2008 Woodie Awards
Sports teams draw lines for loyalty
Benjamin Billman
Issue date: 9/13/07 Section: Sports
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For about 12 glorious years, I lived in a place where every team I liked was at least from that state. And they were good (or lost with style at the very least).
The Red Wings always won, the Tigers had a player named Cecil Fielder (what better name for a baseball player?), the Pistons had cheap upper deck tickets, the Lions...uh...the Lions had the Thanksgiving game (not much else, but they have a sweet jersey, especially when you are 10 years old), the Michigan Wolverines were college football's biggest team (while I will never admit it to anyone) and the Michigan State Spartans basketball team has always been pretty good.
Then my parents moved to Wisconsin. As a result of this, I of course ended up moving, too, and was instantly out of place.
Wisconsin hockey fans (while they lack any pro hockey team of their own) seem to instantly like the Avalanche. The Brewers and the Tigers have never been on the best of terms and neither have the Bucks when they played the Pistons.
Certainly there were problems with Green Bay Packer fans versus my cheering for either the Lions (a no-no) or the Vikings (in sixth grade in Wisconsin, wearing a purple jersey is grounds for a beating...from the teachers).
The Badgers also had their own rivalries against the Wolverines and Spartans.
My theory is that there are so many talented athletes in Michigan they need two colleges to specialize from. Thus Michigan State and Michigan are like the University of Wisconsin...times two.
As an out of place fan, I have always stuck out like a sore thumb.
In particular in Wisconsin, where I didn't even have to watch the Viking games to know if they won or not.
All I had to do was go to school the next day. If eight people were waiting to rib me when I got there, they lost, and if everyone was real quiet, they won.
I heard more about the Viking sex scandal from offhand remarks than from reading the news (and I read the news a lot).
It seems in my years of being a sports fan, I end up hearing more about my teams from those who don't like them than the actual fans.
Case in point, I didn't know the Wolverines had lost (I do watch teams I like, I just lack a TV) to Appalachian State until talking to a St. Cloud football player who noticed my blue and gold hat and began poking fun at the hapless Wolverines.
It's not that I mind this attention, I just wish people could take what they dish out.
The year the Vikings destroyed the Packers twice was wonderful for me. My high school was a very quiet place.
Here's to the displaced fans across the nation. I truly understand the troubles you endure every day and night.
Unless you root for Ohio State, in which case...yeah, I won't go there.
The Red Wings always won, the Tigers had a player named Cecil Fielder (what better name for a baseball player?), the Pistons had cheap upper deck tickets, the Lions...uh...the Lions had the Thanksgiving game (not much else, but they have a sweet jersey, especially when you are 10 years old), the Michigan Wolverines were college football's biggest team (while I will never admit it to anyone) and the Michigan State Spartans basketball team has always been pretty good.
Then my parents moved to Wisconsin. As a result of this, I of course ended up moving, too, and was instantly out of place.
Wisconsin hockey fans (while they lack any pro hockey team of their own) seem to instantly like the Avalanche. The Brewers and the Tigers have never been on the best of terms and neither have the Bucks when they played the Pistons.
Certainly there were problems with Green Bay Packer fans versus my cheering for either the Lions (a no-no) or the Vikings (in sixth grade in Wisconsin, wearing a purple jersey is grounds for a beating...from the teachers).
The Badgers also had their own rivalries against the Wolverines and Spartans.
My theory is that there are so many talented athletes in Michigan they need two colleges to specialize from. Thus Michigan State and Michigan are like the University of Wisconsin...times two.
As an out of place fan, I have always stuck out like a sore thumb.
In particular in Wisconsin, where I didn't even have to watch the Viking games to know if they won or not.
All I had to do was go to school the next day. If eight people were waiting to rib me when I got there, they lost, and if everyone was real quiet, they won.
I heard more about the Viking sex scandal from offhand remarks than from reading the news (and I read the news a lot).
It seems in my years of being a sports fan, I end up hearing more about my teams from those who don't like them than the actual fans.
Case in point, I didn't know the Wolverines had lost (I do watch teams I like, I just lack a TV) to Appalachian State until talking to a St. Cloud football player who noticed my blue and gold hat and began poking fun at the hapless Wolverines.
It's not that I mind this attention, I just wish people could take what they dish out.
The year the Vikings destroyed the Packers twice was wonderful for me. My high school was a very quiet place.
Here's to the displaced fans across the nation. I truly understand the troubles you endure every day and night.
Unless you root for Ohio State, in which case...yeah, I won't go there.