How did you pick your favorite team? (any sport)

[Requiem]

Scroll to the bottom if you just want to discuss the questions in the title, or if you're not one of the people being 'addressed' in the thread.

Alright douchebags. Since everyone insists on calling me a 'bandwagon jumper' for liking the Colts, I will make this thread. This is going to be the last and only thread I will address this 'issue' in, because honestly I am at the point where it's just annoying and is preventing actual discussion because every time I bring up a valid point someone calls me a bandwagon jumper and acts like my opinion doesn't matter. Other than this thread, I am just not going to respond to anyone who makes that comment, because it is childish and has pretty much been the sole reason for me suddenly disliking some posters on here that I didn't previously have any issue with.

The majority of you will continue to call me a bandwagon jumper because you are all whiny fags who don't like the fact that I didn't become a fan of a team based on the criteria that you became a fan of your favorite team. As if there is some golden set of rules to becoming a fan of a team. Hell, most of you probably won't even read everything, and I'll get replies back with comments about things that are already addressed here... because most of the people in question have done that consistently already.

I am not going to explain why I am a fan of the Colts. That has already been explained in the NFL thread several times.

First, people said I should follow a local team. Well, I have no interest in the Kansas City Chiefs. I have never been a fan of football, period, before last year's Super Bowl. I have heard locals talk about the Chiefs or the Rams growing up, and I discarded most of what was said because I didn't care.

Someone said it was logical to like your local team, so that you could get memoribilia and go to their games. I responded that I don't care about that, because I can easily shop online, and if I'm going to go to a football game, it will be an event that I don't mind traveling for. I also don't plan on living here forever, so what is the point of picking a local team for those reasons, if those reasons aren't going to be applicable for a long time? I'm not a Chargers fan just because I was born near San Diego.

In other words, I don't feel I should be obligated to like a team just because I am close to them, and in my opinion that is a stupid thing to solely base your decision on, because it has nothing to do with the team.

Now I have to ask... Is someone considered a bandwagon jumper if they live in a state that has no football team? What if you are in an area where the nearest team is 5 hours away and in a different state? Or even farther in some cases. When they decide what football team they like, what criteria do you expect them to use? If they didn't grow up around sports, and their family has no predisposition to a certain team already, what is supposed to be the deciding factor in the team they choose?

The reason I ask, is because the only difference in a situation like that, and my situation, is that my state has a football team. The theory is the same, though.

Are they forbidden by the die-hard fans to root for a team just because that team is good? How is a GOOD team supposed to get new permanent fans, when anyone who becomes a fan of them is labeled as a bandwagon jumper? If that were the case, a fanbase would never grow. It would remain 'in the family'.. people would like a team because their dad liked them. Or 'because they're local'. And neither of those reasons are bad reasons, by any means. They just don't apply to this hypothetical.

If I was a bandwagon jumper, that would imply that I am not a loyal fan of any team. That I become a fan of a team just because they are good.

However, I do not plan on being a fan of any other team than the Colts.

How would it look any different if I were to pick a shitty team (doesn't matter who), and then decide I don't like them and pick a different team? Should I root for a team I have no interest in just because a bunch of faggots on a wrestling forum think I am a bandwagon jumper because my team is good?

Simply put, I won't. Anyone who complains at this point is just complaining for the sake of picking a fight, or to change the subject from what was being discussed. It's quite transparent really, and some of you will probably give me shit just for typing this whole thing. (which I did while sitting here playing Madden like I would have been regardless of if I had been typing this thread)

Now for questions up for discussion - How did you pick your favorite team(s)? Are they good, or do they suck?