Out of town love

For those of you out there that keep up with sports or not, this year’s World Series puts the defending champion Philadelphia Phillies vs. the New York Yankees.  Being Jersey born and raised one would think my natural choice for who I pick to win this series would be the Yankees. Not so fast.  Although I have respect for some of the local teams in my area (a fact I’ll never admit to my boys) I don’t particularly root for the home team.  Now, I know, I know, some of you must be thinking, damn this guy is a jerk and “what planet is he from?”.  Well you’re more than entitled to your opinion. Watching sports since I can remember, I’ve always noticed that the home teams in this area rub me the wrong way inadvertently in some form or another.  For instance, growing up, I was a San Francisco 49ers fan and not only that, Joe Montana was an idol in my eyes.   I used to dream I was Jerry Rice as me and my friends played street football and I put my all into playing football at any given moment.  So anyway, back in 1990 when my team played against the New York Giants in the NFC championship game, and I watched as Leonard Marshall hit my idol and not only give my idol a bruised sternum, bruised stomach, cracked ribs, and a broken hand, I was heartbroken. I can even admit that I cried as I saw them take Joe off the field and saw Joe play for the last time as 49er. That was strike number one. Fast forward to the 2000-2001 Super bowl and you find the Giants vs. the Ravens and I’m actually rooting for the Giants to win because I’m completely pissed off at the Ravens for beating my 13-3 Tennessee Titans and knocking them out of the playoffs. The end result: the Giants never showed up for the game, Ravens 34, Giants 7. That about did it right there! I catch flak all the time from the local fans about my team selection and they further annoy me by being so pretentious and obnoxious when their team wins a few games . This is what makes me seek other teams to maintain my own individuality and also, there is the fact that I like other teams outside this area for a lot of reasons. For one, I base my preference on team culture, style of play, and the players talent. Next, I choose teams that I liken myself to as far as having the characteristics of perseverance, resilience, and heart.  When I like a team I do not switch sides no matter how bad it gets even if that means getting clowned by the locals here and there. I’ve seen my Phillies go through an enormous amount of suffering throughout the years dating all the way back to Joe Carter killing us with a walk off home run back in 1993 to win the World Series. I think personally that I will almost never go for a hometown team again and will stay with my out of town love. In the meanwhile, Go Phillies!