them to Eto'o/Robben.

*snicker*

[G-Heel]

I usually roots for the underdogs.

[MaxRider]

I usually roots for the underdogs.

Spurs is the underdog
GO SPURS GO!!!

[RaoulDuke79]

I continue to suffer through the mediocrity that is the Houston Disastros, and I've suffered through the miserable mess that has been the Texans since their first season as well, and holy hell those Francis teams...

I really enjoyed this last season's Rockets team, although I didn't get to catch quite as many games as I would have liked. I absolutely love watching Scola and Lowry play(we have to re-sign them!).

I really don't care about the NBA anymore outside of Houston, but I was really pulling for the Thunder to beat the Lakers, in part because they're fun to watch and Durant is amazing, but also because of my hatred for the Lakers too.

I do agree on the idea of anybody cheering for anything from Dallas. I guess I could maybe see being a Rangers fan, as they play in a completely separate league from the Astros, but cheering for the Cowboys or Mavericks makes me vomit in my mouth a little bit.

I would also argue that Iggy jumped ship because T-Mac wasn't playing, but that's not really relevant...



ANYWAYS.

Speaking of Ohio, I have a friend from Cleveland who is still a HUGE Browns fan, despite them being awful. It's fun talking smack with him about which team is more mediocre, the Browns or the Texans(obviously it's the Browns, since the Texans will win the next three SB's in a row!). Not to mention he has to suffer through the disgrace that is the Indians, who are just as bad as the Lastros.

The thing that made it easy for me to support the Astros for so many years, even when they were losing or being a total disappointment in the postseason, was guys like Biggio and Bagwell(and now we have Berkman and Pence and Bourn and Oswalt). They play the game the right way, every game, and always have the right attitude on and off the field. It's easy to cheer for guys like that, which is why I love Battier and Scola and the rest of those lovable losers that are the Rockets.

I still don't know how I managed to make it through the David Carr era, but finally things are looking up for the Texans. It's hard not to root for guys like Andre Johnson and DeMeco Ryans, great players who are also really hard working, great leaders, and set good examples on and off the field. It will be nice to see them finally get to taste some success and make the postseason. I hope it happens this year, but either way I'll be watching and cheering them on regardless.

Good times.





- insert something about tits here -

[RaoulDuke79]

I usually roots for the underdogs.

Spurs is the underdog
GO SPURS GO!!!

Honestly, not that I cheer for the Spurs, but I respect that organization so much that I don't mind seeing them win, especially if they're playing the Mavericks or Lakers or Jazz or some other evil abomination.

Duncan is a bit of a whiner on the floor at times but I have a ton of respect for him and Popovich.

[MaxRider]

Honestly, not that I cheer for the Spurs, but I respect that organization so much that I don't mind seeing them win, especially if they're playing the Mavericks or Lakers or Jazz or some other evil abomination.

Duncan is a bit of a whiner on the floor at times but I have a ton of respect for him and Popovich.

in the west
hate: jazz, mavs, lakers, nuggets
like: thunder, spurs
neutral: blazers, suns

in the east
like: magic
neutral: all of them

[grond]

A lot of this is about the globalisation of the sports industry imo. Overseas coverage of <x> American sports league is bound to be limited as compared to the coverage stateside. Therefore the teams that get the most coverage will be the teams that have the highest profile, of which one factor is their winning %. Thus random foreign fan <y> will naturally become a fan of high profile team <z> because they are interested in <x> and team <z> is the only team they ever get to see on TV.

Plus, not having any intrinsic ties to these teams besides the casual viewer variety, the sort of fandom you're advocating would rely heavily on an individual's sense of personal integrity/character/honor/whatever. Some might have it, most will probably not give a s**t.

Which brings me to:-

Hell, try going to a sports bar on a Champions League night... try to count all the Barcelona/Man Utd jerseys....
Now if those two teams don't go far next year, and Inter Milan and Bayern Munich make the finals again I guarantee you all those people with Messi/Ronney shirts will switch them to Eto'o/Robben.

Truly, a most appropriate diss. [/salute]

GO INTER (gotta love Jose)

Anyway, I'm pulling for whoever wins the Spurs/Suns series. Like a few around here, I have a ton of respect for Pop/Dunc as well as Nash/Hill. Shame they had to meet early, but it should be a helluva series.

As long as the Kobesters don't win I'll be relatively content.

[tha_rock220]

I'm curious, why does no one like the loser anymore?

I think a lot of people do it because they want to be on the winning side. Then again a lot of people still pick sides based on personal preference. I'll continue cheering for Dwight Howard and Tim Duncan while I want to see the Jazz and the Mavs lose.

This country used to like rooting for the losers and underdogs. Rooting for the big guy in sports is the equivalent of rooting for Goldman Sachs to post an 80% profit for the quarter. It's [freaking] disgusting.

To hell with that, I cheer for the Yankees because I love the way they do business. There's no "we want to be competitive", no "can we make the playoffs", or anything else like that. In the Bronx you either win the world series or take your ass to Florida in October and prepare to kiss Steinbrenner's ass. On the other hand, I do hate the Cowboys and Lakers.

It's not really because they're losers There's nothing worse than having a bunch of Kobe fans tell me how their idol is x number of accomplishment away from catching Jordan. There was nothing worse than a bunch of dumb ass Cowboy fans carrying on about Aikman and Smith.