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- 05/20/2012, 09:55PM ET
It is OK for a fan to root against their team once they are eliminated from the postseason?
:CubanMissile: said 05/20, 09:55 PM
Now given any possibility of a postseason appearance or a shot at a title you root for your team, no matter how small of a window of hope you have. However, once that window is closed it is OK for fans to root against their team. I'm not saying that they should root against the team, but that it is acceptable and does not make them bad fans.
As fans you are invested in the team, you want the best for them. You want the team to win it all. Once you know any hope of that happening this season is gone, you start to look to the future. Losing meaningless games in the current season, can help big in the future.
The draft is one of the quickest ways to turn around a team. Moving up just a few spots can open up various options when it comes to adding talent. A higher draft spot gives you more talent to choose from and can provide better leverage for trading.
Losing can bring needed changes to a franchise. Sometimes your teams win just enough to keep the squad and coaches unchanged; so rather then see something new the following year you're stuck watching the same thing unfold again.
You are rooting for the team to lose not due to hate but for hope for the future.
HomertheGreek said 05/20, 11:21 PM
One that is a fan is not a fan if he or she EVER roots against "their" team.
You confused me with your opening paragraph. First, you say "it is OK for fans to root against their team," followed up with "I'm not saying that they should root against the team, but that it is acceptable." Seems like you like both sides of the issue.
The issue here is really if a fan should give up on their team because the team won't make the post season, and hope to lose to get higher draft pick.
I find it ludicrous to think that an actual fan can sit on his couch, munch away on potato chips, and pound one bud light after another, to cheer for a loss. So, you're telling me that when your QB gets sacked, and your linemen get run over, you cheer for that? That's not what a real fan would condone.
Yes, the draft is a big deal. Believe me when I say that the key to the draft is not having higher picks, but having great scouts, and picking the right players.
Losing only agitates a fan base and players even more. How does losing bring "hope for the future" when there are so many busts drafted each year?
Teams that lose won't attract as many quality free agents.
:CubanMissile: said 05/20, 11:51 PM
I'm not saying you have to root for your team to lose, but it is perfectly acceptable to do so once eliminated from any postseason.
You can have the best scouts in the world, but if the guy you want or need is off the boards it doesn't matter. Of course the front office is going to play a role in how your team turns out, but when you have a higher draft pick their are more options. Better to have the option of choosing Durant or Oden; then to pick later and never have the chance to take KD.
If your team is losing theirs a good chance that the front office didn't exactly do a great job of assembling a team. While an 8-8 record may not be good enough for the postseason, it may be good enough to save your GM's job and then you have to go another year of bad picks and missed postseason before you finally see change.
Mediocrity often leads to settling. Sometimes you really need to stink it up for someone in management to take notice and be willing to make big changes.
Free agents often go where the money is and to the big cities, most of the time the winning teams don't have the financial flexibility nor need to sign the major players.
HomertheGreek said 05/21, 12:51 AM
It is never acceptable to root against your team, whether they're a playoff team or not. You stand by your team when the times are good, and when times are bad. You're saying that when times are bad, make them worse by cheering for your team to lose? I don't like this thinking at all by someone calling himself a "fan."
You bring up basketball with Oden and Durant, yet failed to disclose that those were all lottery picks, where order of picks were determined by ping pong balls. So, in hindsight, the Blazers and Sonics picks came by virtue of how the ping pong balls played out, not how many losses each team had.
Not liking your third paragraph. Bad picks? Bad picks aren't the number you select, but WHO you select. And remember, if there's a guy that a team really wants, there's something called trading to move up or even down spots.
No one is saying stay mediocre. How is wanting to win the final game that much different then losing the final game?
You grab the top free agents by winning, and not tanking games.
Too much emphasis with the draft and positioning, when so many guys end up busts from the first round. Cheer for a win, not a loss.
:CubanMissile: said 05/22, 09:05 PM
Being a fan is more then just cheering for your team. Its OK to judge them; it means you are invested. It whats separates you from the clueless "fan" (typically female) who couldn't name more then 3 guys on the team, and doesn't quite know the rules or when to cheer.
The first round of the NFL draft averaged 6.6 million viewers. Point is people care. We are fans, we don't play in the game. If i was a player or coach i would want to win, but as a fan what do i get out of winning once i know a playoff spot it gone?
Losing can help an organization get much needed change. The draft keeps fans excited, as does a new coach or GM, they can turn a terrible team into a dynasty with one great pick.
Of course the picks could be busts, but until they are they are hope. Every fan or GM would prefer to pick higher. Ask anyone if they would rather have the #1 pick or win just enough to not make the playoffs and i think the results would lean one way. You're a fan you don't do the picking, its not like the way you cheer is actually going to cause a different outcome.
Wanting you team to lose is more about an acceptable reaction for a true fan who believes it is the best way to help
HomertheGreek said 05/23, 01:52 AM
You talk about being invested in your team, but how does it help your emotional investment with the team by booing and hoping for another lose? It just brings more pain with the team you root for in any sport.
The NFL draft averages so many viewers because the NFL is very good at marketing and hyping the event. That doesn't make it right for a team to lose in the first place, and plus each team is granted a first round pick in each draft.
Picks, Picks, Picks. Ugh!!!
I'm going to stop the draft talk, because it has become very repetitive.
The other part of the argument is whether a fan should just stop rooting for your team if hopes a going to the playoffs are gone.
My thing is that many teams, particularly baseball and football, don't get into postseason plays year after year. What's the point of being a fan of a team if you end up rooting against them to win the few games they will end up winning that season?
it just brings a lot more misery by losing each year.
i think of a real fan as someone who roots for their team when they're division champs, and when they are last in the division. Playoffs? Playoffs? Cheer for your team if they're in or out.
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Comments (32) Add A Comment
Will wait on all 3 arguments for this one for sure.
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thank you, Marlins and Barrio. GL CM. let me think and proof read before i submit my argument.
HomertheGreek
Total Comments (281)
Personally, I think the only sport that it is acceptable to "root against your team" is in the NBA. The other 3 sports (NHL, MLB and NFL) have shown that any team that makes the playoffs can win the title. However, in the NBA, that is impossible. For example, my Sixers have zero shot at winning the NBA title. It's nice that they are going on a run, but eventually they will loose to the Celtics or the winner of the Heat/Pacers series. So what is the point? The Sixers are in that no-mans land in NBA. A team that is average, like the Hawks have been for so many years. The worst spot to be in the NBA is avg. Your not good enough to win a title but not bad enough to get a high draft pick and get a superstar. Therefore, I have in the past and this year, rooted against the Sixers. Call me a bad fan or realist, but sometimes I don't see the point in winning
we_are___
State College, PA
Total Comments (266)
If your team doesn't have a good track record with high draft picks, drafting higher isn't necessarily a good thing. Case in point the Pittsburgh Pirates, almost 2 decades of high draft picks and they still haven't had a winnning season. Maybe this year though?!
Formerly from Ewa…
Sand Patch, PA
Total Comments (5982)
With MLB, I never root for the Braves to lose under any circumstance. I don't care if they are eliminated and a loss will keep a division rival out of the playoffs.
High draft picks in baseball don't mean anything. For every high pick bust, there's a guy that went in like the 32nd round that turns out to be an all star, plus with the minor leagues, with no initial impact of draft picks, all draft picks must be developed, and the most active free agent/trade market of any of the major sports, draft position in MLB isn't really that important. Teams like the Yankees and Braves have managed to stay competitive for the better part of 20 years by drafting and developing well, and making good trades and pick ups.
With the NFL, I can see rooting for a loss to better draft position as it's much more important with such a limited amount of picks, but just as a pride thing I could never break myself to root against the Broncos.
Other sports I follow are mostly individual, so rooting for a my favorite MMA fighter or NASCAR driver doesn't really make much sense in the first place.
Outlaw...
Ball Ground, GA
Total Comments (39744)
what's your definition of a badass draft pick? The thing is, it doesn't really matter how high your pick is; its who you pick. Sports are not played to lose and hope for a high draft pick. I could care less if my team is 10 games out of the playoffs for any sport with one game to go. i want my team to win, because as fans, we root for the team to win, not for a draft pick potentially one slot higher. i feel like I've repeated myself a lot.
HomertheGreek
Total Comments (281)
I lean to supporting your team through the good and bad times. But lately, the Romonian years in Dallas hasn't been kind to us loyal fans who don't use blinders.
I'll be fair and show both sides of the coin.
THE GOOD
NOW THE BAD
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Good TD, I'm still reading.....
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true that
HomertheGreek
Total Comments (281)
Totally, totally agree. The Sixers have no shot and winning now actually keeps them in the same boat, and never with a chance to move up.
J-Business
Total Comments (892)
lol. all I can say about Romo is that he is easily a top 10 qb consistently the past 4-5 years. just some bad luck here and there.
HomertheGreek
Total Comments (281)
i missed this quote. All I can say is that the Spurs haven't had a high draft pick in over a decade, and look at the great picks they've made in the draft? That with smart free agent signings will lead teams to be above average, and eventually, champs. there's no point in rooting for your team to lose if your team doesn't know how to pick players and build a team in the first place.
HomertheGreek
Total Comments (281)
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