Are the rules to what team one supports?

[Taffy Tiger]

I do feel that it is down to both where you live and a family influence . My Grandad took me to watch Cas 'A' Team (reserves - not BA , Hannibal, Murdock and Face) and I was hooked from then . However I have Welsh family as well , so Internationally it's always been Wales for me .

 

I have to say that I do struggle to understand how anyone can support , say , an NFL team though . Not sure how you can get passionate about a team that you have no real allegiance to , unless of course you do go to games or are originally from the US/have some connection with a team.

Just my personal view though . 

[ricky]

1 hour ago, Taffy Tiger said:

I do struggle to understand how anyone can support, say, an NFL team though. Not sure how you can get passionate about a team that you have no real allegiance to, unless of course you do go to games or are originally from the US/have some connection with a team.

I support an AFL team. The enthusiasm for them was inducted in me by an Australian friend, who received his commitment from his father. On the one hand, I wonder if this meets with your grudging approval; on the other, having dragged my weary eyes through 22 godawful games this year out of loyalty, the idea that anyone else's opinion has any relevance here is cheerfully ridiculous

[RayCee]

If you want to be happy, just choose the team winning that year. Not very loyal I know but you always have that winning feeling. 

[Yorks Tim]

Let's be honest.

We all hate the glory-hunting plastic fans and, by extension, the teams they gravitate towards.

Not sure how much this happens in English Rugby League but expect there have been some who attached themselves to Wigan, Leeds, Saints etc after watching their big wins on TV.

Maybe it's just me.

The most important thing is you will never experience the greatest ecstasies known to mankind (excl. maybe sex, childbirth, Miles Davis on headphones, some other things I can't think of just now) when your team wins the big prizes unless you've turned up week after week in the sleet and hail to watch them get stuffed by some even-worse turkeys.

That's just fact.

  

 

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

On 31/10/2024 at 19:00, SouthBedfordshireFan said:

So where would South Bedfordshire fall in terms of catchment area? 

Bedford Tigers?

Broncos mate 

But we'll be dead soon so probably just support Wigan when it happens and at least you'll enjoy a few trophies 

[LeytherRob]

On 31/10/2024 at 11:21, Father Gascoigne said:

I've found that once I hit 30, the results of the teams I followed stopped affecting my mood. I've followed serial winners in some sports and absolutely losers in others. Neither felt better than the other. Winning feels so hollow compared to what it did in my teens. So much so that I've often watched oppo teams instead of my own just because I prefer watching one of their players. 

Sport has become a matter of habit, and I reckon I take greater joy in discussing it than actually watching it. The same is true of other habits like gaming. I rarely play games these days but still read about it and discuss it avidly. 

I used to wonder as a kid how it was possible that older generations preferred to listen to their ###### music, watching their ###### 60s television shows and movies over the newer stuff. I now understand everything. 

My advice to anyone young looking to get into sport: Pick among the most successful clubs, and the ones that consistently spend the most money. You'll come to resent these sports when you're older for not making you feel like they did in adolescence, so you may as well have fun with it and experience the joys of winning while you're young. 

 

Where's the fun in that? Supporting **** teams build character and readies you for the disappointments of life! I happened to grow up in the 90's/ early 00's following Leigh, Bolton and England cricket so I entered adulthood with very low expectations. Does make it all the sweeter if/when you do taste success however!

[Curly perm]

My lad’s RL team are littered with kids born and raised in Wakefield/Dewsbury but support Leeds. Generally, their dads’ influence, who are also Wakefield/Dewsbury born and raised! 

Each to their own but their opinions don’t mean as much as proper fans

[The Art of Hand and Foot]

There's a basic rule as to what you believe,  whether religion , politics  or a sport. It's belonging and behaviour. If you are born into a particular faith, political belief or sporting culture then you are more likely to follow it. Before anyone says "ah yet but....", there is,always the exception to the rule.

Most people BELONG to a certain group, usually because  they are born into it, and that belonging is reinforced by their BEHAVIOUR.  So if your parents are Protestant,  Catholic,  muslim , hindu, conservative, labour, united or city, then there's a high percentage that you too will be that.

That belonging is reinforced by your behaviour. Going to church, mosque, temple, labour club, con club etc.  People outside the heartland don't have the belonging, to watch RL, and hence won't have the behaviour.  Simples!

[Worzel]

I'd go with "who your old man supports" or "where you live", but we're in a broadcast and social media world now so I think those days are gone.

I certainly think if you don't have an elite side in either of those categories it's reasonable to pick one that isn't... most people want to watch the 'best' version of something these days. Ideally you'd do that and still follow your local team - I used to be a member at Rovers and Broncos when I lived in London and 'we' were in the second division. Always knew who I'd be supporting if they played each other though.

[Red Willow]

I feel sorry for the glory seekers, they will never experience the absolute high of beating one of those "big boys".

[Leyther_Matt]

On 04/11/2024 at 07:56, Worzel said:

I'd go with "who your old man supports" or "where you live", but we're in a broadcast and social media world now so I think those days are gone.

I certainly think if you don't have an elite side in either of those categories it's reasonable to pick one that isn't... most people want to watch the 'best' version of something these days. Ideally you'd do that and still follow your local team - I used to be a member at Rovers and Broncos when I lived in London and 'we' were in the second division. Always knew who I'd be supporting if they played each other though.

I think Broncos (and a lesser extent Catalans) are a little different on that front as I think, deep down, all RL fans want them to do well, if not necessarily better than their own, of course.

I support my local team in both football and rugby and would never have it any other way. Growing up in Leigh, Wigan and Saints fans were very much in the majority at school but the tide has largely turned on that, albeit not completely given Wigan keep picking up pots.