With the completion of the Super Bowl between the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers, I looked forward with bemusement to reading some of the letters to the sports editor in the Columbus Dispatch, both those published in the paper and those published online only, as I knew what to expect.
The letter writers who do not like either the Steelers nor their embattled quarterback, he of the alleged but uncharged improper behavior toward women, were all righteous in their comdemnation (again) of Big Ben, and absolutely giddy about the Steelers' defeat.
Another issue surfaced (again) as well, as the condemners blasted the "bandwagon" Steelers fans, and, by association, all those who support a sports team that is not from the state in which they reside. It is apparently their belief that if one does not have a direct connection, i.e. living in or being born in a particular state or attending a particular university, any support for an out-of-state sports team is not proper, and your judgment, intelligence, and manhood (males only, I hope!) is in question.
By their logic, I presume if your state only has one team in a league, you are to support that team and that team only. If your state has more than one team in the same league, how are you supposed to decide which one to support? Is proximity to be the deciding factor? If proximity it is, then all of the people in Columbus who have never called Cleveland home must support only the Cincinnati Bengals and Reds over the Cleveland Browns and Indians. It must have been quite a quandary for those condemners who were Browns fans in the late 1960s when the Bengals were created. What to do? What to do? What to do? They very likely soiled their undergarments whilst trying to take a decision as to which team they were going to support.
I feel sorry for a sports fan in a state in which there are no big-time professional teams, since they are not "allowed" to cheer for a team not in their state. Oh, the shame of living in Maine, Idaho, Montana, or New Mexico! They must stick to their minor league or college teams, and can never know the joy and pain of rooting for a team that is at some distance from their domicile.
Taking their argument to its logical next level, we should not then be permitted to read a book, listen to music, or support a political candidate not from their city or state.
It would be a lesser world if we were unable to use things not grown or made in our state simply by virtue of where we live.
Ah, well...
GO BUCKEYES!
GO STEELERS!
GO YANKEES!
GO CREW!
GO ARSENAL!
GO DUKE!
Ramblings of a 60 Year Old Man - My thoughts on just about anything, in no particular order; Robert Thomas - author.
Boy, talk about a frontrunner!
ReplyDeleteI prefer Aston Villa and DC United but I agree with the rest!
ReplyDeleteVilla? Almost the team I chose to follow when I got the internet. I chose Arsenal, not knowing anything about the EPL, since your club team did well at the Sycamore Arsenal tournament in Cincinnati.
ReplyDeleteAs far as front runner, if you did not know me you might think that, but picking teams as a kid isn't necessarily guaranteeing they will always do well. ask the Yankees in the mid-60s until the late 70s, and the Steelers before the Immaculate Reception.
I guess I just made good choices.