Gretzky

Originally posted by 藍 at 2005-7-5 12:45 AM:
阿樓主呀...我又真係吾知點講比你聽,...

I think putting the affection on one team naturally results in the dislike of another team (like myself, i can't stand Liverpool since the Ian Rush days because i am a Toffeeman) and sometimes it boils over to animosity towards individuals of the other team (like Xavier and Rooney).

Football is an interesting sport. Our preference of individual teams disappear when the players all gather at the national level. I would say most of us would cheer for Lampard in the  colors of the Three Lions even if we hated Chelsa, right? The loyalty to a team, in many cases, are determined to the success of the team in short team (3-5 yrs). Using an example: How many of you are fans Coventry in the 80s and 90s/Wolf in the 70s? Would you still call youself a fan of these FC today?

I guess the truth is, even if the teams are playing entertaining football in the 'lower' leauges(this is truth in the case of Coventry), when we don't get the coverage on TV and don't live in the city of the team...our loyalty will slowly disappear. We may 'resurface' again when the team goes back up (like West Ham). But with the econcomics of the game and the players (like Joe Cole), how many of us would still stick to the team?

Teams go through cycyles. Do you know where the Gunners were in the early 80s? Cycles will happen to most clubs and the joy of being a loyal fan is to go through the ups and downs of a team. I found the most exciting football i watch often comes from the rereational leagues (in HK's case, 修頓 and 維圓). Being a 'fair-weather fan' is okay, but the joy is much greater when you get out from the dark days with the club...somehow you feel like you own part of the success when your team finally wins something.