I am always perplexed at how emotional fans can get over their home teams (myself included). Don’t get me wrong, I do know that there are a lot of people that do not even like the team in the area where they live.
First of all, what is your “Home Team”? Is it from where you were born? Where you grew up? Where you live now? Personally, I grew up in Watertown, New York, and I was a major Minnesota Vikings fan at age 10 when I first started watching NFL football. Why the Vikings you ask? Back then I had two reasons- the first was because their team was Purple, just like all my hometown (Watertown Cyclones) teams. My second reason was because my favorite player in the entire NFL was Fran Tarkenton, who happened to be the Vikings quarterback. I was pretty much a Vikings fan all the way until I went off to college in New England, and ever since then, I have been a Patriots, Celtics, Bruins and Red Sox fan.
What I still wonder about is why we get so emotional over our “home teams”, that we can become so elated when our teams win, and we are often down right depressed when they lose, like when the Giants beat the Patriots in Superbowl XLVI (in 2012) in a heart crushing repeat of the Giants win over New England in the 2008 Superbowl. Even though I am originally from New York, I am a Patriots fan, and deep down inside I really hurt for about a week after that 2012 game. Sometimes I wish I was not so connected, but then other times I feel a sense of loyalty, and almost like part of this huge New England sports fan “family”.
There is no doubt that “Boston Strong” means a lot to a lot of people, and I believe it is a big part of this year’s Red Sox success. That extra emotion was the difference between being a good team, and being a championship team, I think all or at least most of the Boston area residents might agree with that.
New England is home to me and my family now, and I will continue to root for my home team, whether they finish worst or first.