Why do Redskins fans root for teams in other cities?

[RammsteinSkins]

Besides,as long as your honor your team and dont forget them when they suck it doesnt matter.

[WARLORD1863]

Although I've made this known many times I'm going to chime in again on this subject.

I was born and raised in northern New Jersey, but my folks are from PG county in Maryland, I also have a lot of family still in Maryland that I visit frequently. Although I've lived in NJ all my life I was raised to WORSHIP the Redskins. My parents made it known that nothing but Redskins were to exist in my household. The same was with all my family in Maryland. It's all my family talks about, even during the off-season. In order to actually be a part of this family you must hold allegiance to the Skins.

So that's why I'm a skins fan.

As I discovered other sports I made a policy for myself, since I liked other sports a great deal (not as much as the NFL). My policy was that I would root for the NJ teams (Nets, Devils, and Rutgers NCAA sports). Any major sport not located in this state, I would send my allegiance to the D.C. teams of those major sports. I also refuse to sell out by becoming a New York fan. it's New Jersey or it's D.C.

So my allegiance is placed in the Nets, Devils, Rutgers College, Nationals, D.C. United, and the Washington Redskins.

[Special K]

I'm sorry, but the entire premise of the original post is ludicrous. Have you ever lived anywhere besides D.C.? I have an emotional connection to all the teams I root for. My parents grew up in D.C. and even though all their kids were born and raised in Cali, they were determined to instill Redskins pride in their household. I will never root for another football team.

However, their ties to D.C. basketball and baseball were not so strong. Living in CA they took us to Lakers and Dodgers games and I have lot of good memories from them. I remember idolizing Magic Johnson growing up. Therefore, I'm a Skins fan, but when I watch baseball and basketball I'm rooting for the Lakers and Dodgers.

[DButz65]

It is amazing how much this area has changed. I remember when Arlington was the hood.

Arlington the hood? LMAO not even close dude, i grew up in Arlington and lived there for almost 33 years, it was never a "hood"

If anything, NOW its little Havanah

[BigMike619]

I'm sorry, but the entire premise of the original post is ludicrous. Have you ever lived anywhere besides D.C.? I have an emotional connection to all the teams I root for. My parents grew up in D.C. and even though all their kids were born and raised in Cali, they were determined to instill Redskins pride in their household. I will never root for another football team.

However, their ties to D.C. basketball and baseball were not so strong. Living in CA they took us to Lakers and Dodgers games and I have lot of good memories from them. I remember idolizing Magic Johnson growing up. Therefore, I'm a Skins fan, but when I watch baseball and basketball I'm rooting for the Lakers and Dodgers.

wait, youre a ****ing Dodger fan?

How did you guys do against the padres last time?

[Special K]

wait, youre a ****ing Dodger fan?

How did you guys do against the padres last time?

Shut it buttface! Luckily I don't get as irrationally emotional about basketball and baseball losses as I do about Redskins losses....

[cathartic-j]

I grew up in Montana, where there aren't any major professional teams within reasonable driving distance ... so I think it would've been reasonable if I had adopted four teams from four different cities.

But thanks to my unbelievable critical thinking skills as a five-year-old, I ended up choosing the 'Skins, Wizards (Bullets), and Capitals. Here was my thought process: "I was born on the fourth of July ... which makes me patriotic ... which means I should root for the teams on our nation's capital. Hey, I know what that city is! I'll root for the Washington, D.C. teams!" (I'm a little embarassed at my five-year-old self for not making a connection between "patriotic" and the New England Patriots. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy about my decision ... but my logic was clearly ill-formed. )

...Of course, both sides of my family are from the Pittsburgh area, so I'm actually the only one in my family who's not primarily a fan of Pittsburgh teams. The exception is the Pirates: since there was no baseball in Washington, I went with my family on that one. I've stuck with the Pirates even since the arrival of the Nats, though I do root a little bit for the latter team, too. (I also root for the Steelers and Penguins as "secondary" teams, though they'll never come close to being my primary loves.)

Thank you very much. I've received many condolences.

But hey, at least we have the best damn stadium in the league in which to watch the worst damn TEAM in the league. :laugh:

Try being a Bucs fan without the benefit of living close enough to watch them suck in a really cool stadium ...

Yeah, that view is awesome. I'm gonna try to catch a game there at some point over the summer when its nice. Not being a Bucs fan myself, it should be less painful, assuming they don't go 16 some odd innings.

Don't worry; the Pirates rarely need 16 innings to lose a ballgame.

so you dont think its a problem if people root for the Ravens and Skins?

You cant be a fan of the skins and ravens...I ****ing hate the ravens

I think it's perfectly legitimate, if the person is from the Baltimore region. It's just like baseball fans in Washington ... only the situation was reversed.

[DieselPwr44]

My Dad was a big Skins fan and always told me stories about George Allen,Sonny,Billy and Larry Brown. So becoming a Skins fan (especially at a young age with Riggo, the Hogs and Smurf's in their heyday) was a no brainer.

My Grandparents were big Orioles fans. My Grandfather gave me my first Orioles cap(9 years old) and I became an Orioles fan.(until the strike that canceled the WS. Pro Baseball,to me, died that day.)

1982, 7th grade. Wasn't that big into basketball. Liked to play it but didn't watch that much of it.A couple of my friends kept going on about what happened in the game the night before. This player always seemed to pull of a spectacular play,night in,night out.

I asked who it was. The answer I got? Larry Bird.

So I started watching. They were right and after catching him play whenever I could, I became hooked on the Celtics and have been a fan ever since.

Location and upbringing play a big role in fandom.

Sorry I don't meet your criteria.

[Predicto]

The original premise of this thread is silly. It presumes that one has never lived anyplace else than DC.

I grew up going to Skins games at RFK. Sonny J. was my idol. Football was the only sport my dad cared about, so it was the only one I cared about. Once the Burgundy is in the blood, you can never shake it.

When I went to law school at the University of Michigan, I became a Wolverines fan (no sports at my college). I think that makes sense.

I have lived in San Francisco for 20 years, and have become a SF Giants and Golden State Warriors fan. DC had no baseball and I only began to appreciate basketball as I got older.

I fell in true love with the Giants when they built thier beautiful ballpark WITH THEIR OWN MONEY instead of squeezing money out of the taxpayers. And if I am a frontrunner, all I can say is that I have suffered more losses and disappointments with the Warriors than one fan should ever suffer.

[Predicto]

Therefore, I'm a Skins fan, but when I watch baseball and basketball I'm rooting for the Lakers and Dodgers.

Ick.

Oh my, that is a repulsive admission.

[Special K]

Ick.

Oh my, that is a repulsive admission.

What can I say, I was born near L.A.?!?! Can't really dictate to my parents where the heck we're going for a game when I'm 5! :laugh:

No me gusta los Giants, but those guys DO have a great stadium! My best friends live in San Francisco and we've been to many a game there

[Predicto]

What can I say, I was born near L.A.?!?! Can't really dictate to my parents where the heck we're going for a game when I'm 5! :laugh:

No me gusta los Giants, but those guys DO have a great stadium! My best friends live in San Francisco and we've been to many a game there

I'm just kidding ya. If there weren't any Dodgers fans, there would be no one to yell at.

I do love our beautiful ballpark, and I love the fact that the Giants built it themselves even more.

[Special K]

I'm just kidding ya. If there weren't any Dodgers fans, there would be no one to yell at.

I do love our beautiful ballpark, and I love the fact that the Giants built it themselves even more.

Haha, I know you were kidding I did not know the Giants built it themselves though, that's pretty incredible.

[Predicto]

Haha, I know you were kidding I did not know the Giants built it themselves though, that's pretty incredible.

Yep. The Giants are the only baseball team in the majors to build their own park with their own money in the last half century. The only team with the integrity not to screw the taxpayers.

The last team to do it before that? The Dodgers, in the early 1960s. :applause:

[Drty30]

redskins

wizards

caps

nats

HURRICANESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

U

[Jimbo]

I grew up a Senators fan so naturally, I never liked the Orioles. To me, the O's were the equivilant of the Cowboys. The O's and Cowboys owned my favorite teams in the mid-to-late 1960's so I hated them both.

When the Senators moved to Texas, I became a Rangers fan and also started following the Yankees in the mid 70's because O's fans hated them and I hated the O's. That hatred for the O's turned to indifference because I still loved baseball and they were on TV all the time. While I never became a big fan, I loved Cal Ripkin Jr and saw a dozen or so games in Baltimore over the years. Unfortunately, I've only seen one game in Camden Yards and that was against the Yankees in 1998 during a trip back to DC to visit family. Nice ballpark. Reminds me a lot of Coors Field in Denver.

I moved to Colorado in 1994 and started following the Rockies. I've seen several games in Coors Field during the past 10 years, including their victory over the Phillies in the NLDS last year. Their AAA team is right here in Colorado Springs so I've had the chance to see a lot of future major league players as well. Once the Expos moved to Washington, I immediately became a Nats fan but now I have four MLB teams I follow instead of just one.

I kinda gave up on the NBA after the Bullets/Wizards sucked so long and the salaries and ticket prices got out of control. I haven't attended a game since the mid 80's but I was there during their Championship season, cheering on Wes, Big E, Bobby Dandridge and Company. Interesting note: I still have the Sports section from the Washington Post when the Bullets won the NBA Championship. On the back page there is a picture of an 18 year old high school pitcher from Aberdeen, MD by the name of Cal Ripken Jr. That should tell you how long ago it was.

As for the NHL, I've never been a real big fan. I saw a few Caps games but the last one I attended was around 1985. I did get to see the Avs play during the playoffs of their most recent Stanley Cup season but that's about it.

I still follow Maryland football and basketball but not like I used to when I lived in Northern VA because, unfortunately, they aren't on TV out here very often. I've been a Notre Dame fan ever since I used to watch the shortened replay of Saturday's game every Sunday morning during the 70's. I've been to several Air Force football games in the past 13+ years, including a couple games vs. my Fighting Irish, because it's close by and I love the college football atmosphere.

And lastly, I'll admit to following the Broncos a little bit because they're all over the news here but it's definltely not because I'm a fan. It's simply another chance to see and hear some football news. Broncos fans are loyal but not real knowledgable, as a whole, about the rest of the NFL. I will say their hatred of the Raiders rivals our hatred of the Cowboys. I've been to a couple Skins-Broncos games in Denver (the weather sucked both times) and saw the Broncos (with Gus at QB) beat San Diego (Ryan Leaf was the QB) and Cleveland (when Portis was still in Denver), both courtesy of free tickets.

[Reic]

Redskins, Steelers, Nats, O's, Red Sox (because the yankees hate them, and I hate the yankees) Wizards, Caps, United, Penguins, Pirates.

Erin is from Pittsburgh, and I absolutely love that city, so I follow their sports teams.

Redskins are my passion though, everyone else is just something to pass the time.

Big Papi is my favorite baseball player and the fact that he plays for the yankee's most hated rival team just ups his stock for me

[jbooma]

Arlington the hood? LMAO not even close dude, i grew up in Arlington and lived there for almost 33 years, it was never a "hood"

If anything, NOW its little Havanah

I guess you forgot about green valley and south arlington and the area behind langston etc....

It was bad back in the day all those crack houses are gone

[DButz65]

I guess you forgot about green valley and south arlington and the area behind langston etc....

It was bad back in the day all those crack houses are gone

No i will never forget about green valley because about 90% of my fathers customers were from there, he even made donations to that cummunity yearly to help the less fortunute. Yea green valley was kinda of like the "hood" but it was 1/10 of arlington man. I had friends in both neighborhoods and being white you would think i would stay away from them.

GUESS WHAT im still alive! Some hoods you're talking about

[Major Harris]

paging jbooma and finkle, please pick up the white courtesy phone.

[DRSmith]

Dont live in DC and was a Nordiques fan as a kid so i cheer for the AVs I was a spos fan si I like to the nationals do well

[jbooma]

No i will never forget about green valley because about 90% of my fathers customers were from there, he even made donations to that cummunity yearly to help the less fortunute. Yea green valley was kinda of like the "hood" but it was 1/10 of arlington man. I had friends in both neighborhoods and being white you would think i would stay away from them.

GUESS WHAT im still alive! Some hoods you're talking about

kind of my ass, you probably didn't step foot in it

Did you ever step foot in the area behind McD's and Langston off of 29

Plus I was comparing to today, you know where they have ripped out all the low income housing off of Glebe, 395, all throug four mile run and now have built 600K townhomes etc.... where crach houses use to be.

[jbooma]

paging jbooma and finkle, please pick up the white courtesy phone.

if you could read you would have seen i posted, but then again getting you to think ANYTHING outside of WV football would be a miracle, don't want you to use to much of that head of yours :laugh: :laugh:

[Midnight Judges]

Redskins, Caps, Wizzards, Nationals. When I was young the Orioles were the default home team and I went to a bunch of games. I never abandoned a team, and I always root for the home team, so I get to root for two baseball teams.

Also got and undergrad from ECU

Grad degree from FSU

And I pull for George Mason cause I grew up going to Mason bball games.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

Washington DC is unique in that nobody is really from here. I lived in Pittsburgh for five years. People in Pittsburgh have grandparents that live in the house down the street. If you live there, you've probably always lived there and your parents lived there and their parents lived there and their parents got a job in the steel mill after they fled Poland and never learned English.

In Boston, your family moved there either in 1703 or during the Potato Famine. And you know the exact day that Grandpa O'Leary showed up and the first person he punched when he got there.

If you grew up in DC, you probably moved here at the age of six when your dad got a job in the Department of Energy. So, even if you are a "native," your roots probably only extend back to 1979. Odds are good that you and your dad don't even root for the same team.

In Boston, you probably went to your first game at Fenway in 1981 and heard your grandfather talk about the greatness of Mel Parnell.

In Pittsburgh, 16-year-olds who were born in 1991 will tell you with a straight face that Brian Urlacher can't hold Jack Lambert's jock. Why? Because their grandparents drove a Winnebago to Youngstown to see the Immaculate Reception game because it wasn't on local tv.

DC isn't that kind of town.