Two Team Cities

[Groucho]

With the Evil Empire (aka Port Adelaide Power) winning the AFL Grand Final I am curious how team support works in US cities with two teams.

As an Adelaide Crows supporter, and for historical reasons too complicated (long!) to go into here,I could not bring myself to support the Power in the Grand Final even though they claim to represent South Australia.

My question is ... Would a New York Mets fan support The NY Yankees in the World Series? Would a Chicago White Sox fan support the Chicago Cubs? How about New York Islanders and Rangers?

Do fans support teams from their city or is the other team your mortal enemy?

On a lighter note, notice I said support and not "root for" as this term has an entirely different meaning in my country. We tend to use the term barrack. The younger generation now say "go for" as in who do you go for?

Any replies would be appreciated.

Also my true passion is for Central District Bulldogs in the SANFL which you would probably term as Minor League compared to AFL. Hey, I go with what I grew up with.

[BaltimoreFan]

I'm not really sure about some of those teams. However if the Redskins were in the Super Bowl I probably would not root for them. It would all depend upon who they were playing really. I know around here very few people like both the Ravens and Redskins. Usually they hate each other.

[Cyclopsis Joe]

Usually the fans hate..and I mean "hate" each other.

Baltimore/Washington for some reason doesn't have the same problem as say New York, Chicago, and The Bay Area.

I prefer the White Sox, and I cannot stand the Cubs...ugh.

Although in New York, 90% of the fans root for who's winning, which makes me sick.

[Shmee]

Although in New York, 90% of the fans root for who's winning, which makes me sick.

Your gross generalization of my home city is well appreciated.

Anywho, I think it's pretty much the same here. A Ranger fan would never support the Islanders, or vice versa, in the playoffs. I think the same mostly applies in other places.

[Cyclopsis Joe]

Although in New York, 90% of the fans root for who's winning, which makes me sick.

Your gross generalization of my home city is well appreciated.

You couldn't fit a pidgeon into a mets game in the 80's, now everyone roots for the Yankees.

What do you people do, go into a cave when your not winning or something?

[mjrbaseball]

Yankees fans never root for the Mets, and Mets fans never root for the Yankees. Period. They never cross over from one to the other.

Case in point: Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani was/is a diehard Yankees fan. Even when he was in office, he openly cheered for the Yankees and against the Mets. His opponents tried to ride the fence and be politically correct, saying they supported both teams. But New Yorkers knew better. Mets fans may not have liked Giuliani's choice of teams, but they respected the fact that like a true New Yorker, he picked his side and stuck with it.

The only team that Yankees fan despise more than the Mets is the Boston Red Sox. So back in 1986, when the Mets and the Red Sox played in the World Series, we Yankees fans either pretended that the whole World Series did not exist, or rooted for a 0-0 tie in every game.

[CC97]

I know Mets fans that root for the Yankees, and vise versa.

In Canada it seems we all cheer for Canadian teams (except other cities cheering for Toronto)... the only instance where i wouldn't cheer for a canadian team is if they're playing my team, or something like if they win then we don't make the playoffs, etc.

[jkrdevil]

I know some Yankee fans that will root for the Mets is they are not playing the Yanks. However most Met fans hate the Yankees and would never root for them.

Also, an Isles fan would never root for the Rangers and vice versa.

[Shmee]

I know some Yankee fans that will root for the Mets is they are not playing the Yanks. However most Met fans hate the Yankees and would never root for them.

Also, an Isles fan would never root for the Rangers and vice versa.

I think part of that is because the Yankees and Mets play in different conferences (call them leagues all you want, but when you have inter-league play and the two leagues play each other in the finals, you have conferences.) from each other. The Yankees are an AL team, the Mets are NL. So really, they never worry about each other much except during inter-league play and if by chance, like a few years ago, they both manage to make the World Series.

In hockey, it's different. The Rangers and Islanders play in the same division, and thus are in direct competition with each other at all times. For that reason, I think you're more likely to see a Yankee or Met fan cheering for the other team than an Isle or Ranger fan cheering the opposite way.

[mjrbaseball]

It may be possible that Mets and Yankees fans might root for each others' teams if they live outside the New York area.

But if you live in the city or surrounding suburbs, you love one of them and hate the other. It is a sharply defined line. There is no crossing over.

It is a little bit geographical, but not totally. There are more Mets fans in Brooklyn and Queens, while Yankees fans dominate the Bronx, Manhattan and Staten Island. Surrounding the city, Connecticut and Long Island belong to the Mets, while New Jersey and upstate New York are Yankees territories.

As I said, these are not absolute. You will often find a Yankees fan and a Mets fan in the same family. But they never root for each others team.

[Starchild]

The Islanders fans' hatred for the Rangers fans (and vice versa) is all true...

The Yanks and Mets is a little more complicated. You'll never see a Mets or Yankees fan rooting for the other team UNLESS it directly helps their team. In other words, a Mets fan will root for the Yankees to win if they were going to play the Braves because the Braves are in the same division as the Mets, and a Braves loss would help the Mets while a Yanks win does nothing to their position in the NL East. The same can be said if the Mets were playing the Red Sox.

The only time I know of that Mets fans openly rooted for the Yankees was during the opening stages of the 2001 playoffs after 9/11 when all of NY was still together. But once the World Series hit, I, along with most Mets fans (at least here in Queens) went for the D'Backs as if nothing ever happened.

[mjrbaseball]

Starchild, you are correct. I do root for the Mets when they play the Red Sox. But I hope it is a long, difficult victory that screws up their rotation and their lineup for the rest of the season.

[Cyclopsis Joe]

Oh, well all I know is that I hate both of them.

Braves/BoSox World Series anyone?

[Discrim]

city rivalries are a rare thing over here, mainly cus of the fact that if two teams play in teh same city, they've both probably been around since the 60s, at least. Cubs-Sox, Yanks-Mets, Giants-Jets, Rangers-Isles, Lakers-Clips (although i thought of leaving that out for obvious reasons)...that's not many. it's more common in the college and high school ranks...i know around here, the hardwood battles between the high schools here draw real well, and if two of our "Big 3" square off, sometimes they have to turn people away cus the place is packed!

oh, and I hate the White Sox.

[Cyclopsis Joe]

High School is a whole different uh..playing field..

We have three High Schools in our county, each in a differenct conference (Pocket, Big 8, and Independent)..and we hate each other..especially North Vs. South (The other is East)...

[Cashcleaner]

Hey, I'll tell you one thing about the sporting experience I've had in the UK with regards to rival teams in a city.

Basically, they hate each other.

Okay, I'll ty to elaborate on that comment. In Edinburgh, for example, the Scottish Premier League (Football) has two teams: Heart of Midlothian FC (BOO!!) and Hibernian FC (YAA!!). It has always been I case as far as I know and remember that when a rival team ever made it to the European tournaments or perhaps to the Scottish Cup Finals, the animosity greatly INCREASED between fans. It's pretty much the same all over Europer basically, where football is so much more then a simple game. In my opinion, the rivalries back in North America for Football, Baseball, or Hockey is fairly tame in general.

Man, I wish those old days...sniff*

[clannhoran]

In Chicago you're either a Cubs fan or a Sox fan, and rarely the twain shall meet. If the Sox were playing Beelzebub himself in the World Series I would root for the Devil, because I hate the White Sox.

Go Cubs Go!

[Swiss]

Braves/BoSox World Series anyone?

Never there was a World Series between the Braves and the Red Sox.

Once almost a World Series between them was possible: the (Boston) Braves took the 1948 NL pennant but the Red Sox went to a playoff game and lost it against the Indians. And they went to win it all.

I remember that the 1986 WS, some Yankee fans wanted the Red Sox win the WS so the Bostonians will begin to smooth the hate against the Yanks... one of those fans are the grandson of Frazee, former BoSox owner that sold Babe Ruth to NY.

Ah, according numerous baseball books, one of the best baseball rivalry was NY Giants vs Brooklyn Dodgers, very vivid into a metropolis like NYC.

Today that rivalry is "translated" to the State of California's terms.

[Cyclopsis Joe]

Braves/BoSox World Series anyone?

Never there was a World Series between the Braves and the Red Sox.

That's what I mean, screw New York, let's just have their biggest (division) rivals play the World Series.

[Swiss]

OK!

Well, Groucho, I tell you that I live in Argentina a soccer-crazy country so if you want to know about the bizarre hate between the soccer clubs in the same city... call me.

I have plenty of situations and anecdotes.