It's Not Personal, It's Sports

In every sport, in every league, there are always rivalries that stand out above all of the rest. Let's name a few here to make sure everybody is on the same page here...

Cubs/Cardinals
Red Sox/Yankees
Red Wings/Blackhawks
Canadiens/Maple Leafs
Bears/Packers
Ohio State/Michigan

Those are a few of the big ones. To a lesser extent, you could also pick any team, in any league, and consider every team that happens to play in the same division a rival.

Let me speak as a Red Wings fan here. Every single night that the Predators, Blackhawks, Blue Jackets and Blues play, I hope they lose. It's nothing personal, it's just sports. If they lose every night, by default, who benefits from that? The only other team in the division, the Detroit Red Wings. Above all else though, I especially want to see the Blackhawks lose on a nightly basis, even if they happen to be playing another division rival. Again, it's nothing personal, it's just sports. Of course I want my teams biggest rival to lose. In all honesty, I hope Blackhawks fans say the same thing about the Red Wings. It's what helps to make the rivalry great.

When was the last time you heard a Red Sox fan say that "If the Red Sox can't win this year, I sure hope it's the Yankees that do." It just doesn't work that way, but again, it's nothing personal.

Even though I want the Hawks to lose on a nightly basis though, there are still several guys currently residing in the Windy City that I would love to see relocate to the Motor City (and a few that used to call Hockeytown home that can stay in Chicago). I'll even name them off for those curious: Brian Campbell, Patrick Kane (only if the mullet stays in Chicago), Duncan Keith, Patrick Sharp and Jonathan Toews. I'll even go as far as to say that the NHL is much better off when the Blackhawks are playing well. It's good for the league because the United Center happens to be the biggest building in the league. It's also good because the league gets an opportunity to showcase one of its "original 6" teams. Currently 5 of the original 6 are doing pretty well, so that is a good thing for the NHL. With that said, I'd still love it if the Blackhawks went 0-82. It's nothing personal. I want my team to win and my teams biggest rival to lose.

You want to know what really grinds my gears? When I hear "Fan A" get mad at "Fan B" because "Fan B" says something about wanting his/her team to win (which by default means that "Fan A's" team is going to lose). Why are you getting mad at this person because they want their team to win? What else are they supposed to say? Just because "Fan B" wants his/her team to win, that doesn't automatically make things personal. As I've said many times already, it's not personal, it's sports. It's one thing if some trash talk escalates, it's another thing completely to get upset at somebody just for cheering for their team. Unless they say something completely inappropriate or out of line, leave them alone and let them cheer. They have just as much right to cheer for their team as you do yours.

I was at a minor league hockey game several years ago and was watching my team play on the road. I do this quite a bit. I've never been obnoxious at these games, but I don't sit on my hands either. It's not worth going if I'm going to sit there and not cheer. In the last couple of years, I've started going out of my way a little bit to make my presence known, but never in an obnoxious way. To make a long story short, I usually bring a cow bell to games and ring it (only) when my team scores. Back to the game in question. This was before the cow bell days and I was approximately 16 at the time. My team scored roughly 5 minutes into the game to make it 1-0. I stood up and clapped and about 2 seconds later, a half full (not empty) water bottle came whizzing by my head and bounced off of the glass (I was roughly in row 5). I didn't say anything, yet I was standing up and clapping because my team scored. What is there to take offense to there? Again, what am I supposed to do, show up and sit on my hands?

I've never understood why people take offense to somebody cheering against their team. If everybody cheered for the same team, THE GAME WOULD BE BORING. It's not personal, it's just sports.