Should military families always Root Root Root for the home team???
A more experienced military spouse recently told me it was bad form to show up at a baseball game, or any sporting event for that matter, wearing gear supporting the visiting team. Even when her beloved hometown team visits, she opts to cheer on the home team, whoever and wherever that may be.
Lucky for my kids, my husband and I are not the least bit worried about bad form.
Our boys were both born in areas where there are no “hometown” professional sports teams. They have only lived near a major city once prior to our current location and quickly latched on to just about every professional sports team that city had to offer.
In short, my boys are Boston fans. They loved and still love just about anything and everything to do with that place, and so we have followed suit. The Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics, and Bruins are their home teams. They love receiving good-natured flack from my other military families who support the Yankees, the Cardinals, the Dolphins, and we love giving it right back. For our boys, being a Boston fan is part of their definition, same as being a military kid.
With all the moves, with all the uncertainty, is it so wrong to allow our kids to cheer on their hometown team instead of the home team? Me thinks not.
Bad form? Phooey.
In our constantly changing life, at least we will always have one constant and one thing in that remains the same with our boys, even after move after move after move … we will all always love the Red Sox. And if that means we have bad form, well, we aren’t too concerned since we are trying to have good form as parents.
About Heidi
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While I don't think it's bad form to wear the opposing team's gear to a game (every game we've been to has had a cheering section for the "other" team), in some stadiums/parks, it has led to people being beaten to death…
I have a child that refuses to pull for UNC during basketball season because he was born in TX! He knows absolutely nothing about TX college basketball teams, but he must cheer for them because he is a Texan! All in fun, I call him a traitor during the entire season. And the other child, became an instantaneous Bostonian as soon as we crossed the border! Loves all Boston teams, again, except for those college teams, and then he reverts back to his birth state. I love that my children have found ways to connect to where they were born even if its through college basketball and football. I love that my children have identified with a city they have lived, through professional sports. My children go through so much that if they want to cheer on the Red Sox rather than the Braves, because they identify with it in some fashion…I'll cheer even louder. It mean we had a good experience when we lived in Boston.
We're not particularly dedicated professional sports fans, but we'll smile at a Redskins win wherever we are — perhaps all the more if we're in Cowboys country. ;-)
No way! Sports loyalties don't change like driver licenses just because you PCS! I've been a die hard Stanford fan for years and cheer them on like crazy even though I'm in the middle of SEC country. As for non-college sports, I've been a Red Wings fan since elementary school, was brought up going to Dodgers games, and will love the Niners forever. I'd cheer for any of them over the local team without hesitation and not feel bad for a single second! I'd have no problem rooting for the local teams if they were playing any other team though – unless I lived in Colorado because I will NEVER cheer for the Avalanche ;)
We move around, it's the nature of what we do. In everything we do, we remain true to ourselves. I find it ridiculous that anyone would expect us to root for the "home town team" of where we are stationed. Everyone can have their opinion and this spouse can have theirs. However, when we already have so many new mil spouses trying to learn the right thing to do, the last thing they need to be worried about is what sports team they support. After 12 years of being an Army wife, and six duty stations there are more important things to worry about. Being involved in community, educating families on the resources, and organizations out there is vitally important. Not to mention volunteering, and inspiring others to do so. I say spend more time being involved in your community and less time worried about who you will offend by what Sports team you like. My husband, son and I all like different NFL, College football, and baseball teams….no address or duty station will change that.
AGREE ON EVERY TEAM BUT THE CELTICS1