Sports Hate

There are plenty of things I hate. I hate wine snobs and bad driving. I hate ignorant people and reality television. I hate waking up at 6AM every morning as well as the guy on “Jeopardy!” who skips around the categories looking for the Daily Doubles.

But I don’t hate the New York Yankees, I don’t hate Lebron James, and I don’t hate the Pittsburgh Steelers. I don’t hate these teams, I don’t hate these athletes, nor do I hate their fans. I may be excommunicated from my family or lose a couple Facebook friends by even admitting these facts. Given the fact that the NFL team that I follow (my hometown Baltimore Ravens) were just recently beat in the playoffs by their heated rival (the aforementioned Pittsburgh Steelers), I figured this to be the perfect time to talk about Sports Hate. 

See, this is The United States of America; the land of opportunity and the greatest country on this planet.  We are allowed to root for whatever sports team we wish. But, do we really need to hate? Is it really necessary for hockey fans in Washington to hate the hockey fans in Pittsburgh? Does someone who has lived in Columbus, Ohio their whole life automatically get born into a heated rivalry with anyone from Ann Arbor, Michigan? Do the rich kids from Duke really have to hate their cross-town brethren from North Carolina Chapel Hill?

The answer is no. There is no good reason to hate your neighbor. Ok, that is not true. I once had a neighbor whose dog constantly crapped on my lawn (never to be picked up). I kinda hated that guy. But sports (or more importantly, the differences in the teams we root for) is NOT a good reason to hate anyone. Not even your super bitter heated rival. Sure, not every sports fan is a hater, but there is a Sports Hate problem in this country that is spiraling out of control. Take this from a sports fan who has been to a good share of live sporting events. There is a lot of hate out there and it’s a bigger problem than people realize. I went to a Ravens/Steelers game a few years ago and there were fights everywhere. A short time ago, my mother-in-law went to a football game and there was so much bad blood in the stands (and extremely harsh language) that she said she would never attend another game. It’s out there, and it’s a force.

It did not take me long to come to grips with my own Sports Hate. See, when I was 11, the NFL team in my city relocated to another city under very unsavory circumstances (the Baltimore Colts moved to Indianapolis in the middle of the night). I was a very impressionable 11 year old with a very immature view of sports. When the one football team I knew was taken away, I remember being upset, even hateful. There are people I know who STILL hold a grudge against the team and the ownership of that team (mostly older people who were around during the heyday of the Baltimore Colts). But I really was a football fan and because I really loved it, I decided to pick another team to follow. I settled on the Miami Dolphins because I liked their coach (former Colt coach Don Shula). I suppose I was young enough that I was able to brush it off. Had I been older, I may have held really hated the Colts, their owners, and their fans.

I equate sports hate to smoking. It’s easy to start, hard to quit, and a pretty gross habit. It might seem fun to blow smoke into a rivals face, but that could really get you into trouble. You might feel peer pressure, but only you can make the decision to do it or not.

In conclusion, I am asking everyone reading this (all 4 of you) to stop the hate. These are games; it’s supposed to be entertainment. Don’t hate the fans of your rivals. They are allowed to choose who they root for (as is everyone in this great nation. And don’t hate your neighbor (unless his dog craps on your lawn).