Cities Do Not Need a Sports' Civil War

When Peyton Manning hoisted the Vince Lombardi trophy last Sunday, February 7, 2016, it marked the beginning of baseball season. Pitchers and catchers don’t report for another few days, but for all intents and purposes, it’s baseball season. But wait… what about basketball and hockey? They’re still playing for at least another two months, if not more.

Of all the cities (or areas) with sports franchises in the United States, there are thirteen that have all four major sports franchises. That means there will be overlap with seasons and divvying up your time and focus on one sport or the other.

Of the cities with at least three, only one has a color scheme the same across their franchises: Pittsburgh. Gold and black. Makes things a lot easier when they want to wear different jerseys and a different sporting event, like rooting for the Steelers or the Penguins at a Pirates game.  If you’re in a different city, good luck wearing clashing colors, like Phillies red and Flyers orange!

Some fans will root for all the teams in their city, while others root for only some. To each their own, right?

But should either the teams or their fans wage war on one another if they just don’t happen to be a fan of that team?  Should a fan wage war on their favorite team’s brother?

No. No. No. No. No. We don’t have to like everything our city offers us, but we shouldn’t be talking trash or be happy if that franchise is losing or in disarray.

The musical Avenue Q taught me about the word, “schadenfreude”, which is defined as the happiness of the misfortune of others. Every so often, you’ll hear a fan be happy to hear that another team in their city stinks.

Think about the Philadelphia Eagles.  In 2009, they signed Michael Vick to be their third-strong QB.

Being that Vick was in federal prison for dogfighting, this caught more people off-guard than anything. Diehard Eagles fans that were passionate animal-lovers boycotted the team until they got rid of Vick. PETA and former fans protested outside the team’s practice facility. From that time on, the team became public enemy number one to some people.

No one is saying you have to be a three for three or four for four fan, but publically bashing another team in your city is something else. When your team is in disarray (i.e. Phillies) and your go-to status after an Eagles loss is to bash them, you need to rethink your hatred.

No one tells you which team to like or which team to hate.  No one tells you which sports to like or which team to hate. ESPN might shove certain teams or sports down your throat, but that’s just because teams are hot or easy to talk about at the time. 

I’m not arguing for you to like one team over another. I’m not telling you to like any team. What I am telling you is that the city’s sports teams want to make their fans as happy as possible. They won’t always make the right decisions, but they do care about their fans.

If you don’t like a team, so be it. That’s your prerogative. But a city that lives and dies by its sports teams, shouldn’t pit one team against another.

Be passionate.

Be a fan.

But don’t cause a sports civil war in the city.

If the sports teams can get along, why can’t the fans?