Team Rules

After the Colts won the Super Bowl after the 2006 season many people knew how long of a fan I was of the Indianapolis Colts, and people began to ask “man, I am tired of people jumpin on the Colts bandwagon?” The fact of the matter was I really do not care. I think that yes people did jump on the bandwagon, and yes people will jump off when the ship begins to sink, but it has also brought on life long Colts fans. For that I am grateful.

Yes, the Colts will be bad again. Yes they will eventually have the first pick in the draft. See the great thing about sports is there is always next year. But teams are not always good. Things happen, personnel decisions are made and boom 1-15 team becomes the powerhouse Indianapolis Colts, or New England Patriots.

The point I am getting too is this. Is it ok to ever jump on a bandwagon? The overall answer I have is yes! Here are some circumstances that allow one to jump on a bandwagon, or change team alliances.

1. If you are not a fan of the home team and get caught up in the fun of the moment. This is your typical jumping on the bandwagon scenario. As long as your allegiance stays with that team through the lean years there is nothing wrong with jumping on the bandwagon. There is key English in this rule “home team” means home team. You cannot jump on the Houston Texans bandwagon if you live in Indianapolis.

Example: The Indiana Pacers have a great season and the playoffs begin. You have never followed them, but get caught up in the excitement of the NBA playoffs and become a fan. This is allowed and encouraged, but your alliance cannot be changed after this moment. Also it is unethical to jump on another teams bandwagon while the playoffs begin. So I cannot be a true fan of the Boston Red Sox because they do not play in my market. I can root for them; I just cannot call myself a “Red Sox fan”

2. If your favorite player switches teams. Now this is a complicated rule because it is two fold. This is not your typical free agency type move. Free agency in pro sports has been corrected from the early years, so the great players tend to stick it out with their original teams for 85% of their careers.

2A. This is and example of a player who is at the tail end of his career and switches franchises to chase a championship, or get one last pay day before his career is over. Once again this isn’t your typical free agency move.

The best example of this would be if Reggie Miller had gone to the Celtics. I have watched Reggie Miller play since I was 12 years old, I am a Reggie Miller fan. He has done so much for my home city of Indianapolis, and turned me on the game of basketball in general. If he was a Celtic I would obviously want him to do well and win the championship that he deserves. It is totally ethical to root for Reggie to do well and the Celtics to do well.

What would be questionable would be to call yourself an Arizona Cardinals because Edggerin James is a Cardinals player. I watched the Edge play in Indy for 7 years I do wish the Edge well. I root for the Edge as a player. Unfortunately it would be unethical to switch alliances in this situation. This rule only constitutes about 1% of pro sports players. You can only switch your alliance for the top 1% of players.

2B. I call this the Greg Oden rule. Greg Oden grew up in Indianapolis and I have followed his career from his Lawrence North to Ohio State to the Portland Trial Blazers. I have always thought he was a stand up kid, and he is as good as the hype (I truly hope he will over come this injury).

It would be completely ethical to align myself with the Portland Trail Blazers if you have watched a player from his High School days through college and onto the pros. If you are already aligned with a certain franchise you can always root for this player to do well. And you can root for his team as long as they are not playing against your original team.

There are a couple other instances in which it is ok to change alliances. If a family member or close friend plays for another team. If your cousin gets drafted to play left tackle for the Chicago Bears you are allowed to root for the Bears even if they are playing your team. Blood is always thicker than water and this situation is totally ethical.

This is known as the Rex Grossman rule. Grossman’s family still has season tickets to the Indianapolis Colts. That had to be a very hard position for his family in Super Bowl XLI. Even though I would hope you would root for your family members, but it is totally ethical to root for your family members and friends.

3. Relocation.

3A. If your home team relocates to another city you can pick another team, no questions asked. Especially if the owner is a jerk off.

3B. This situation gets a little more complicated. What happens if you get transferred or move after college to a different town?

I feel as if this is where your team higharchy comes into play. I feel as if you should support your new cities teams with few exceptions. Especially if there is no ill will between teams. The main idea I have here is that you shouldn’t ruin other peoples fun! I encourage people to get involved in their new homes and their traditions.

Let me explain. Ok let’s say I was to move from Indianapolis to a town like Tampa. I should root for the Bucs. They rarely play the Colts, and as long as the Colts are your team it is ok to root for the Bucs to do well When the Bucs and Colts play during the season it is ok to have some banter among friends. Here is why I feel strongly about this rule. If the Colts were out of the playoffs and I lived in Tampa and they were rolling through January, don’t rain on other people’s parade. Don’t talk about how much you love the Colts and how the Bucs aren’t nearly the team the ’06 Colts were. This just annoys people. That was in the past. The Colts are out and your just being annoying That’s why I say root for the Bucs unless they are playing the Colts.

Where this rule gets slightly complicated is if you were to move from Indianapolis to Boston. I would say competitive banter is fun as long as it’s healthy. You can also choose for yourself whether you should root for the Pats or not. It would be hard for me to root for the New England Cheaters, but once again if the two teams are playing never rain on someone else’s parade. It just makes people angry.

As you can see it isn’t totally wrong to jump on the bandwagon. In fact I would encourage it in some instances. But remember who got you there and your allegiance should always be with the team you first made a conscious decision to follow.