Canadian NFL Fans

The Place for BC Lion Discussion. A forum for Lions fans to talk and chat about our team.
Discussion, News, Information and Speculation regarding the BC Lions and the CFL.
Prowl, Growl and Roar!

Moderator: Team Captains

pinkfreud

On the surface, who you cheer for seems like no big deal and in itself it probably isn't. I think it just touches on some deeper issues, such as the ones I described above. Everybody gets different things out of cheering for a team. For some, it makes them feel connected to their community or province or it has meaning because they have some emotional history with the team. For others, this may not be the case or not so much so. Others may just like to feel aligned with a team's success or any host of other reasons many of which are probably influenced by marketing. We see others' choices relative to what we value and agree or disagree accordingly.
User avatar
sj-roc
Hall of Famer
Posts: 7539
Joined: Thu Oct 14, 2004 2:39 pm
Location: Kerrisdale

pinkfreud wrote:On the surface, who you cheer for seems like no big deal and in itself it probably isn't. I think it just touches on some deeper issues, such as the ones I described above. Everybody gets different things out of cheering for a team. For some, it makes them feel connected to their community or province or it has meaning because they have some emotional history with the team. For others, this may not be the case or not so much so. Others may just like to feel aligned with a team's success or any host of other reasons many of which are probably influenced by marketing. We see others' choices relative to what we value and agree or disagree accordingly.
I see some of myself in your comments. When it comes to hockey, I cheer for the Maple Leafs, because that's the team I grew up watching in Nfld, and it didn't hurt that we landed their top farm team in 1991. I simply can't get excited about the Canucks, but I wouldn't label it as part of the anti-Canuck sentiment that pops up here from time to time. At the same time, I could never cheer for the Argos, since I never really followed football back then. It was essentially a foreign sport -- it was never played locally at any level whereas practically every Canadian kid has played road hockey at least. I started following the CFL when I came to BC and rooted for the Lions from day one since that was the local team.

Now, when it comes to curling -- which I've only followed as long as the CFL -- I will always root for the Nfld team in the Brier. It's pretty much the only place Nfld has on the national sports landscape, and historically they've usually been an underdog. And it's been a treat to have someone like Brad Gushue to cheer for since he won the 2001 World Juniors in Utah and, more recently, the 2006 Olympics.

None of these factors are present for other sports, so I generally don't follow them or root for any particular team.
Sports can be a peculiar thing. When partaking in fiction, like a book or movie, we adopt a "Willing Suspension of Disbelief" for enjoyment's sake. There's a similar force at work in sports: "Willing Suspension of Rationality". If you doubt this, listen to any conversation between rival team fans. You even see it among fans of the same team. Fans argue over who's the better QB or goalie, and selectively cite stats that support their views while ignoring those that don't.
Grandmaster C
Starter
Posts: 142
Joined: Wed May 21, 2003 4:35 pm
Location: Vancouver, BC

OrangeShoes99 wrote:
David wrote:
Robbie wrote:....Although at the same time, I'm sure there's season ticket holders who may not know about certain things if I nitpick. For example, I still think that very few season ticket holders knew that there was going to be a trophy presentation after the West Division Final.
Maybe so, but that has nothing to do with football acumen Robbie, and everything to do with the Lions doing a piss-poor job of announcing to the crowd to stay for the post-game trophy presentation.
Lions4ever wrote:I can't stand those guys who call in to Marjonovich or whomever and want to talk about "my Bears" or "my Bucs" or "my Chargers" yada yada. Dude. You're from friggin' Whalley. Those teams are not "your" anything.

What you are though, is a classic wannabe who wants to look or sound (or both) cool to your friends to cover up your latent insecurity.

Inevitably, these poseurs know diddly about football. Ask them about college football and they fall apart like a Fred Asher suit. As far as they know NFL players are beamed to Earth from another planet. :Roll:
That was funny Lions4ever and I couldn't agree more! In fact, the next wannabe American hoser that walks around with his NFL hat on backward going "How 'bout dem Cowboys?" in a faux Texas drawl ought to be rolled in back bacon, dropped in a vat of maple syrup, and have his Canadian citizenship revoked.

My other pet peeve is the guy calling a sports talk show from Langley gushing about the NFL and using pet names for American cities like "T-Bay," "Minny," and "Cinci" (Cincinnati). :roll: I'm thinking, like, "dude - why don't you just quit with the fawning and just move there!"

DH 8)
I don't get this, because you don't live their they can't be your team? So people that like the Montreal Canadiens can't call them their team?

Whos YOUR favorite NASCAR driver Kim? Do you live in his home state or do you just like products plastered all over his car?

Because I don't live in Seattle the Seahawks can't be my NFL team?

Some people need to loosen their sphincters a bit. It's only sports folks.
:yes:
R.I.P. Bob
.G.
All Star
Posts: 390
Joined: Mon Aug 09, 2004 10:28 pm
Location: Port Moody

i guess i better not say where my favourite nfl and nhl team are from... :lol:
User avatar
B.C.FAN
Team Captain
Posts: 12580
Joined: Mon Nov 15, 2004 10:28 pm

sj-roc wrote:Now, when it comes to curling -- which I've only followed as long as the CFL -- I will always root for the Nfld team in the Brier. It's pretty much the only place Nfld has on the national sports landscape, and historically they've usually been an underdog. And it's been a treat to have someone like Brad Gushue to cheer for since he won the 2001 World Juniors in Utah and, more recently, the 2006 Olympics.
Surprisingly, to me at least, you're not alone. Brad Gushue finished second to Canada's World Junior hockey team in voting by Canadian editors and reporters for CanWest News Service?s Team of the Year. I think the B.C. Lions finished sixth, right after the Edmonton Oilers. Until today, I had never heard of Brad Gushue as a person, let alone a team. I would have picked the Lions.
User avatar
sj-roc
Hall of Famer
Posts: 7539
Joined: Thu Oct 14, 2004 2:39 pm
Location: Kerrisdale

B.C.FAN wrote:Brad Gushue finished second to Canada's World Junior hockey team in voting by Canadian editors and reporters for CanWest News Service?s Team of the Year. I think the B.C. Lions finished sixth, right after the Edmonton Oilers. Until today, I had never heard of Brad Gushue as a person, let alone a team. I would have picked the Lions.
I just found an article about this; no mention of Lions or Oilers, though. Interestingly, Team Gushue had more first place votes (and the speedskaters had even more again), but narrowly lost out in the points total.
Sports can be a peculiar thing. When partaking in fiction, like a book or movie, we adopt a "Willing Suspension of Disbelief" for enjoyment's sake. There's a similar force at work in sports: "Willing Suspension of Rationality". If you doubt this, listen to any conversation between rival team fans. You even see it among fans of the same team. Fans argue over who's the better QB or goalie, and selectively cite stats that support their views while ignoring those that don't.
User avatar
B.C.FAN
Team Captain
Posts: 12580
Joined: Mon Nov 15, 2004 10:28 pm

sj-roc wrote:
B.C.FAN wrote:Brad Gushue finished second to Canada's World Junior hockey team in voting by Canadian editors and reporters for CanWest News Service?s Team of the Year. I think the B.C. Lions finished sixth, right after the Edmonton Oilers. Until today, I had never heard of Brad Gushue as a person, let alone a team. I would have picked the Lions.
I just found an article about this; no mention of Lions or Oilers, though. Interestingly, Team Gushue had more first place votes (and the speedskaters had even more again), but narrowly lost out in the points total.
Here's the voting breakdown (1st, 2nd and 3rd place votes and total points, based on 10-6-3 system):
1. Canadian junior men's hockey 5 4 5 89
2. Brad Gushue, curling 6 3 2 84
3. Olympic speedskating 7 _ _ 70
4. Women's Olympic hockey 2 5 3 59
5. Edmonton Oilers 2 3 6 56
6. B.C. Lions _ 5 4 42
7. Carleton Ravens basketball 1 1 _ 16
8. Alpine ski team 1 _ _ 10
9. Laval football 1 _ _ 10
10. Wheelchair basketball
(men's and women's _ _ 1 3
11. Whitecaps women's soccer _ _ 1 3
12. Paralympic sledge hockey _ _ 1 3
TheLionKing
Hall of Famer
Posts: 25103
Joined: Sat Feb 19, 2005 10:13 pm
Location: Vancouver

I suspect the reason why Gushue garnered some votes is that it is the first time that a team from the Maritimes have won internationally.
User avatar
Hambone
Hall of Famer
Posts: 8174
Joined: Mon Nov 01, 2004 10:25 pm
Location: Living in PG when not at BC Place, Grey Cup or Mazatlan.

Back to the original topic of this thread I've been a Colts fans since long before they backed the moving vans up to Memorial Stadium and snuck out of Baltimore under the cover of darkness. Why Colts? I'm not sure. Might have been something as simple as the horseshoe on the helmet given my grandparents always had horses. All I know is I've been a Colts' fan just as long as I've been a Lions' fan which would be since I was about 7 and old enough to start understanding football. That would go back to the days of Joe and Willie with the Lions and Johnny U and Raymond Berry with the Colts. TV was probably a factor back then. Atmospheric conditions permitting we only picked up 2 or 3 channels in the Comox Valley on the proverbial antenna back in the mid-60s. The most consistent signal was KVOS the CBS affiliate out of Bellingham. So every Sunday we received one or two NFL games. That's not to be confused with the upstart AFL. Their games were carried on NBC out of Seattle which we couldn't pick up. I suppose because KVOS was positioned out west we tended to see mostly Western Conference games. The Colts played in the West then along with the Rams, 49ers, Bears, Packers, Vikings and Lions. We definitely got a heavy diet of those teams. The Colts and Packers were the cream of that crop then. I don't remember what the CFL television schedule was like back then. Whatever it was it seems we saw a lot more NFL football out of Bellingham than we ever saw of the CFL from CBUT or CHAN out of Vancouver in those days. Might only have been the odd BC road game and no home games that made the telly back then.

Geography is meaningless to me as I grew up at a time when the Lions were the only pro sports team within reasonable proximity to Vancouver Island. There were minor league teams in the WHL Vancouver Canucks and Victoria Maple Leafs (briefly) as well as the AAA baseball Vancouver Mounties. Other than that one had to step outside their local geographical comfort zone to follow a team in any other leagues. The most important thing to me is that a fan picks a team and sticks with it through thick and thin. I have little time for those who pledge allegiance to no team or league yet criticize all or those who switch teams every 4 or 5 years. As long as I've followed pro sports I've pulled for the Lions in the CFL; Colts in the NFL; Red Wings in the NHL and Giants in MLB. I don't foresee ever changing those allegiances out of respect for my childhood heroes such as Kapp, Fleming, Unitas, Berry, Mackey, Howe, Delvecchio, Mays, McCovey and Marichal. I'll remain loyal to the Wings despite the Canucks because I was pulling for them before Vancouver had an NHL team. The Canucks do remain #2 in my heart though. I used to have a favourite Canadian MLB team but the Expos are no more.

If I was to use geography as a guide then I suppose I should become an Eskimo fan since Edmonton is the closest CFL city to Prince George. But I'll stick with what those I've always pulled for. Regional preferences or those effectively bequethed from influences from dear old dad aside it's often fairly easy to pinpoint which teams a sports fan will call "theirs". Simply figure out who the top 4 teams were in a given pro league or who the top 2 or 3 dominant players were when the person was between 10 and 15. Odds are very good that the fan will support one of them.
You're as old as you've ever been and as young as you're ever going to be.
Canuck_4_Life
Hall of Famer
Posts: 3093
Joined: Sun Oct 31, 2004 12:07 am
Location: Parts Unknown

Looking at it from a semi-unbiased POV, I can see how the World Juniors were picked as team of the year.

Even during the 2005 Championships, the American team for Vancouver 06 was touted as the gold medal favourites, with the likes of Erik Johnson and Jack Johnson on the backline. Canada, in a somewhat unfamiliar position, especially on home ice, were viewed as underdogs, even though they were the defending champs. They dominated from start to finish and made a definite statement. Most of these guys a lot of us had never heard of (Kris Letang, Michael Blunden, Andrew Cogliano and so on) and they bought into Brent Sutter's system and walked out of Vancouver and into Leksand as 2 time defending Champs.

I do follow curling, not to any great extent, however, I was somewhat pensive about Canada's curling entries with Kleibrink and Gushue skipping both teams. Perhaps the recognition was because of the field he was facing. Neither Canadian team was favoured to medal.
Jimbrofski

OrangeShoes99 wrote:
David wrote:
Robbie wrote:
....Although at the same time, I'm sure there's season ticket holders who may not know about certain things if I nitpick. For example, I still think that very few season ticket holders knew that there was going to be a trophy presentation after the West Division Final.


Maybe so, but that has nothing to do with football acumen Robbie, and everything to do with the Lions doing a piss-poor job of announcing to the crowd to stay for the post-game trophy presentation.

Lions4ever wrote:
I can't stand those guys who call in to Marjonovich or whomever and want to talk about "my Bears" or "my Bucs" or "my Chargers" yada yada. Dude. You're from friggin' Whalley. Those teams are not "your" anything.

What you are though, is a classic wannabe who wants to look or sound (or both) cool to your friends to cover up your latent insecurity.

Inevitably, these poseurs know diddly about football. Ask them about college football and they fall apart like a Fred Asher suit. As far as they know NFL players are beamed to Earth from another planet. :Roll:


That was funny Lions4ever and I couldn't agree more! In fact, the next wannabe American hoser that walks around with his NFL hat on backward going "How 'bout dem Cowboys?" in a faux Texas drawl ought to be rolled in back bacon, dropped in a vat of maple syrup, and have his Canadian citizenship revoked.

My other pet peeve is the guy calling a sports talk show from Langley gushing about the NFL and using pet names for American cities like "T-Bay," "Minny," and "Cinci" (Cincinnati). I'm thinking, like, "dude - why don't you just quit with the fawning and just move there!"

DH


I don't get this, because you don't live their they can't be your team? So people that like the Montreal Canadiens can't call them their team?

Whos YOUR favorite NASCAR driver Kim? Do you live in his home state or do you just like products plastered all over his car?

Because I don't live in Seattle the Seahawks can't be my NFL team?

Some people need to loosen their sphincters a bit. It's only sports folks.

So to summarize:

You are lame if the following are true:
1) you cheer for an NFL team that isn't in your hometown.
2) you cheer for an NFL team and DON'T cheer for the LIONS.
3) you were an NFL hat backwards.
4) you use a nickname for a city in the US.
5) you use 'my' to refer to your favorite NFL team.
6) countless other innane things

Hmmm. It takes a mind greater than mine to be able to ascertain all of these things based on listening to a phone call. And why are you listening anyways if it annoys you so much?

No. The only objective facts here are that Lions4ever and David have posted over 4000 combined messages on this board. Covering up latent insecurity? If you have enough time to post that many messages in a semi-random public forum (from your mom's basement?), something tells me YOU might know a thing or two about insecurity issues.
User avatar
D
Team Captain
Posts: 8320
Joined: Tue Oct 01, 2002 7:43 pm
Location: Springhill
Contact:

So to summarize:

You are lame if the following are true:
1) you cheer for an NFL team that isn't in your hometown.
2) you cheer for an NFL team and DON'T cheer for the LIONS.
3) you were an NFL hat backwards.
4) you use a nickname for a city in the US.
5) you use 'my' to refer to your favorite NFL team.
6) countless other innane things
I think it has more to do with being a wannabe poser that sings it .... rather than a REAL Fan who brings it
Hmmm. It takes a mind greater than mine to be able to ascertain all of these things based on listening to a phone call.
Fortunately we are here to help 8)
I own The Grey Cup! .com
Jimbrofski

Ouch! Over 6000 posts! I guess you are a real fan-with tons of time on his hands!
User avatar
Hambone
Hall of Famer
Posts: 8174
Joined: Mon Nov 01, 2004 10:25 pm
Location: Living in PG when not at BC Place, Grey Cup or Mazatlan.

David wrote:My other pet peeve is the guy calling a sports talk show from Langley gushing about the NFL and using pet names for American cities like "T-Bay," "Minny," and "Cinci" (Cincinnati). :roll: I'm thinking, like, "dude - why don't you just quit with the fawning and just move there!"

DH 8)
Note to self: Posting on websites is the internet equivalent of calling a sports talk show. So Hambone no more refering to Los Angeles as LA; Detroit as Motor City; San Francisco as San Fran or Frisco; Indianapolis as Indy; Chicago as Windy City; Pittsburgh as Steel City; Hamilton as Steeltown; Calgary as Cowtown; Toronto as Hogtown; Edmonton as Garlic City; Prince George as PG; Cumberland as Dodge City; Williams Lake as Willie's Puddle or Bill's Ditch..........it ain't cool. I don't know about youse guys down there on the Left Coast. ;-)
You're as old as you've ever been and as young as you're ever going to be.
OV - 54:40
Champion
Posts: 812
Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2005 9:56 am
Location: Ottawa

Jimbrofski wrote:Ouch! Over 6000 posts! I guess you are a real fan-with tons of time on his hands!
There's room for all sorts of "real" fans pal - backwards hat wearin', American wannabe, NFL hero worshipping, media garbage/hype victim, internet tough guy trash talker types have their place too. :roll: Gotta go now - Jim Rome is coming on.

:sleep:
Post Reply