DISQUS

jm · 1 year ago

Excellent post! This is one of the most thoughtful pieces I've read on this blog.

What strikes me as interesting is a persistent theme in your essay - namely that one should evaluate their reasons for selecting a team. This is particularly apparent in your consideration of teams as brands, which can be chosen based on their fit, much as we might choose a clothing style that fits our personality.

At first glance, this attitude seems above reproach. After all, applying our faculties for critical thinking and reasoned appraisal of the evidence seems to be crucial for any decision we make. Why should some decisions be exempt? If our prime criteria is to maximize the thrill of victory, we might select a different team as each season progresses, or if our criteria was identifying a team that ran itself ethically, we might change less often. Your discussion follows some of the reasons and ways we might go about looking at the issue in this way.

I think this is crucial at an early point in your article, when you are considering the nature of loyalty. You identify it as an emotional state, but then go on to suggest that one should have a reasoned foundation for this emotional state - such as a connection to the ethos of the club. For most of us in "Negativity FC" (and I would consider myself one of them, though without any vitirol!), supporting a sports team is not a matter of reasoned support.

Indeed, I think most of the reasons we pick sports teams to begin with are utterly irrational. Most of the teams I support are simply teams my father supports, that I grew up favoring. Sports teams are picked up at a young age, and I would suspect it is rare when someone approaches it with the rational mindset. These connections are then built up over time, as we watch our team win, lose and draw.

As a result, I don't think the ethos of the club is particularly relevant to the developed bonds. Instead, we are developing kinship bonds, or tribal identification bonds. We become part of a community, and our loyalty is just as much to that group as it is to the team. After all, we are dealing with a fairly abstract concept here when we talk about a team. At this level of abstraction, teams do not have an ethos. The ethos only gets involved once a team has particular personnel (players to owners). The loyalty condition becomes (almost) indefeasible.

I think this is a fair (but stunningly brief, but alas) description of why switching teams does not seem like an option for most people. I often wonder what it would take for me to stop rooting for any of my teams in the various sports I patronize, and I've never figured it out.

I'd also like to suggest that this is acceptable as well. I indicated earlier that we generally prioritize rational inquiry. As an academic, that's essentially what I do! Yet, when speaking about sports teams, there are no stakes. There are no broader social consequences of being an Arsenal fan, or a Hull City fan, or whatever. There is no "right" choice, and the use of rational means to determine the right team are a bit misleading. Instead of tracking truth or rightness, instead one is merely prioritizing a different value in team selection, one that is not objective.

Thus, when it comes to team selection, I don't think either model is subject to criticism.

ossie's dream · 1 year ago

One problem with your reasoning, Lonnie, is that you will likely find yourself in the same position in the next decade. A club's fortune, ethos, personnel, management, owners, etc., etc. can change wholesale over the course of, say, a decade, which is roughly the period of time it took you to tire of Man Utd.

Why didn't you support Boro a decade ago? Presmuably because they were shelling out a ton of money for Ravanelli, Emerson, Barmby, Juninho, etc. rather than relying on a top notch youth policy?

Supporting a local team, or a team with familial connections, solves this conundrum as you are stuck with them no matter what happens.

If that's not possible (I assume you are American - you didn't link to your original post, so I am guessing), my advice would be to be as impartial as possible, rooting for the underdogs and/or those teams and players that play the most attractive football. Much like my experience, as an Englishman, watching Euro 08! Or watching the Spanish and Italian leagues.

Weston · 1 year ago

The way that I took it was that this wasn't a case of Lonnie jumping ship and choosing to latch onto another club (like the majority of american youth do, which pisses me off that I live in a country of bandwagon bettys), but more that he has become disillusioned with the direction ManU has taken/is going - which is understandable.

I think people more so have a problem with the way your new club was chosen, but, hell, it made for interesting journalism!

Sandy · 1 year ago

Once again, I applaud your decision to break from the mold and choose a team based on rational criteria that suits you as a fan. While I am disappointed you didn't take up my suggestion to pull for Villa, I respect that you picked an even lower-profile team than that in Boro. I am from an American city with very passionate fanbases and always bewildered my friends when I decided to root for out of town teams (though I have since become a hometown fan), but I did so for the reasons you said, because I didn't like the direction of "my" team and liked the players and style of another more. Best of luck to you as you pull for Boro and Hull next season and beyond (I'll be pulling for Villa and the lower-level team I picked up last season, Sunderland).

jodie · 1 year ago

I am from Hull and moved to Vancouver a week ago. A fine choice for a random team to support and let me tell you this; no team deserves a shot at the big time more than Hull City. We were locked out of our old ground as we couldn't pay the bills once! I worked for them and they didn't pay me as they couldn't afford to!

Today we measure our club's success on how far we can take the adventure away from the old days. Hopefully we will survive, the whole city loves football and rugby. It's so important for working class towns and cities to taste life in the upper tiers every now and then!

By the way, Dean Windass is the city hero!

ls7 · 1 year ago

Welcome to Canada jodie! Thanks for the background on Hull. I hope they do well.

The Gloryhunter · 1 year ago

Hey. I'm The Gloryhunter Lonnie mentioned. My 'experiment' is just that - a bit of fun that celebrates out collective state of fandom. But more so, it taps into what it means to support your local team. This type of support is entirely different to the long-range support of those supporting a team from another country. It's about local pride and togetherness. And it's great. It's definitely here in Grimsby, where I am now, and it's a pleasure to see. Up the Mariners!!