Favorite National Teams

[youcan'tseeme]

Cheer for England, Northern Ireland in the World Cup as well as the African Nations as they are never seen as favourites and I always love the bright colours their kits usually feature. As for Olympic Hockey I cheer for Leafs players to win since we never do normally. For example Sweden in 2006 is one of my favourite moments, finally seeing Mats Sundin captain a team to a championship.

[IceCap]

I generally support the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland (country of birth)

I spent most of my childhood in Canada, a country where I obtained my love for hockey. So I support Canada in hockey.

I have lived the last 15+ years of my life here in the U.S.A, I support them whenever it doesn't clash with the other teams I'm mentioned. For example, in the 2008 Olympics, I was a big follower and supporter of swimmer Micheal Phelps and gymnasts Nastia Liukin, and Shawn Johnson.

I also support anyone going up against England/UK.

Northern Ireland is part of the UK

Not by choice.

Actually yes by choice. When what is now the Republic of Ireland was granted independence as the Irish Free State in the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 the counties that currently make up Northern Ireland were given a choice to rejoin the UK if they so desired. They voted to rejoin the UK.

Why? Well there are two sub-groups of Irish ethnicity. The Catholics in the south who preferred independence and the Protestants in the north who wished to remain in the UK. The vote was a means to ensure that the Protestant north wasn't forced out of the UK without its consent. They voted to remain in the UK.

http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/issues/politics/docs/ait1921.htm

Points 11 and 12 specifically.

Also....

http://stormontpapers.ahds.ac.uk/stormontpapers/pageview.html?volumeno=2&pageno=1145#bak-2--149

Finally, the Ireland Act of 1949 grants Northern Ireland the right to leave the UK should its people decide to reverse the 1921 decision to remain in the UK.

http://www.uniset.ca/naty/maternity/irelandact1949.htm

So Northern Ireland is only still part of the UK because it decided to remain part of the UK in 1921, and has never exercised its right to leave.

Northern Ireland is part of the UK "by choice" by every definition of the term.

Sorry for the info dump, but hey. Facts are facts and whatnot.

Gee.. than I wonder what exactly the Troubles were all about.

A radical terrorist sect trying to impose its will on a larger group of people? Happens all the time.

Like it or not, Northern Ireland has remained in the UK of its own free will. Legally it can leave whenever it wants to. It hasn't because it doesn't want to. Certain extreme elements within the Irish repuican movement couldn't accept that. That's what The Troubles were about.

That's all I intend to say on the matter here, for fear of derailing the thread.

When I said "not by choice" I should of stated I was referring to myself. I was born in Northern Ireland. I am not British.

Good Friday Agreement:

The "birthright" of all the people of Northern Ireland "to identify themselves and be accepted as Irish or British, or both", is also recognised, as well as their right to hold both British and Irish citizenship; and that these rights are not to be affected should Northern Ireland become a part of a united Ireland.

That's fair enough.

[Dexter Morgan]

A radical terrorist sect trying to impose its will on a larger group of people? Happens all the time.

Like it or not, Northern Ireland has remained in the UK of its own free will. Legally it can leave whenever it wants to. It hasn't because it doesn't want to. Certain extreme elements within the Irish repuican movement couldn't accept that. That's what The Troubles were about.

That's all I intend to say on the matter here, for fear of derailing the thread.

I didn't want this to become political, but you're clearly showing either your bias or ignorance.Do you really believe there were no extreme elements in the British police and in the loyalist movement?

[IceCap]

A radical terrorist sect trying to impose its will on a larger group of people? Happens all the time.

Like it or not, Northern Ireland has remained in the UK of its own free will. Legally it can leave whenever it wants to. It hasn't because it doesn't want to. Certain extreme elements within the Irish repuican movement couldn't accept that. That's what The Troubles were about.

That's all I intend to say on the matter here, for fear of derailing the thread.

I didn't want this to become political, but you're clearly showing either your bias or ignorance.Do you really believe there were no extreme elements in the British police and in the loyalist movement?

I said I'm done in this thread. I sent you a PM to continue this conversation. Reply there if you want to continue this.

[Sport]

I go with US and A for everything, but my favorite national team is easily men's hockey.

I will also pull for Sweden in the hockey tournament because my mom's entire side of the family is Swedish and they have the best uniforms in international hockey.

[BigBubba]

Canada and Canada only. I don't have a "second country" to root for when my team is out like I would with a pro sports league.

The one exception to this rule is the Italian men's soccer team, as I have a ton of relatives in Italy and, well, Canada's mens team sucks big-time (their women's team, however, is pretty good, so I'm Canada all the way in that sport).

[Magnus]

Canada first, England in Europe-only competition and World Cup since Canada never makes it. Thrown in Germany in third place.

[sportstar1212]

In hockey and other winter sports, I cheer for Canada.

In soccer, I cheer for Germany and Italy since those are my two countries.

[pianoknight]

Top Five

1. USA

2. America

3. United States

4. 'Murica!

5. Stars & Stripes

Will also pull for Deutschland. Both my and my wife's family are from the Fatherland.

[pcgd]

I always kinda wondered, do Canadians feel any connection to United Kingdom when it comes to sports based on being a commonwealth nation? Same for Australians and other commonwealth nations.

Excuse my ignorance. I know Canada, Australia, etc are independent countries and have their own heritage but I was just wondering if there was any feelings one way or the other. I know everyone has their own opinions but generally what's the feeling?

[IceCap]

I always kinda wondered, do Canadians feel any connection to United Kingdom when it comes to sports based on being a commonwealth nation? Same for Australians and other commonwealth nations.

Excuse my ignorance. I know Canada, Australia, etc are independent countries and have their own heritage but I was just wondering if there was any feelings one way or the other. I know everyone has their own opinions but generally what's the feeling?

I always root for the other Commonwealth countries myself, as I feel there's a connection there worth celebrating.

I'm not sure how prevalent that sentiment is though. Some share it, to be sure, but I don't think it's at the forefront of most people's minds.

That being said, I know a good deal of Canadians will pull for the UK (or one of the constitute nations) because of a family connection or ethnic heritage (which plays into my personal support for UK teams as well as the Commonwealth connection).

[Still MIGHTY]

U - S - A!

Only two sports where I'll root for another country in the event of the US not participating/qualifying/etc.:

Hockey: I root for Ducks players, but through Teemu Selanne's years with the Ducks and international competition, I find myself rooting for Finland more than the rest of the countries even when Teemu isn't playing. I'll root for Canada too, because they're kind of like our brother and gave us this great game. I've also held a soft spot for Belarus (RIP Salei).

Soccer: Ireland because of my main line of heritage. After that, it's the some of the other Commonwealth countries (England, Australia, New Zealand) not necessarily because of the Commonwealth (I'm American, that doesn't mean anything to me), but we do share a common history at some point.

[Jer15]

I always kinda wondered, do Canadians feel any connection to United Kingdom when it comes to sports based on being a commonwealth nation? Same for Australians and other commonwealth nations.

Excuse my ignorance. I know Canada, Australia, etc are independent countries and have their own heritage but I was just wondering if there was any feelings one way or the other. I know everyone has their own opinions but generally what's the feeling?

Not I.

I root for Canada first and foremost. The only time I don't root for Canada is when the Canadians are out of the world cup, then I cheer for the Netherlands as my mom's side of the family is "straight off the boat".

[Maz]

USA.

Then Germany.

Then Italy.

Then Scotland or Sweden or England or whoever is the big underdog story.

Then anyone but France.

Unless its soccer, then it's anyone but Spain.