Is It Dangerous to Wear Oposing Team Gear in Yankee Stadium UPDATED

Is It Dangerous to Wear Oposing Team Gear in Yankee Stadium

By Bill Simmons
Folio two columnist

Ugh ... the domestic dog days of February. The Olympics just concluded. The NHL and NBA are limping toward the playoffs. Nosotros're still a few weeks away from WrestleMania, Inferior Kiper's last NFL draft rankings, the Masters, fantasy baseball and watchable leap training games. The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Consequence already came out.

The wait of a truthful fan: Neb Simmons, heart, looks like he tried to embrace Isaac Bruce for four quarters following the Pats' Super Bowl upset of the Rams.

You lot know what that ways? We're delving into my "Pause OPEN IN Example OF EMERGENCY" treasure chest of cavalcade gimmicks! Today'south topic: Shouldn't there be rules for existence a sports fan? Shouldn't somebody write down some sort of charter? Shouldn't that person be me?

This cavalcade has been brewing for well-nigh six weeks, always since a startling telephone conversation with one of my Page 2 bosses (KJ, a Seattle native and die-hard Seahawks fan). We were chatting nearly the Patriots and Steelers potentially colliding in the playoffs, when KJ all of a sudden said, "At least if my Steelers lose, I'll exist happy for yous, because the Pats made information technology."

Huh? My Steelers??? And this was how I constitute out that KJ -- my esteemed editor and friend, a proficient man, a father and a husband, the man who makes Page two run so smoothly -- was a Sports Bigamist. As it turns out, the Steelers are KJ's Second-Favorite Team, whatever that means. Plain, equally long as Pittsburgh isn't playing Seattle, he roots for the Steelers, but he doesn't root for the Steelers quite equally hard as he roots for the Seahawks, and if both teams are doing well, he chooses the Seahawks, but that doesn't mean he doesn't intendance virtually the Steelers, and I think I merely lost command of my bowels.

KJ'Due south Defense

Sports Guy, O, Sports Guy: Why hath g forsaken me? I've explained to yous a hundred times how I ended up with my dual allegiance to the Seahawks and Steelers, simply yous neglected to include that explanation in your cavalcade. So, to keep the respect of Folio 2'southward readers, here it is for the masses: When I first started watching football in the 1970s, Seattle didn't take an NFL team. Because the prevailing sports theme of my childhood -- at least, in my neighborhood -- was violent hatred for the Dallas Cowboys (and considering I loved the NFL), I embraced the Steelers with all the might that a plucky grade-schoolhouse child could muster. Now, in my book, there are two rules for sports fans that must never be broken: one. You must always root for your hometown team, unless at that place's some compelling reason not to; and two. you never, ever abandon a team nether any circumstances. (Y'all address both in rules No. 18 and 19.) So, when the Seahawks were granted an NFL franchise in 1976, I excitedly embraced the hometown squad. Notwithstanding, I didn't stop rooting for the Steelers team that had given me my first experiences as an NFL fan. (The Cowboys and Raiders fans in my neighborhood would have never permitted that, even if I'd tried.) At present, I'chiliad sure yous're going to point out that the Steelers gave me the joy of ii more Super Bowl wins during those early years, while the Seahawks struggled mightily as an expansion team, then yous're going to brand me equally a "front end-runner" (the worst blazon of fan in my book). Even so, neither squad has won a Super Bowl in 22 years, and Seattle has never even reached the big game. That kind of loyalty, my friend -- even though information technology constitutes "sports bigamy" in your book -- is to be admired, not criticized. At least I didn't try to merits that I was a huge Franco Harris fan, and that'southward why I root for the only two NFL teams that he ever played for. -- Kevin Jackson, Page 2 editor

Honestly, I just tin't empathise it. You cannot root for two teams at the same time. Yous cannot hedge your bets. You cannot unconditionally love 2 teams at the same fourth dimension, when at that place's a remote run a risk that they might become head-to-head some day.

(I can't believe information technology -- KJ, of all people. We demand to go undergo Friend Therapy just then I can come up to grips with this.)

Did the entire plough of events warrant a cavalcade? Probably not. Just I couldn't resist slapping together a list of 20 gear up-in-stone rules that every professional sports fan should abide. Maybe you have your own rules; these are mine. And just so you know, I concentrated this column on the dynamic involving fans and their favorite squad, so there are none of those "No talking on your jail cell phone and waving to the centre-field camera if yous're sitting behind home plate"-type rules in here.

Without further ado ...

Attire
i. Y'all tin can't purchase a "blank" authentic jersey from your favorite squad with no name on the back, then stick your own proper name and number on the jersey ... well, unless you want to exist an enormous dork.

ii. If you're attending an NBA game, don't wear the jersey of a squad that isn't competing in the game. It'southward bad enough to run across people wearing authentic NBA jerseys in public -- if they're wearing a T-shirt underneath it, they expect ridiculous, and if they aren't wearing a T-shirt, commonly in that location's flab and shoulder hair everywhere, and y'all're wishing that they were wearing a T-shirt. Besides, information technology's not like you need to wear an NBA bailiwick of jersey to become yourself in the mood for an NBA game, unlike baseball, football and hockey.

three. Don't wear cheap-looking replica jerseys or flimsy-looking bargain-basement hats. Come on. You're representing every fan from your squad. Show some pride.

4. Don't clothing replica championship rings equally a chat starter. Don't comport someone's baseball menu in your wallet as a conversation starter.

five. It's OK to flagrantly show your contempt for the home squad by wearing the colors of a hated rival, as long as y'all're non beingness obnoxious as you root for the visiting team. If you brand a spectacle of yourself, all bets are off and y'all'll become what you deserve. Back in the tardily-'80s, I sat in the upper deck at Yankee Stadium -- during a Carmine Sox-Yanks game, no less -- wearing a Sox lid, Bruins jersey and Celtics shorts, and the Yankees fans left me alone. Why? Because I wasn't going overboard. There's a lesson here, and it'south non just that I had a expiry wish dorsum in the tardily-'80s.

six. When your team wins a championship, it'due south your civic duty to purchase as much paraphernalia as possible. Don't be ashamed. Hats, T-shirts, sweatshirts, videos, cards, magazines, books ... there'due south no limit. Gorge yourself.

Behavior
7. Be very conscientious when using the word "Nosotros" with your favorite team. Utilize information technology judiciously. Just remember, you don't habiliment a uniform, you don't play whatsoever minutes, and yous're not on the team. And yes, this was an extremely tough line for me to straddle during the Patriots' Super Bowl run.

8. No hopping on and off the bandwagon during the season with the flip-bomb, "I knew nosotros were going to self-destruct! ... All right, we won 6 straight! ... I knew nosotros wouldn't go on playing this well. ... I knew nosotros would bounciness back!" routine every bit the season drags along. Just for the record, this is probably my biggest fault as a sports fan -- I overreact to everything. I've already written off the Celtics three different times this flavour, and I've given upwardly on Antoine Walker roughly 435 times over the past six years. Tin can I go some medication for this?

9. It's OK to root against your team, if they're hopelessly out of the playoff race and you want them to continue losing so A) they'll get a better typhoon selection, or B) you're hoping the autobus and/or GM will go fired. Don't feel bad about it.

(Note: It's also OK to wager against your squad, if they're hopelessly out of the playoff race. But only so. And merely if you don't make information technology a habit.)

10. If one of your fantasy guys is lighting it upwardly confronting your favorite team (scoring goals, rushing for big yards, making jumpers, etc.), you can't pump your fist, high-five anyone or refer to the thespian in a "That'south one of my guys!" sense, particularly if it's a crucial game or a crucial juncture of the game.

(That's perchance the No. 1 problem for sports fans these days: When to draw the line between fantasy and real life. It'southward an ongoing boxing. Fifty-fifty if you tin't help getting secretly excited near your fantasy guys when they're thriving against your favorite team, at least make sure you feel guilty, too. Don't you hate that enthralled/guilty feeling? Is there anything worse? I'm babbling ...)

AP

You lot can forgive Knicks fan for booing their brutal team this season.

11. Don't boo your team unless it'southward absolutely warranted -- like with the roughshod Knicks situation this season, or if you're hoping to become a coach fired or a specific actor traded or something. When you retrieve nigh information technology, what's the purpose of booing your team? If y'all're trying to inspire them, commonly yous end up sending them into a deeper funk -- odds are, your team already knows it's struggling. And if you're trying to light a fire under a specific player, commonly you end upwards making him even more nervous and tentative. And so why boo in the get-go place? Trust me, dead silence sends a bigger message than anything. And it's not potentially subversive.

(In that location'southward only one circumstance where booing doesn't crusade more than harm than good: If you lot take a great squad that seems to be going through the motions. For example, the Lakers take a tendency to sleepwalk against junior teams at domicile; As presently as the fans get a footling restless, Shaq and company seem to wake up. Unfortunately for the Lakers, their fans aren't paying attention that closely because they're busy either trying to get on the Jumbotron, averting their eyes from Dyan Cannon, or trying to figure out things like "How many points do you get if you shoot ane from half courtroom?" or "How come up that clock on the backboard keeps counting down astern from 24?")

12. Later on your team wins a championship, they immediately get a five-year grace period: Yous tin can't mutter about anything that happens with your team (trades, draft picks, salary-cap cuts, coaching moves) for five years. At that place are no exceptions. For instance, the Pats could finish 0-80 over the side by side v years and I wouldn't say a peep. That's just the manner it is. You win the Super Bowl, yous get on cruise command for five years. Everything else is gravy.

13. You can follow specific players from other teams, but only as long as they aren't facing your squad. For instance, it's fine to bask the Brett Favre Feel if yous're a Jaguars fan ... merely don't become carried away and outset making a scrapbook, collecting all his football game cards and so on. That's a little sketchy. And you can't purchase his jersey under any circumstances.

Patriots fans aren't immune to complain about their team for at least five years.

14. Just considering you supported a team that won a championship, it doesn't give you the right to turn into a pompous, detestable schmuck. Remember this.

Friendships and relationships
15. If your team defeats a skillful friend'southward team in a crucial game or series, don't rub it in with them unless they've been peculiarly abrasive/gloating/condescending/confrontational in the days leading upward to the big battle. Yous're probably better off cutting off all communications in the days preceding/post-obit the game, but to exist rubber.

15a. Along those same lines, if your team squanders a crucial game/series to your buddy'southward team, don't make them experience guilty about it -- don't call them to bitch most the game, don't blame some conspiracy or bad referee's call, don't bluster and rave like a lunatic. In the words of Vito Corleone, you lot can human activity like a man. You have plenty of fourth dimension to bitch in private.

15b. If your buddy's team loses an especially tough game, don't phone call him -- wait for him to call you. And when you do speak to him, discuss the game in a tone normally reserved for sudden, unexpected deaths.

15c. If one of your best friends loves a certain squad that has a hazard to win a championship, and your squad is out of the motion picture, it's OK to jump on the bandwagon and root for his team to win it all. That's adequate. Like Temporary Fan status.

16. If y'all marry someone who roots for a different team than you lot, you tin can't exist bullied into switching allegiances. You'd be amazed how frequently this happens ... and how often information technology's the guy who folds. The ability of women to whip men never ceases to amaze me. The funniest role is when the guy starts making excuses: "Well, once I moved to Boston from New York, I got caught upwardly in this whole Red Sox affair and the American League, so I stopped post-obit the Mets," or "I never liked the Browns as much every bit she liked the Bengals, and then I'k taking one for the team," or fifty-fifty my personal favorite, "Nosotros wanted our kids to root for the aforementioned team equally their parents."

(Don't you love when "The sake of the kids" becomes a reason? What is this, like a Jewish-Catholic matter?)

Sports traitor Janet Jones should now spend all her time north of the edge.

17. If you're an American adult female and visible former extra, and yous marry the about famous Canadian hockey star of all-time, and somewhen he becomes the man in charge of putting together a Canadian Olympic hockey team, and they terminate up playing the Americans for the gold medal in a game that's taking identify in a U.S. urban center, and you show up for that game cheering for the Canadians, and you lot're hugging everyone in sight as the Canadians are putting the game away in the 3rd menses ... well, you have to leave the land immediately. And you can't come dorsum. Always.

(Yes, I'one thousand talking to you, Janet Jones. Nobody likes a Sports Traitor. Turn in your driver's license, turn in your passport and take a hike. If you similar Canada and then much, move there. How come up nobody is making a large bargain out of this? TRAITOR! TRAITOR!)

And the biggies ...

Loyalties
18. If you live in a urban center that has fielded a professional team since your formative years, you have to root for that team. None of this, "The Bengals weren't very skillful when I was growing up in Cincy, and so I became a Cowboys fan" crap.

Also, you can't commencement rooting for a team, back off when they're in a downward cycle, then renew the relationship once the team starts winning once again. All those Cowboys fans who jumped off the bandwagon in the tardily-'80s, jumped back on during the Emmitt/Aikman Era, then jumped back off in the belatedly-'90s ... you know who you are. You shouldn't even be allowed out in public.

Allsport

You are required to root for the dwelling team under nigh all circumstances.

(There's nothing worse than a Bandwagon Jumper. If sports were a prison and sports fans made up all the prisoners, the Bandwagon Jumpers would be similar the child molesters -- everyone else would choice on them, take turns beating them upwards and force them to toss more salads than Emeril Lagasse.)

19. One time you choose a squad, you're stuck with that squad for the balance of your life ... unless one of the following conditions applies:

Your team moves to some other city. All bets are off when that happens. In fact, if you decided to plow off that sport entirely, nobody would blame you.

You lot grew up in a city that didn't field a team for a specific sport -- so y'all picked a random team -- and then either a.) your city landed a team, or b.) yous moved to a metropolis that fielded a team for that specific sport. For instance, 1 of my Connecticut buddies rooted for the Sixers during the Doctor J Era, then happened to be living in Orlando when the Magic came to boondocks. Now he'southward a Magic fan. That's adequate.

One of your immediate family unit members either plays professionally or takes a relevant direction/coaching/front end office position with a pro squad.

Yous follow your favorite college star (and this has to exist a one time-in-a-generation favorite college star) to the pros and root for his team du jour ... like if you lot were a UNC fan for the past 20 years, and you rooted for the Bulls (considering of MJ) and then the Raptors (because of Vince). Only works if there isn't a pro team in your area.

The possessor of your favorite squad treated his fans so egregiously over the years that you couldn't accept it anymore -- y'all would rather non follow them at all then support a franchise with this owner in accuse. Just for the record, I reached this point with the Boston Bruins near six years ago. When information technology happens, you have ii options: You can either renounce that team and pick someone else, or you lot tin can pretend they're dead, like y'all're a grieving widow. That's what I practise. I'm an NHL widow. I don't fifty-fifty want to date some other team.

If you're between the ages of 20-forty, you're a fan of the Yankees, Cowboys, Braves, Raiders, Steelers, Celtics, Lakers, Bulls, Canadiens and/or Oilers, and you're non actually from those one of those cities ... well, you better take a reason that goes beyond "When I was picking a favorite team as a kid, they were the best team, so I picked them."

If you alive in New York, you lot can't root for both the Yankees and Mets. Option a side!

At least requite me a reason like "Reggie Jackson was my favorite player growing up," or "I always liked the red Bulls uniforms," or fifty-fifty "Everyone in my gang wore Raiders colors." Do you actually want to be known as a bona fide Bandwagon Jumper?

20. If you hail from New York, y'all tin can't root for the Yankees and the Mets. Yous have to choose betwixt them. Repeat: You have to choose betwixt them. Don't give me this "Every bit long as 1 of them is doing well, at least New York is winning" spiels. What is this, the sports fan'south version of bisexuality? How almost making a choice? Any New Yorker who said the words "Information technology's the Yankees versus the Mets ... I tin't lose!" during the 2000 World Series deserves to be tortured with a cattle prod. Besides, as we mentioned in the beginning of this cavalcade, you shouldn't practice "Sports Bigamy" in full general. Sports teams are but like wives ... you can just have one wife, you can only accept one sports team, and for the dear of God, I volition not argue near this. (And yeah, I'm talking to you, KJ.) Nib Simmons writes 3 columns a week for Page 2.

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Is It Dangerous to Wear Oposing Team Gear in Yankee Stadium UPDATED

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