When I was a little kid (sometime in the mid 70's), I made my decision to root for the Oakland Athletics. A few years later, Tony Gwynn became a perennial all-star and one of the greatest hitters in the game, so I started to support the San Diego Padres too.
One American League team & one National League team with one thing in common. Both consider the San Francisco Giants rivals. Which means that I strongly dislike them and 99% of the time, I dislike their players too.
But over the years, I've made a couple of exceptions. Will Clark was the first. And Tim Lincecum is the other.
Now, I won't go to the extreme of calling myself a Lincecum fan. I just enjoy watching him pitch and if he's not throwing against the A's or Padres... I like seeing him succeed. Something he has yet to accomplish this season.
In his first two starts, Tim Lincecum has already given up 11 earned runs in only 7.2 innings pitched. Last year, he didn't give up his 11th earned run until his 6th game against the Washington Nationals. By then, he had already pitched 34.2 innings.
Hopefully tonight he'll turn things around against the Philadelphia Phillies. Good luck Timmy! Unleash The Freak! My guess is you're gonna need to, since you'll be facing their ace... Doc Halladay.
Today's question is...
Do you ever cheer for athletes who play on rival teams?
Happy Monday & sayonara!
10 comments:
Absolutely, as long as they aren't playing against my team. Growing up a Brewers fan in the mid to late 80's was rough and I had lots of guys I liked all over both leagues. And that still carries through today, even for football. I can appreciate a player's talent even if he doesn't play for my teams.
Yes, I have more favorite players that I cheer for than Favorite Teams. Right now I live and die in the 4 sports on how Kevin Love, Rob Gronkowski, Jason Heyward, Pedro Alvarez, Ryan Getzlaf and Patrick Kane do.
How much of a rival?
If it's just a team that the Dodgers may play at a certain point during the season, then, yeah, sure, I'll cheer for them when they're not playing the Dodgers. I like guys on lots of teams.
But the Yankees or Giants? Never. Ever. Never. Ever. Never. Ever. Never.
I kinda feel like owl here...like I can appreciate when Mariano Rivera has a good game...but I'm not actively watching a Yankees game like "COME ON MARIANO, SHUT EM DOWN!"
So...low level rivals...sure. Intense rivals...like the Yankees (Sox) or the Steelers (Browns)...I don't ever cheer for players on those teams in any situations. But I can appreciate a good performance after the fact haha.
I really liked a lot of those mid 80's Brewers... especially Fingers, Thomas, and Haas.
I'm definitely more of a Team collector, than Player collector... but I have to admit the number of players I cheer for is constantly growing. Kevin Love is one of those guys.
LOL... that's a great question. I'm talking bitter rivals. I really, really, really dislike the Giants. But... for some reason or another, I like Will & Timmy.
Glad to see we're on the same page though... I hate the Yankees too!
The Yankees are definitely on another level in terms of rivals & dislike. I'll never... ever... never root for them (in any situation). But I like Jeter & how he leads that team. It's just a shame he had to play for the pinstripes.
As a Dodger fan, I never rooted for any Giant as an individual. The player could be from my hometown, have may same beliefs, and went to my same high school. If that player wore a Giant uniform, I would probably hate him even more because he is from my hometown.
I admire the passion!
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