Favorite Team, I Renounce You.

Sorry. Business is business.

Today. I got an email from a colleague, Matt Smith, asking me to answer a question for him. He gave me free reign to ramble. He knows me better than I thought.

Matt asked me if, and when, it's okay to renounce your favorite sports team. It's basically one of those things when you can't take it anymore. Or they just do something that either breaks your fan heart, or you think is the dumbest move possible.
Well, here is what I wrote for Matt:

I think it's okay to renounce your favorite sports team, but with a few conditions.
First, you can not, under any circumstances, return to rooting for that team. You can't grow up rooting for the Knicks, then renounce them because of Isiah Thomas, and then come back in five years when they start winning again. Once you give them up, they are as good as gone.
Second, you have to fully commit to the new team of interest. You must become part of their 'Nation.'
With that said, I will give my personal experience. And I will state for the record that if I hadn't renounced this team 10 years ago, I would have surely done so in the last four years.
Growing up in the Bay Area in the late 80's and early 90's, I was an Oakland A's fan. When you're a kid, you're influenced by your parents. My dad was (and still is) a huge A's fan, and he always liked Mark McGwire. So naturally, Big Mac became my favorite player. In 1996 and the beginning of 1997, there were grumblings that the A's were going to trade him. At the time, I didn't understand the business of the game. All I knew was that the A's were going to trade my favorite player. When they finally traded him to St. Louis, I was devastated. The fact that he gave St. Louis the thrill of watching the Great Home Run Chase of 98 and not the fans he grew up with in Oakland really hurt me. Not that that was his fault.
After the A's traded McGwire, I silently renounced my loyalty to the A's. I couldn't root for a team that traded my favorite player. Now, admittedly, I didn't have a backup team to fall back on. I guess you could say I was a free agent for about one year.
During the 1998 season, I spent a lot of my time with my best friend at the time, and he too was having a team loyalty crisis. He grew up in a Giants household, but at times, I knew him to be a fan of the Cubs, Mets and Yankees. It was his love of the Yankees that caught my eye. At the time, I wasn't aware of the hatred for the Bronx Bombers, but watching them on TV was awesome. So I stuck with the Yankees, and my best friend fell back to the Giants. But it was too late. I decided to stick with the Yankees.
Watching guys like Jeter and Tino and Bernie, they effectively signed me a Lifetime contract.
But, even if I hadn't renounced the A's after the Big Mac trade, chances are I would have kicked them to the curb in the last few years. I don't know how I'd be able to root for a team that continues to ship out, or elect not to re-sign, its best players, year after year. Rather than spend money they surely have, they trade players at the height of their popularity, or let players leave via free agency at the peak of their careers. Hudson and Mulder were traded at the height of the Big Three. Giambi and Tejada were allowed to walk away after winning MVP's. I don't know how A's fans continue to put up with the current management. This offseason, they traded away their two most popular players, Dan Haren and Nick Swisher. Were either close to free agency? No. Did either have a big contract? No. They were traded so that the A's could rebuild. Hello? Mr. Beane? Rebuild with Haren and Swisher!
So do I think a fan can renounce their team? Of course. But you better be damn sure about it. It needs to be a well thought-out decision. So if you're going to change loyalties, choose wisely. There is no bandwagon-jumping.


Take it easy,
Ali