How do you pick a team?

[BobCox2]

trashX if you don't understand the logic of 1 and 2 I pity you.
#2 is the whole basis of organized sports for Pete's sake and #1 is part of the reason it works.

1) Fans come in crowds

2) 1/2 the home teams games are the cheapest & easiest to see.

3) Family & Friends Sports Experiences make up most of the Best ones for most people.

4) Unless you bet significant money on it (I don't and don't recommend it) makes little difference what sports team you pick in life you will have highs and lows with any team you follow.

It's a good subject though, here in LA/OC with no Rams or Raiders anymore I pick a NFL team in PRE-season and root for it.
Angels (Cubs is second Fav, Dodgers are OK.)
Laker's

Individual sportsmen/women is not the same as teams to me.

[Stoutwood]

I mostly pick based on a team's style and players. If a team is loaded with douchebags or criminals, I tend to dislike them. That may be why I can't stand the entire NBA and NFL.

[trashX]

trashX if you don't understand the logic of 1 and 2 I pity you.
#2 is the whole basis of organized sports for Pete's sake and #1 is part of the reason it works.

1) Fans come in crowds

2) 1/2 the home teams games are the cheapest & easiest to see.

3) Family & Friends Sports Experiences make up most of the Best ones for most people.

4) Unless you bet significant money on it (I don't and don't recommend it) makes little difference what sports team you pick in life you will have highs and lows with any team you follow.

It's not really that I don't understand the logic, or else I wouldn0t have listed them as possible reasons in the first place.
Problems I see:
1) dad was a fan-OK you're dad was a fan, and you grew up being a fan of that team too, but then you didn't really pick a team at all, your dad did, or his dad or his grandfather and so on. So the question is, how did THEY pick their team?
2)hometown team-I can see the benefits of being a hometown fan, but that doenst have anything to do with the team itself. That would make you a fan of the town, and a supporter of anything it produces. And moving would force you to change your favorite team, which doesnt seem very fan-like to me

[Ash Housewares]

reasons for liking my teams

they're local (Dodgers)
they're on tv all the time (Dodgers)
everyone in the family likes them, grew up watching/listening to/going to games (Dodgers)
they have the best broadcaster ever (Dodgers)
they're near mexico and I'm half mexican (Chargers)
they're in New Orleans and I'm half cajun (Saints)
cool unis/logo/fans (Saints)
they beat the Rams and I hated those guys (Saints)
they're local and they used to have Gretzky (Kings)

etc etc but theres some examples

[Amra]

And then there is NASCAR. A different definition of teams from other sports.

[sdbramwell]

i hate nascar. and i would say that hometown/family&friend relationships are the leading factors into what team you root for.

with the exception of bandwagoners.

[CCCenturion]

The only team of any sport that I care about are the Yankees. Everyone has their reasons, some good, some bad, but mine is just because I love New York City (sure, I live in Chicago, but that's just for grad school -- not a permanent setup).

Growing up, my family moved every couple of years because of my dad's work, and I spent half my life before the age 18 living outside of the U.S. Now any time I make it back to NYC I just feel like I fit there because the city is such a mix of people from all over the world. So, I may not be from New York, but the advantage of not really being from anywhere is that you can pick a city that just feels right for you.

I love New York, Yankees = New York, and hence I love the Yankees.



Why not pick the Mets then, some may (and do) ask?
Because the Mets suck, of course!

[Ash Housewares]

Because the Mets suck, of course!

naturally

similarly here, I grew up in Dodger town, now I live in more of an Angels area, so I like being the one guy that hates the Angels

[CCCenturion]

I should also point out that as an outsider moving into Chicago, it's hard to get excited about either a team that is named after baby bears, or one that is named after white socks.

[Ash Housewares]

L.A. gets a lot of relocated teams, so the names make no sense