LogFAQs > #886799569

Just a weird thought exercise that I thought up. No matter how good your team may be, they're not going to win the division every year, but it stands to reason that a lot of fans would feel "at least <insert team here> didn't win." I suspect that for certain teams, the answers will be fairly predictable. Also, while I put team in the singular in the topic title, feel free to answer the question for multiple sports--and of course, identify which team it is you're supporting.

I'll start. My favorite teams are the Boston Red Sox and the Philadelphia Eagles. For baseball, this is an easy decision--Toronto Blue Jays, no question. They're a division rival, but there's absolutely no animosity, whereas the other three teams in the division...let's put it this way, all three of them have probably done a stint as "most hated", which seems inconceivable given that the rivalry between my team and one of them is literally considered one of the greatest rivalries in all of professional sports. But the Yankees, yes they're a hated rival but at least I can respect them, which is more than I could say about the late '00s Rays (in spite of their manager at the time, who I consider one of the great managers in baseball) or the Showalter Orioles.

For the Eagles, it's a bit dicier. The obvious answer is the Washington Redskins. Because that's what the answer is "supposed" to be, right? Except, again, there's that little matter of "respect", and frankly when I take emotion out of it I find the 'Skins to be the most vile of the three. I'd still rather they win than the Cowboys, because they're the Cowboys, but...I can't get up the animosity for the Giants that a Philadelphia fan is "supposed to" have. They're a classy organization, and besides, it always feels to me as if they always cooperate with whatever's the most beneficial for the Eagles--lose to them when the Eagles are fighting for a playoff spot, and beat them when the Eagles have no playoff hopes anyway and want a higher draft position. So I guess the answer there is actually the New York Giants.

As for my other vague rooting interests, the recent realignment of the NHL means I'm not even completely sure which teams are in the same division as the Devils anymore, and Rutgers is new enough to their current conference that I still probably have more animosity towards Louisville than towards any of their current division rivals (except maybe Ohio State but that's because I already hated them). I guess I could still answer for the latter, because I actually have positive feelings towards Penn State and to a lesser extent Michigan compared to being completely neutral towards Maryland, Indiana, and Michigan State and negative towards Ohio State, but the situations aren't comparable and besides Rutgers was more of a default pick as the only FBS team in the state of New Jersey than anything I felt strongly about. (Actually, "New Jersey" is pretty much the only thing tying me to the Devils, too, and the reason why I don't even have an NBA rooting interest anymore.)
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