Sports hate

I've lived in North Carolina for almost 16 years and today I could not pull for the home team Carolina Panthers. It wasn't even that I cared about their opponent the San Francisco 49'ers. The phenomena is called sports hate. It is not far from, but totally different than jealously. True I wish my favorite team, the Detroit Lions, were still alive in the playoffs. They rarely are very good so that wasn't the problem. Do I dislike the Panthers? Not really. Would it have been good for the city of Charlotte if they had won? Absolutely!. So what gives? I think sports hate is caused more by the fans of a team rather than the team themselves. Sure a dislike for a player or coach can cause sports hate but more times than not it is caused by a fan base. Panther fans are a odd bunch. They started the season by winning only one of their first four games. Fans were calling into local sports talk radio stations looking for blood. They wanted the coach fired and the quarterback benched. Then something happened. The Panthers started winning and incredibly the fan's attitude change. Their team was now the greatest thing going. It bordered on crazy how in love the city was with the Panthers. Carolina fans had become the same as Boston and Pittsburgh fans ( my two least favorite groups). So today I wasn't pulling against the Cats but more pulling for the 49'ers just so the love fest could end. Silly and petty for sure. And maybe a I was a little jealous.....

Until tomorrow,

Dave