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How can you possibly have a SECOND team that you root for?


Bakin

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 I grew up in Cleveland and  have always rooted for the Browns.  They’re my #1.  Great city and fans.  I live in Buffalo now.  Great city and fans.  So I adopted them as my 2nd team. Heat to head I would root for the Bills over the Browns if they had something to gain and the Browns didn’t.  For example, if the Browns were out of the playoff hunt and the Bills were in it.  Otherwise it’s Browns, then Bills, then against some teams - Pats, Steelers, Ravens.  

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It was pretty easy.  Growing up in Rochester being a Bills fan and having no geographic ties to any other major sports team besides the Sabers, I've always followed other sports teams at a national level.  I liked the Knicks and Orioles based on having the MSG channel, VanGundy going to my high school and having the prospects roll through with the AAA team.  That just wasn't enough though.  Besides the Bills it was never a diehard attraction to other teams.  I moved to the Philadelphia area after graduating and lived 5 minutes from the stadiums on the Broad St. line.  With my proximity to all of the venues and being exposed to a media market that serves over 6.5 million people with intense/in-depth coverage it was hard to not take some of it in through osmosis.  The Phillies were the first team to bring me in, I went to a lot a games when their young core was just coming up.  It was an excitement that permitted through the city.  The Eagles were young up and comers, too.  Not to mention, they seemed like a good group of guys and had an overall likable team personality (besides the passive aggressive, sensitive baby QB).  My Bills fandom never wavered during this time, despite their overall ineptitude.  I had the direct TV Sunday ticket bills to prove it.  It was easier being in an NFC town, in this division already hating the Giants, Cowboys and Redskins for obvious reasons.  And, who wasn't a Randell Cunningham fan in the early 90's?  I never had a natural animosity towards the Eagles.  I simply have a NFC and AFC team.  When they play each other I root for the Bills 100%.  I've been able to extract joy bi-proxy, and thankfully didn't take the simple stance of "if you like two teams, you like zero".  If that was the case, I most likely wouldn't care about the NFL.  What the Bills have put fans through since 1998, up until last year has been unacceptable.  I thankfully was able to extract a little joy from the league when the Bills were a laughing stock and amongst the dregs of the league.    

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At the end of the day, it's entertainment.  Does it really matter in our lives, no.  Step back and see the bigger picture.  So why can't we watch a game where we root for another team or better yet, root for both of the teams that are playing?  I want to see a good game, that's why I'm watching, entertain me.  Everyone is different. If you are a competitive me-vs-you type of person, you are probably on the side of being a Bills fan only.  If you look at it as entertainment and don't have the need to be competitive, then every team in the league can be interesting to watch. As I get older, however, I find myself pulling away from the sport because of what it has shown itself to be.   Many more important things to do in this life than to just be a Bills fan.  

 

 

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I like to think of it like this. 

 

The Bills are my wife. I have a vested interest in everything they do and can either make or break me. 

 

Every other team is my side chick where I have no strong feelings about them but are good for the entertainment. 

 

And no I don't have a side chick, just making a comparison. 

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13 hours ago, Bakin said:

Pardon the bad grammar....and I know I probably asked this question before...

but how in the holy hell can a person root for the Bills (bleeding red white and blue, as one poster suggested) and still have a ‘backup’ or secondary team??

i really don’t get it. 

Can someone explain?

 

Haven't you asked this question before?  No matter.

 

It's pretty easy for me.  I like the Green Bay Packers.  I like the small market factor and the community ownership (only team allowed to be owned that way, grandfathered).  I had a good friend in graduate school from a farm in Northern Minn.  and it gave us something to talk about.

 

It doesn't affect me rooting for the Bills at all except once every four years when the Bills play them, in which case of course I want the Packers to implode. 

 

I don't get the problem, can you explain? 

 

 

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I live in san diego and alex and dean spanos name is mud as far as Im concerned. La Chargers indeed **smirk** Count me a RAIDERS fan now u schmucks. Of course the Bills are my team but I like to party with the Raiders crowd and we have storied history we razz each other and on it goes.... 

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I'm a Bills fan first. Always. I spent my college years in Pittsburgh during the Cowboys-Steelers SB rivalry, so Pittsburgh is my second team to watch. My affinity for them does not match my love of the Bills. Witness that I wear the Bills logo every day. There is no shame in having a second team to root for in the NFL. I'm also a Florida State fan thanks to the Bobby Bowden years. I love pain, obviously.

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1 hour ago, shane nelson said:

I have lived in NJ for 30+ years. I have had Giants seats for 25+ years because I love football.  I have taken my kids to Giants games their entire life.  Almost all of my friends are Giants fans.  My house is split.  My wife, son and daughter are Giants first, my other daughter and I are Bill all the way.  With that said, while I enjoy watching the Giants and hope they win, there is nowhere near the same passion as the Bills.  I don't read Giants blogs or really follow their players.  

 

Being a fan of two teams has allowed my family and I to enjoy the passion of football, tailgate every Sunday and have wonderful memories with great friends.      

For most, that is what being a fan is suppose to do; great post!

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1 minute ago, muppy said:

I live in san diego and alex and dean spanos name is mud as far as Im concerned. La Chargers indeed **smirk** Count me a RAIDERS fan now u schmucks. Of course the Bills are my team but I like to party with the Raiders crowd and we have storied history we razz each other and on it goes.... 

I have removed the Chargers from my original AFL list based on the screwing they gave San Diego; somewhere Sid Gilliam is weeping!

6 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Haven't you asked this question before?  No matter.

 

It's pretty easy for me.  I like the Green Bay Packers.  I like the small market factor and the community ownership (only team allowed to be owned that way, grandfathered).  I had a good friend in graduate school from a farm in Northern Minn.  and it gave us something to talk about.

 

It doesn't affect me rooting for the Bills at all except once every four years when the Bills play them, in which case of course I want the Packers to implode. 

 

I don't get the problem, can you explain? 

 

 

I love the Packers too, and the fact they are a small town market and thrive! So much history and memories from Green Bay except for the first two Super Bowls ha ha!

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2 minutes ago, vorpma said:

I have removed the Chargers from my original AFL list based on the screwing they gave San Diego; somewhere Sid Gilliam is weeping!

yeah well not to derail the thread but suffice it to say CONCUR. That and ,,,nevermind dont get me started lol

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29 minutes ago, BarleyNY said:

 I grew up in Cleveland and  have always rooted for the Browns.  They’re my #1.  Great city and fans.  I live in Buffalo now.  Great city and fans.  So I adopted them as my 2nd team. Heat to head I would root for the Bills over the Browns if they had something to gain and the Browns didn’t.  For example, if the Browns were out of the playoff hunt and the Bills were in it.  Otherwise it’s Browns, then Bills, then against some teams - Pats, Steelers, Ravens.  

Some trivia - during the 1960's, channel 4 - WBEN had the broadcasting rights to the Browns and the Buffalo area seen the Browns home and away every weekend!

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I moved to the Charlotte area in '95. The day the Panthers played their very first game. Polian, Reich, Metzelars, etc. It was easy to root for them. And this was before streaming, and any other options to watch the Bills other than the cost of Sunday ticket. So, I adopted them slightly, just to have SOME kind of football. Bills are my team. No others. But I still to this day keep an eye on the Panthers even tho I moved back north 10 years ago. My immediate family still live there. My folks are Bills first, Panthers a close second. Older brother Bills only. Younger brother Panthers first, Bills close second. But this allows us to spend time with, and root for each other. 

Edited by BuffAlone
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15 minutes ago, muppy said:

I live in san diego and alex and dean spanos name is mud as far as Im concerned. La Chargers indeed **smirk** Count me a RAIDERS fan now u schmucks. Of course the Bills are my team but I like to party with the Raiders crowd and we have storied history we razz each other and on it goes.... 

 

Ha!  Would sort of be like St Louis and Stan Kroenke.  It's been years.  All is forgiven - NOT.  Check out this local "Superbowl Special"

 

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It' OK to like other players and other teams, usually if they have ties to the Bills- example the Colts.  However No 2 is a long, long long way from no. 1   !!!!!

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