Giving Up On Your Team

[The Brain]

As a life long Cubs fan there have been many times where my team was out of the playoff hunt long before the season was over. Unfortunately this is one of those years. I accepted the Cubs were not going to the playoffs several weeks ago. However, that doesn’t mean I want to give up on my team.

When I say give up on the team I mean stop watching their games. There are some local radio personalities that have stated they don’t bother to watch Cubs games anymore. That’s fine, but what’s not fine is when they question and mock others wondering why they bother to watch such a bad team. I love baseball and follow it very closely. As for the other sports, I’m a casual fan at best. From November until April my sport is taken away from me and I wait through a long cold winter for it to start up again. Of course I’d like the team to do better, but I’m not about to cut my season short when I’ve waited six months for it to get here. It’s always more fun to watch a team chase a title, but for now I’ll watch my team and hope they win the game I’m watching that day.

I’m not criticizing anyone who chooses not to watch a bad team. You can do what you want with your time, and quite frankly the Cubs are very hard to watch right now. I personally would feel like less of a fan if I were to quit watching the team during the season. I have no interest in extending my already long offseason. Most importantly, I simply like watching baseball so why should I stop?

What do you guys think? Do you stop watching your team if they’re out of the race?

 

[Megatron]

I think the radio guys that you are referring to are complete jackasses. There's been many people that grew up watching baseball and just love watching the game, no matter how good or bad their team is. So for them to criticize people who are watching their favorite sport because their team sucks is wrong. And I, like you, enjoy watching pretty much any baseball game. I watched most of the Yankees/Red Sox game yesterday and I was on the edge of my seat in the last inning. Early baseball I don't go out of my way to watch because there's a whole lot of games left, unless it's the Tigers.

And I normally try to watch at least parts of Tiger games each day, unless it's out of my power (out of the house, etc.). So no, I don't stop watching my team after they're well out of the race, because then you aren't being a true fan and don't deserve the right to cheer for them. Yeah, it can get bad sometimes, but I usually get something positive out of almost any game I watch.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

Fans who stop watching/supporting their club when they are not winning are what are known as fairweather fans – those only around when the "weather" is "fair" – as in those only around when the team isn't losing.

They're an infection, not to be confused with the honest fanatics for teams – even losing teams. It pisses me off to no end to watch these assholes jump on the bandwagon when things pick up in an attempt to join in the glory of something positive that they have no business (personally speaking) celebrating. They never cut their teeth. They took the shortest of short cuts and only came when the team didn't suck anymore.

Personally, I despise these types of people, especially the ones who like to pretend they were there all along.

No, it's never acceptable to leave your team because they aren't doing well. Teams are essentially like parties in war, so what, because you don't believe in the ability of your squad to win, you desert them? They have names for those types of people – traitors. An act most countries punish with death.

 

[Eck]

I have never done that like three years ago when the Blackhawks sucked I still watched every game. You aren't a true sports fan if you are a fair weather fan. For the Black Hawks we waited 49 years for the cup. That's a long time. Must people gave up on them. Then this season we won and all the people who have stuck with them this whole time was saying 'I told you so.' If you stick with your team eventually they will do well. Steady wins the race. What makes me sick is that these fans act like they know everything about the team and try everyway to make you seem like your the fair weather fan.

 

[Davi323]

I am a Detroit Lions fan. If I didn't stop watching them when they went 0-16, I don't know what will. Hell, the season hasn't started yet, and for all intents and purposes, they are already out of playoff contention. Yet, I will still wear my #20 jersey every Sunday, hopeful that despite years of incompetence, they will prove my skepticism wrong. Brain, I feel your pain. But, remember...because you didn't quit on them, should a miracle happen, and the Cubbies win the World Series, you will know that nobody can call you a bandwagoner, that you earned your celebration through years and years of emotional torment. It will mean more to you than it will those White Sox fans jumping on the Cubs bandwagon for one year, should they win.

 

[The Holy One]

As an Atlanta sports fan, I share your feelings with the Hawks, Falcons, and Braves numerous times before. I really don't understand why someone would criticize anybody for being loyal to their team by watching their games regardless of what the team's record is. I will watch any game really if it's interesting enough like the Red Sox/Rays playoff series, Colts/Patriots, and Lakers/Celtics. In 2007 after Vick was sent to prison and Petrino left with 4 games left, I still watched every Falcons game just b/c of the fanboy in me. I try to go to every Falcons game that I can if they are in the playoff running or not. Every fail season, I look for the hope in my teams that can make me say, "they can win it in the future," much like what I saw in the Braves last year.

 

[Da Prophet]

It would take heaps for me to give up on my team.I'll be speaking about NRL in this so thread so here I go.I was early in the season and it was announced that the Melbourne Storm had been going over the salary cap since 2007.It was around millions of dollars over and then the guys in head office stripped them of each Grand Final win since 2006.They are can't win this year and yet I still stuck by them.We can't get anymore points this season and have nothing to play for, but I still cheer them on.Being a fan means you stick by your team for the bad and good.We are in the bad section as of this moment.

 

[gd]

I don't watch the Pirates all that often anymore, but I think that's more due to the fact that baseball has become far too boring to watch more than anything else. I still follow them and root for them and all, but it's not like I sit down for 3 hours every night and watch a game. If they were somewhere near the playoffs, sure, I'd probably watch. I guess that makes me fair weather, to an extent.

I haven't missed a Steeler game if I could help it for about a million years, even when they were pretty bad a few years ago. That has a lot more to do with the sport and there being only 16 games a year, but I'd like to say I wouldn't give up on them if they were a bad team for awhile, making an eventual turn around that much sweeter.

 

[PsychoBlack]

As another CUBS fan I never gave up on them. I moved to Florida and now when i can see them play they lose and i call them every name in the book (i mean it gets ugly), but, the second they make a good play I'm screaming at the top of my lungs because there still my team no matter what. I do this for the Bears, Bulls. Memphis Bball, and FSU football also because even if they are terrible there not going to be that way forever and if you give up on them and go back when they're good your looked at as a dick rider and not a fan.

 

[ThePeoplesChampion]

My Top Three Teams are Chicago Bears, Michigan Wolverines, and Indiana Hoosiers (Basketball)...and until recently the Bears were not so good...yes few years ago we went to the Super Bowl but we havent made the playoffs in 3 years...lets hope that ends this season 3-0 baby!.But id never think of leaving my team...My Wolverines again 19th in the nation 4-0 and have "shoelace" but we have seen this before (last year) and the year before i we went 3-9 and we had the most embrassing upset in college football to App. St...and by the way I live in the Heart of Notre Dame country so i get it...but im with Michigan for the long haul....and IU Basketball...first im from the great state of Indiana...im a Hoosier though and though...i grew up with Bobby Knight..and yes ive had to go though the embrassment of Kelvin Sampson and now all these losing seasons while teams like Purdue and Butler in my state dominate....Its a passion and connection to that team that keeps you there i think....i hate "fair" weather/Bandwagon fans

 

[LSN80]

I wasnt able to make it to any games this year for this the first time since I was a teenager, but Ive been a lifelong Pirates fan. I remember their last playoff game, where Barry Bonds throw was half a second late to the plate.

Ill never give up on the Pirates, no matter how bad they are. I felt the same way after the Penguins set the single season record for most games without a win(16) in the 2005-2006 season. I remember being sick as a dog, desperately needing to go to sleep, but staying up to watch them play a west coast game against Phoenix, where Richard f'n Jackman, a forgettable defensemen, scored on a slapshot from the right point in overtime to end the streak.

It's a matter of passion and being emotionally invested in your team. Every year, for the Pirates, I cling to the hope that "this is the year." Making my own work schedule,. I ensure I dont miss the opener, even if they lose 16-1. Its been pure torture to see my team extend the record of any professional sports team to 18 years of losing by the Pirates, but I followed them up until their final game. If someone else can find a justiufiable reason for why they should "stop caring about their team", come talk to me. You havent seen anything unless youlve lived in Pittsburgh, lol.