My next door neighbor, Tom, grew up in Wisconsin and is a life-long Green Bay Packers fan But he has lived in California for a few decades, so he also follows a few California teams such as he 49ers and Giants.
So it was with greatly mixed emotions a few weeks ago when he found himself rooting — for one weekend — for the hated Seattle Seahawks.
That was the Sunday in early December when the Seahawks were facing the Minnesota Vikings, and Tom needed the Vikings to lose so they would not catch his Packers in the standings of the National Football Conference.
Minnesota lost, and a few weeks later the Pack finished with the No. 2 overall seed in the NFC for this year’s NFL playoffs. And, surprise! Green Bay this weekend will face the dreaded Seattle Seahawks.
This whole affair reminded me, once again, of the vagaries of following sports.
No matter who you love or hate, those emotions sometimes change with the quickness of a home run splashing in to McCovey Cove.
We usually think of these mixed emotions only in terms of national and world-wide sports. But they can crop up locally, as well. How many of us know Selma High graduates who now live in Kingsburg and have children (or grandchildren) playing for the Vikings.
Who do they root for when their child’s Green-and-Gold face their alma mater’s Orange-and-Black?
We are becoming more and more a nation of tribes and teams. Not just in sports, but also in politics. We favor our own, and learn to despise (or some lesser emotion) the other.
But this week, with post-season football in full bloom, let’s not talk politics. Instead, let’s ponder who we root for in sports — and why.
Most of the time, our sports alliances are based on geography. The local high school, the regional university, our state’s professional teams. Those usually are the most lasting fan experiences, taken with us even when we move across country.
Sometimes we cheer for a team because we like one or two of its players. Or we root against a team because of a dislike of a player or two. Those fan experiences aren’t as long-lasting because players move to other teams or retire.
Other times, we simply grow up in a family that favors a team, and we go along for the ride even if we have no idea why we are cheering for those uniforms.
Beneath it all, we learn what it means to be a part of a movement. We might even form friendships based on only one thing in common — a team.
That’s when we begin to realize that the real friendships, the connections with others that last a lifetime, are based on more than simply a uniform with a number on it. We begin to understand that winning and losing are not the point of a relationship that is built to last. That family and true friends go beyond hometown, team, and even country.
And that is when we finally come to our senses and discover that it’s OK to have friendships with people who cheer for a different team.
Except for the Seahawks.