Moving to a new State and embracing your new local sports franchise(s) looks

[Olmec]

Having just recently moved a few months ago I thought it would be interesting to hear other members' experiences. I've fully embraced rooting for them, listening to local sports radio, and going to games but damn it sure is tough for me to pull the trigger on buying any current gear for these teams.

 

Here are my former home teams:

 

And here are my current home teams:

For the Rays, I'll probably end up buying a Devil Rays jersey. I loved it as a kid and it's just nostalgic for me. I will say, the current look is definitely popular with the local fans, haven't seen much of the former identities around the Trop. 

I've never really liked any of the lightning's uniforms. Their originals were drab (except for their wacky original third Jersey but good luck finding that for a reasonable price) and both rebrands left a lot to be desired imo, I especially hate their original six dress up. 

No explanation needed. However, I may just get myself a creamsicle jersey. 

[tBBP]

This thread is the story of my life! So let me kick this thing off...

 

Growing up in Pensacola FL, as far back as I can remember I was a fan of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Florida State Seminoles. (In my part of the Panhandle, back then you were either Florida or Florida State--and you chose quick. Yeah there's a few confused Bama outliers but for the most part those were your two options.) That my cousins ended up attending FSU, one of whom became a Hall of Famer both there and with the Buccaneers only solidified that fandom. While that was going on the Jacksonville Jaguars were born and they became my Team B. (That they had one of the three best uniforms in the league at the time also helped!) Now while that was going on, and the Chicago Bulls were ruling the NBA in the '90s, I found myself drawn to another team, probably due to my favorite player to watch back then: Reggie Miller and those Indiana Pacers (who also had one of my all-time favorite uniforms at the time, those Flo-Jos). While that was going on, and while I (and everyone else in Pensacola) was being force-fed Braves baseball, I found myself paying more attention to the New York Mets (because of their uniforms--noticing a trend, here?)--up until one series wherein they were playing the Pittsburgh Pirates. Being that yellow has always been my favorite color (hold onto that one), I found myself drawn to the Pirates more and more until they became my "A" squad in baseball. While that was going on, the Pensacola Ice Pilots were born, and for their first few years were really good, almost winning the league title in '98. I believe that year was the one a player by the name of Glen Metropolit joined the team--although he didn't last long, because he was called up and before long played his way onto the Washington Capitals, who I'd already become drawn to because I liked their jerseys so much (see the trend here?)--the Sports Avenue store in the mall used to always have Joey Juneau's #90 jersey hanging up and I thought it looked so cool--and then I noticed how much the letters and numbers looked like that on our paper money (this may have been my first exposure to brand identity influence), so when Metropolit joined the Caps, that cemented them as my NHL "A" squad.

 

Okay--got all that? Because all that happened while I was still in Pensacola.

 

Fast forward a few years, wherein I moved sight unseen up to Pittsburgh to pursue my college degree--which brought me face to face with those same Pirates I'd already become a fan of, not to mention an entire town painted in black and yellow...which meant I had a closet full of Pirates and Steelers gear (I told you yellow has always been my favorite color!), even though I never became a full-on Steelerhead. I stayed true to my Bucs and Jags up there--oh, and I never cared for the Penguins there, either.

 

Some years later I found myself planted right outside Washington DC (and Baltimore) and this is where things began to change. For one, the Caps rebranded meaning my favorite uniforms EVER were no more. Secondly, I was there at PPL Park when the Philadelphia Union played their inaugural home game, making me a Union fan for a good while. Thirdly, this was about the time where I started losing interest in the Jaguars (actually, it was Jack Del Rio and Mike Smith who soured me on them). So a year later, when I found myself planted in the middle of a cornfield in the middle of Indiana, and later in Indianapolis, where I spent the next four years of my life, I found myself face to face with the Pacers--and quickly found myself embracing the Colts as my Team B, in ways I never did and couldn't do with the Steelers in Pittsburgh (probably because the air of pretention didn't exist in Indy, plus they were just in easy team to like). During that time I found my Buccaneer fandom waning more and more thanks to Greg Schiano's (and ownership's) shenanigans. (Then came the new uniforms and that was it for me. If Tampa ever reclaims creamsicle--orange is my second-favorite color--they MIGHT get me back as a fan...)

 

Then came the move down here to Nashville, where I've been the past four years. Even before that I was down here scouting things out (wherein I crossed paths with fellow Creamerite and resident Beej fan McCarthy), and the Predators had just rebranded to their yellow-dominant look which naturally drew my attention. (Again, yellow is my favorite color!), so it took no time at all for me to jump on the Predators train. Now it took a bit longer for me to jump on the Titans train, but I eventually did almost two years back (since I'm now married and raising a family here and have embraced Nashville as "home"--which also seems to have desensitized me to Pittsburgh), and now I'm a full-fledged Predators, Pacers, and Titans fan (although those new Titans uniforms are already testing me on that front ).

 

So yeah, there's my story. Who knows where this will go next?

 

 

Houston, if I had to guess...

[mmajeski06]

So I still support my New York / New Jersey teams...Jets, Mets, Devils, and Nets

 

But spent 10 years in Cleveland, including college and that is where my wife is from - so I also really got into the Browns, Indians, Lake Erie Monsters, Blue Jackets and Cavs. Unfortunately this was the bad Indians years, and pre-return of Lebron, and well the Browns were the Browns. Though, I might be one of the only person in Cleveland to never see the Browns lose at home - I saw them beat the Steelers, Ravens, Bengals, and Chiefs. We thought we were going to settle down in Cleveland so there was part of me that was ready to completely switch over to the Ohio teams and renounce my New York fandom....but then work took me to Raleigh, North Carolina.

 

We stayed there for two years, and cheered for the Panthers when they went on the Super Bowl run, got into the Carolina Hurricanes, and went to a bunch of Durham Bulls games. But never really got into the Carolina teams as I did for the Cleveland teams or New York. 

 

Now we are down in Fort Myers, FL - a little over two hours from Tampa and two hours from Miami (and I could never root for the Dolphins). My parents are an hour north of us, so I do cheer for the Rays and Lightning, and I root for the Buccs when they are on. But my prime allegiance is still with the Jets, Mets, Devils, and Nets. 

 

 

[ChicagoOakland]

Finally, a thread where I may have some expertise!

 

To start, I was born and raised in Oakland, CA (I know, kind of obvious.) From the start, I supported my hometown teams fervently--A's, Raiders, and Warriors in that order. The A's will forever be number one for me, but the Raiders were up there too...a lot of us Oaklanders have a lot of city pride, especially when we can beat San Francisco down head-to-head in sports haha.

 

Here's where my long journey begins: I moved to Chicago (once again, a little obvious) for college, but my extended family has been there for generations. They're White Sox fans to the core, and I still support them pretty strongly to this day...doesn't hurt that I'm a little drawn to silver & black.
 

I couldn't latch on to any of the other teams though. The annoying Blackhawks bandwagon had just left the station (I got to Chicago after the Hawks/Flyers Cup) and they turned me off, the Cubs were hapless, the Bulls were okay, and at the time I could never embrace another NFL team.

 

After college I moved to Minnesota, and while I was there Mark Davis said he was taking the Raiders to Vegas. I decided right then to renounce my Raiders fanhood and since the Vikings had just started getting better around this time, I ended up becoming a bit of a Vikes fan when I was there.

 

Now I'm in Raleigh...which is where the last team comes in. The Hurricanes are a bit of a joke in the NHL (rightfully so) but getting into games on the cheap has really helped me learn to love hockey for the first time. I definitely consider myself a Canes fan these days, which is much easier to say now that Karmanos has been exiled. I nearly became a Panthers fan, but that came to a full stop after the Jerry Richardson drama.

...so there we are! That's how I ended up an A's, Warriors, White Sox, Vikings, and Hurricanes fan. I have a LOT of A's gear, not as much Warriors gear (ironically the more popular they are, the less I want to wear their stuff), a bunch of White Sox stuff, virtually no Vikings stuff (I've lost interest in the NFL as a whole) and a Canes jersey I bought when the team store was clearing out the Reebok gear.

[DriveCode4828384]

Alright! A subject I've wrestled with for years! Started off living roughly halfway between NYC and Scranton, Pa, which is a super weird area to root for sports teams. Most of the people where I grew up moved out of the city and had their allegiances set in stone. For the NFL it was mostly Giants fans, with a few Jets, Eagles, Steelers and Cowboys fans (To the point where my local Walmart carried more Cowboys and Steelers gear than the other three, which was just as bizarre as it sounds). I found myself rooting for the Jaguars in '95 because I liked their uniforms and got a neat hat that had cool colors on it. Basketball wasn't that big for the older folk, but growing up in the 90's every kid pretty much had a different team. I liked the Knicks because they were the local team and were decent. About 94 or 95, I got a Hornets Starter pullover from a cool uncle and the rest was history (Sorry Knicks, but you didn't do yourselves any favors after the 90's). Never was into hockey, but pulled for the Devils whenever someone asked and watched them in the playoffs. For baseball, it was and always will be the Yankees. The Mets had a decent following and a few old timers still pulled for the Dodgers. In the minor leagues, we went to either the Scranton/Wilkes Barre Red Barons/Yankees or the New Jersey Cardinals games as they were both equal driving distance. Followed them in the paper, but that was about it.

 

When I moved to Charlotte, I was kinda bummed that the Hornets had left town and the Bobcats had replaced them. IMO they were never fully embraced by the locals. It was welcome news when the old Hornets gave the Bobcats the name back. As the years have gone on, I've found myself pulling for the Panthers a little more as I'm inundated with news about them , but I will always be a Giants fan first and foremost. The first Charlotte team that I have committed my full fandom to is the Charlotte Knights. Their new stadium is amazing and the rebrand a few years ago was almost fit for the Major League IMO. If Charlotte ever lands a MLB team, then I hope they're in the NL so I wouldn't be conflicted.

[Olmec]

Loving these stories so far, glad I'm not the only one conflicted on the boards! 

 

So today I went to watch the Rays complete the sweep at the Trop today and stopped in wally world on the way and was very surprised to see one of these (not 47 brand) for $6 bucks. I actually do love this identity, not so much the jerseys but the cap is fun and distinctive unlike the lifeless corporate looking primary they wear. This at least completes my "fan look" to accompany the light blue/navy raglan I've been wearing to games.

[msubulldog]

It was not until 8th grade until I became a sports fanatic; even though years earlier when my family lived in London, my brother and I had a childhood squabble over whether Chelsea or Arsenal was the greatest soccer team. Living in San Antonio when I became a bonafide sports fan, I automatically embraced the Spurs, Cowboys, Oilers, Astros, and Rangers as my teams. On the college level, the Texas Longhorns were a long-time favorite. In the past thirteen years since settling in Mississippi, the Bulldogs of Mississippi State replaced the Longhorns as my favorite college team (part of it is due to attending grad school there for a while and living in that part of the state for most of ten years after I got married). I still support the Spurs--though not as much due to off-the-court activities of their coach. I still support the Cowboys, though not as much due to Jerry Jones micromanaging the team (especially since their last Lombardi) and being the reason Tom Landry was fired. When the Oilers moved to Tennessee and eventually became the Titans, I still was a fan; but after the team deteriorated during the latter years of Jeff Fisher's coaching tenure, I started to embrace the Texans more (especially after JJ Watt became the top defensive player in the NFL). After moving to Georgia in 1998, the Falcons became my #2 NFC team.

For Christmas my senior year in High School, we got cable for the first time. The next baseball season I watched many Braves, Cubs, and Mets games on WTBS, WGN, and WOR--eventually becoming addicted to the Braves (and to a lesser degree the Mets). One factor that also played into me becoming a Braves fan was the fact that my family and I saw them play the Astros in the Astrodome twice in the late 70s. This stuck with me during their streak of excellence during the 90s and first half of the 2000s. Once in Mississippi, my wife and I went to two regular season games and one preseason one at Turner Field between 2008 and 2010 (we also attended many minor league games in the South during this time period, including those involving several Braves farm teams). I was upset when the Rangers lost back-to-back World Series at the start of this decade, and I eventually chose the Astros over them once the Houstonians moved to the American League.

Other NFL teams I have supported over the years include the Dolphins (ever since the dominance of the 70s), the Rams after they moved back to LA, the Browns due to their unique color scheme, and the Chiefs (when I lived in Arkansas from 2003-05, their games were on my local channels as much as the Cowboys were).

[JTernup]

I am from Colorado and have always been a Nuggets, Rockies, and Rapids fan. I like the Avs and will root for them to a far lesser extent but hockey never captured my interest. My first sports fandom was the Kansas City Chiefs, as a three year old in CO watching the Chiefs-Broncos 1997 playoff game I allegedly told my mom I liked the red guys (my favorite color). As you can imagine, this got quite the rise out of friends and family and I've been loyal ever since. I honestly think if I hadn't gotten a reaction out of anyone my toddler self would've forgotten and been a Broncos fan. I went to CU Boulder and became a much bigger Buffs fan than I ever had been. 

 

I moved to IN in January 2017 for my MS at Purdue and thought I would give the local teams a few shots to woo me. I dislike the Colts far too much as a Chiefs fan to ever become a casual fan. I have grown to like the Pacers and would certainly call myself a casual fan but I'm not sure how much I'll carry that on with me to other places. The surprising thing is how much I have grown to love Purdue athletics. I honestly consider myself a bigger Purdue fan than CU fan now and would actually root for my new school over my alma mater and the university I grew up 20 minutes from. 

 

I plan to get a PhD and move to a new university. I am sure I will fully embrace my new school but am not sure how much of a fan I'll become relative to CU and Purdue. I think I will also become a much bigger fan of the local professional teams in that location because I will likely be there two times as long as I've been in IN.

 

Perhaps surprisingly, I think moving away has made me far more attached to the Rockies, Nuggets and Rapids (if they could get it together) because it is a fun way to always recognize my roots.

[Mac the Knife]

I was born and spent my pre-teen years in Youngstown, Ohio, which lies virtually half-way between Cleveland and Pittsburgh.  As a result there were some weird dichotomies.

 

In baseball, you could openly pull for both the Indians and Pirates, because they played in opposing leagues and never played one another.  In basketball, you were a Cleveland Cavaliers fan by default as Pittsburgh had no NBA team.  In hockey the opposite was the case, making you a fan of the Pittsburgh Penguins.  On all of these, you were fine.  But as a kid, you were either a Browns fans and got your ass kicked by the Steeler fan kids, a Steelers fan who got your ass kicked by the Brown fan kids, or neutral and got your ass kicked by both.  Publicly I "rolled with the Browns," mostly to keep my fandom evenly split between the two cities, but unlike my Brownie brethren I had no problem pulling for the Steelers in Super Bowls IX, X, XIII or XIV.

 

At 13, we moved to western PA, where while in all other respects things were cool, making me a Browns fan would've made me a pariah.  I didn't switch allegiances, but not truly hating the Steelers I didn't make a big deal out of it.  Literally the first question I got asked there, by anyone, was "Pitt or Penn State?," to which I, not knowing the lay of the land, decided to take a neutral stance and say "Youngstown State," after which I asked for a few YSU shirts as Christmas presents though I had no interest in YSU whatsoever.  My Indians fandom seemed strange to people, but I got in no beefs about it growing up there.

 

Then in '94, I moved to Raleigh, NC, where at the time there were no major league professional sports and, a century later, I contend that's still the case. 

 

I got the "UNC/NC State/Duke" question fairly early and fairly often, but by this point was in my mid-20's and had the stones to say that I couldn't care less about the national sport down here (college basketball).  I would've dropped the Steelers from "my list of teams" had Fart Modell not done the work for me after the '95 season, but otherwise my Penguin, Pirate and Cavalier fandom were fine - I was just another "damned yankee" who'd moved in, though a few tried to convert me to Washington NFL and/or Atlanta Braves fans, with no success.  Actually, Fart Modell's actions killed all my fandom in professional sports for life, as I came to the realization that where these things were concerned I might as well be rooting for Microsoft, IBM or Xerox - just another large company whose product happened to be professional sports entertainment.

 

From then to now, I wear whatever the hell I want, with whatever logo I want, whenever I want.  Today I'm rockin' a New Orleans VooDoo shirt for example.  Why?  Because it looks good.  The Hurricanes blow so there's no concerted group of people suggesting I get on their bandwagon, and the "damned yankees" have taken over Raleigh, making it open territory in baseball and pro basketball, a combination of Hurricanes, Penguins and Rangers country for hockey, and a combination of Panthers, Washington, Steelers, Giants and Cowboys country for football.

 

I guess the point of this is:  your fandom is your own.  Don't feel a need to change it based on your location.  Go.  Enjoy the games no matter who's playing.  If it's "your" team, great; if not, don't sweat it.  Just have fun with sports.  That's all it's there for anyway.

[whitedawg22]

Man, it's totally weird that someone from New York moved down to Tampa. Never heard of that happening before.

[Olmec]

4 hours ago, whitedawg22 said:

Man, it's totally weird that someone from New York moved down to Tampa. Never heard of that happening before.

Who said I was from NY? Jersey 

[Mingjai]

I grew up in Idaho, where we had no professional sports to cheer for. My parents and grandparents are all BYU grads, so I was born and raised in Cougar blue, and my professional sports fandom for my first 20+ years derived from my parents and my BYU fandom. I cheered for NFL teams with a BYU QB, so Jim McMahon and the Bears, Marc Wilson and the Raiders, and Steve Young and the 49ers. The NBA was pretty easy--my favorite color as a little kid was green plus the Celtics were BYU-laden with Danny Ainge, Fred Roberts, and Greg Kite. After Ainge left, I continue to cheer for the C's, as well as Ainge's subsequent Portland and Phoenix teams, though in truth I stopped paying attention to baseball during Ainge's Phoenix years. In baseball, I cheered for Dale Murphy and the Braves--it helped that they were the only team on TV in Idaho (we got TBS but not WGN), thought my interest in baseball began to wane just as the Braves were getting good.

 

At the time I moved away from Idaho to attend BYU, the only things I really followed were BYU sports and the NFL. College was where I became the huge NHL fan that I am today--I somehow ended up with hockey-playing roommates: a Red Wings from Maryland, a Caps fan from Virginia, a Kings fan from San Diego. Like any good sports fan, I decide I would pick an NHL team then a there to cheer for in perpetuity. Already having an affinity for one Boston Garden tenant, I figure why not also cheer for the team with banners in the rafters--I went all in on the Bourque-Neely-Oates Bruins. (My other roommate from Atlanta chose the newly-moved Colorado Avalanche in part because they were just one state over from Utah and in part because he wanted to spite the Red Wings roommate.) My roommates were CS and EE guys, so we hard-wire networked our house and had some epic multi-player NHL Hockey games on PC.

 

I moved to U of Minnesota for grad school, and found it easy to get behind Gopher football (I was there for the Barber/Maroney years) and hockey (they had just won back-to-back Nattys). The Twins were a team I could behind, with their Idaho (Harmon Killebrew) and BYU (Jack Morris, Rick Aguilera) connections. On the other hand, having grown up cheering for the Bears and 49ers, I just couldn't bring myself to cheer for the Vikings--plus, and relevant to this board, I never liked their colors. I didn't care about the NBA anymore, so the Wolves barely moved the dial for me. Finally, despite being a huge hockey fan, I had a hard time becoming an enthusiastic Wild fan. I respected the way they run the organization and the relationship they have with fans and I even liked their colors, but my respect never turned into passionate fandom.

 

After I graduated from grad school, I began splitting my time between the Twin Cities and Chicago. My childhood Bears fandom took hold again, assisted by the fact that I always thought that the Bears are top 3 for NFL uniforms. Living on the North Side, I also became a Cubs fan--it wouldn't interfere with my Twins fandom as I believe it fair to have an AL and an NL team. It was very easy for me to become a Blackhawks fan, even before they became a powerhouse (this is 2007-08 time frame). Besides my Bruins jerseys, I owned a red Orr Blackhawks jersey because I thought they had the best jerseys in the league, so when I moved to Chicago, the Hawks became my Western Conference team. (I had a great run as an NHL fan from 2010-15, and for the record, I cheered for the home team in each game of the 2013 Cup, figuring I'd decide who to cheer for in game 7 when the time came.)

 

To bring this back to this board, aesthetics has definitely affected which professional teams I cheer for (or don't cheer for):

 

Celtics: green was my favorite color growing up

 

Blackhawks: loved their jerseys, even owned one before moving to Chicago and becoming a fan

 

Bears: always liked the uniforms, was easy to become more of a fan after moving there

 

Vikings: never liked purple and gold (subconscious Celtics' influence here?)

[-Akronite-]

Grew up in Akron and went to Ohio State, so the usual northeast Ohio affiliations were easy to come by (most Cleveland people are Ohio State fans since it's the only Power 5 school in the state). 

 

Coming to New York for my career, I never had any inkling that I would change my fandom, which remains the case, but I have more of an appreciation for New York sports. The Mets are maybe my favorite NL team (it's between them and the Reds) and I'd be fine with the Knicks becoming a non-dumpster fire. I continue to hate the Yankees and feel ambivalent toward hockey. The only New York sports things I've added to my collection would be a Piazza replica jersey from his jersey retirement weekend and an ice cream helmet.

 

Jets/Giants is the tough one. A very good friend of mine loves the Mets and Jets. I am pro-Mets in part because of him, but it's hard for me to jump on his Giants-hate after what they did to Tom Brady. 

[tBBP]

17 hours ago, Mac the Knife said:

...Your fandom is your own.  Don't feel a need to change it based on your location.  Go.  Enjoy the games no matter who's playing.  If it's "your" team, great; if not, don't sweat it.  Just have fun with sports.  That's all it's there for anyway.

 

Quoted for truth.

 

Even though I do count myself a Titan fan now (at least until I move again), I no longer have the "tribal loyalty" to any one team like I used to*, probably due to all the moves I've made, and how much I like certain uniforms/colors. (Which is why I still have some Pirates and Steelers stuff in my closet, along with quite a bit of Miami Dolphins aqua and coral. Again, it's the colors, man!)

 

 

*the lone exception being Florida State--that tribal loyalty is in the blood...

[Olmec]

Definitely some truth in there. My dilemma isn't "choosing" my fandon though. Being I'm a nerd on this forum, my pain points are the aesthetics of my new home teams. Growing up made me care less and less about the teams I follow anyway. The Rays were actually solved yesterday and I think I'm going to buy a Creamsicle jersey for the bucs. That just leaves the lightning and their boring merch to pick from. 

[Digby]

This is a thing I've noticed a lot more with soccer fans; e.g. folks embrace 1-4 of the old-school teams in their hometown but they didn't grow up with a soccer team, so they pick up the MLS team wherever they've moved to. Probably the fanbase with the highest number of affluent young professionals who've moved around for school/work, too, so it works on a number of levels. And that's not even getting into being a fan of a foreign team where the US fanbases have no connection to our geography.

[B-Rich]

The key point of the OP-- moving to a new state and embracing your new local sports franchise -- only happened to me a few times.  And ONLY when I didn't have my original hometown team to cheer for.

 

Some background-- I mostly grew up in the New Orleans area.  So other than that period when you are a pre-teen boy and must identify with a winner, I was clearly a Saints fan.  I had and wore a replica Archie Manning jersey throughout my teen years:

(including my freshman year of college, when I would nap on the dorm floor using a pile of laundry as a pillow...sheesh)

 

In the late 70s I was a N.O. Jazz fan, as well, and had a TON of their gear; until the owner moved them to Utah in '79 when I was 14 and the franchise became dead to me... (though I still rep the old logo on T-Shirts, sweatshirts, etc.)....   

 

We had no MLB baseball team, so I became a Dodgers fan (liked their classic look, and had the idea of moving to California when I grew up).   Saw the Rowdies play in Tampa in 1980 and they became my fave soccer team-- even rocked a Rowdies T-shirt back in the day.

 

Fast forward to freshman year of college.  Went to Trinity in San Antonio for one year, so I became a  bit of a Spurs fan.  I think I bought a pair of Spurs socks and a plastic Spurs logo mug.  But like my time in San Antonio, my Spurs fandom didn't last long.

 

Fast forward again a few more years to grad school.  Moved to Atlanta, and immediately became a Hawks fan as I had no NBA team.  Went and saw them quite a bit; got a Hawks pennant; made sure to wear their colors when going to a game (though it seems most of the time I went in a suit as I went to games directly from my internship job).  I also sort of switched my allegiance from the Dodgers to the Braves, who at the time were lovable losers.   Got a Braves cap to go along with my Dodgers cap (but proudly wore my Dodger cap in class when they won it all in 1988). 

 

There was, of course, NO question of me switching my allegiance from the Saints to the Falcons.  NO WAY would I ever become a fan of those hated rivals or wear their gear.

 

Even after I moved back to New Orleans in 1990, I kind of kept up my Hawks fandom and pretty much switched my fandom from the Dodgers to the Braves, buying two World Series caps, getting some more pennants, and best of all buying a cool COTTON replica Braves jersey:

At a friend's birthday party in 1994.

 

As a side thing, in 1992, my wife did a one-month med school rotation down in Tampa; we were thinking of her doing her residency down there, and I spent  Thanksgiving week with her in that area.  While that residency didn't happen, we did see a Lightning game (this was their 1st year of existence); I bought a jersey, and since then they have been my NHL team.

 

But with the Hornets relocation to New Orleans in 2002,  I then became a Hornets (later Pelicans) fan (for awhile even season ticket holder) and have over the years got a LOT of their merch.   And with the Braves abandoning Atlanta proper for Cobb County, they have become DEAD to me.

 

Of course I remain a fan / big merch wearer of my college alma maters -- LSU and Georgia Tech-- and proudly wear a sweatshirt from where about half my extended family went -- Southern Miss.

 

 

[TBGKon]

On 8/26/2018 at 11:57 PM, Mac the Knife said:

I guess the point of this is:  your fandom is your own.  Don't feel a need to change it based on your location.  Go.  Enjoy the games no matter who's playing.  If it's "your" team, great; if not, don't sweat it.  Just have fun with sports.  That's all it's there for anyway.

Quoted for truth....Im never bailing on my Tampa Bay teams if I ever move away.  

[MC Buffalo]

I was born and raised in Western New York and have never lived anywhere else. Even attended College locally, so In a way I don't have first hand experience to contribute.

 

HOWEVER, I do have an opinion... I don't see how anyone who grew up rooting for a team until say the age of 18 could ever possibly switch their allegiance just based on the fact they have moved to a new City. Especially in this era where you can still watch just about every game from your old hometown team (granted it'll cost you a pretty penny in either purchasing the various NFL, NHL, NBA pay per view options OR in a bar tab if you just choose to go to a local bar that has these special viewing packages).

 

My brother moved from the Buffalo area when he was about 22, after he graduated from College. He has lived in Charleston, SC, Ottawa, ON, and the last 30 years in Tampa, FL.He's as big a Buffalo Bills and Sabres fan today as he ever has been. Yes he buys NFL Ticket and NHL Season Pass every year, but with the Internet and these packages he is as dialed in to what is happening on the local sports scene as those living here still.

 

I feel like if your raised in a household where every Sunday from September to January, the local NFL Football  team was as much a part of your routine as Church services (which must be over by 12:30 so you are home by kickoff), Sunday Dinner and, when we were little,  "The Wonderful World of Disney" on NBC. There is just no way to shake that feeling.

 

I remember back to the mid-70's early 80's before every Sabres game was broadcast on cable, the local station would show around 25 games. Every week, when the TV Guide arrived, I would check to see what night the Sabres would be on TV (they were usually on once sometimes twice a week). We were fortunate enough to live close enough to Toronto that we got their local stations as well so we grew up with Hockey Night in Canada as well, which was great because usually about 3 or 4 times a year either the Maple Leafs/Sabres or Canadiens/Sabres would be on a Saturday Night, a "bonus" game for us to be able to watch. Heck, we could even get a French Canadian Station (Number 25) with our outside antenae, Channel 25 listings were in our edition of the TV Guide and although we couldn't understand a word and the picture would be pretty "snowy" that was usually a couple more Canadiens/Sabres games we could watch.

 

I lost my Father a couple years ago, but the memory of riding home in the car on a Sunday after Church listening to the final minutes of the Bills pre-game show on the Radio and hoping my Mom wouldn't make him stop at the market or some other errand on the way so we would be in place for kickoff ALWAYS brings a smile to my face. My son is older now and out on his own, but every Sunday (or most), he's in my living room by kickoff. I know some day probably too soon, he will get married, have his own responsibilities and watching the Bills together will happen maybe once a month instead of once a week. But I will treasure every single time I get to high-five him when the Bills score a TD.

 

Now, I do think that if you have children after you move to another City,or you move while they are still very young, that although they may take on your passion for your old hometown team when they are very young, once they begin school and hanging with friends then local influence could very well cause them to feel a closer kinship to the teams in your new area. I think this is normal and should be embraced, I would never tell either of my Son's that they HAD to be Bills or Sabres fans. it just came with the territory of living in a household where they were so important.

Since we don't have NBA or MLB, they both adopted out of town teams to root for. One is a Bulls and Red Sox fan and the other is Jazz and Angels.

 

Sorry this is such a long post, but one LAST point. I have NEVER understood and it bothers me to no end when someone born and raised in one City is not a fan of the hometown team, but claims to be a huge fan of another team in that league. Unless of course there are family ties back to the other team. They are almost always "front runners", when I was younger, I could drop a bomb on Western New York and I don't think I would have hurt one New England Patriot fan, now if I spit out of my window, a Patriot fan will probably get wet.

I get it, it's fun to root for a team that's winning all the time, but it's just seems so disingenuous.

 

 

 

[Kaz]

I inherited my NBA/NHL/NFL fandoms from my dad's side of the family, and have spent enough time cheering on the Celtics/Bruins/Pats that I couldn't imagine being anything more than a casual 2nd team fan of any other team.

 

For baseball and soccer, they are certainly negotiable; I changed from the Yankees (just to piss off my family lol) to the Braves a few years ago, so it isn't inconceivable that I develop some sort of Sports Stockholm Syndrome if a local team catches my attention.  I can't be bothered to care about the Revs no matter how many times I try, and can imagine once I live in a city with a local team to support I'd latch on to them.  Same goes for if I ever move to somewhere in Europe

 

Minor league teams are always easy to support because of their regional nature (and smaller consequences).  I'd have to actually go to a game before developing any interest in the team, but after a few games I'd probably be sold.

 

On 8/26/2018 at 2:00 PM, Buc said:

Growing up in Pensacola FL, as far back as I can remember I was a fan of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Florida State Seminoles. (In my part of the Panhandle, back then you were either Florida or Florida State--and you chose quick. Yeah there's a few confused Bama outliers but for the most part those were your two options.)

Interesting; nowadays Pensacola is firmly a Saints and Bama town - granted the Bama part was maybe not the case 10 years ago - with a sprinkling of Gators, Auburn, LSU, and FSU.