Sports and partners

[scraparcs]

Say both of you have some interest in sports. Does it have any effect on your relationship if you support teams that are rivals? To use an American baseball example, say one partner is a Yankees fan and the other partner is a Red Sox fan. Is there a problem caused by that?

Just nosy, I wonder if anyone actually has had issues from this.

 

[Gnarwhal]

Well, my dad's a Giants fan and my mom's a Dodger fan, so I suppose it can work. Though, my mom's interest in the present team is nil. She was a bigger fan back in the Sandy Koufax/Don Drysdale days.

I couldn't date a girl who was a passionate fan and rooted for the Dodgers at the same time. Because we would be quibbling all of the time about stats, pennant races, trades, etc. Not to mention whenever we faced off in a series, we would probably need boxing gloves for that one.

I couldn't date a Seahawks fan, an LA Kings fan, or a Sacramento Kings fan. I would appreciate her passion and knowledge of any of those sports, but if she liked a rival team that would be a bit too much, I take those rivalries seriously.

 

[fromtheAsh]

My fiancee is a Bears fan, I am a Vikings fan.
My fiancee is a Blackhawks fan, I am a Wild fan....

We're going to be a divided household, but we do share a mutual hatred of the White Sox via Cubs (her) and Twins (me), plus agree the Packers are the worst.

 

[JuiceBoxxed]

LOL, I can't imagine myself even being interested in a woman who held a passionate support for one team over another team. Enjoying a sport is one thing, and although the nature of many of them definitely have a competitive angle, I tend to view a lot of hardcore devotees to a team or region as substituting personal competitiveness for team competitiveness and projecting the positive (and negative) sides of that onto the team, which they cannot ultimately control. Power by proxy, if you will, with faith and hope as the only virtues and winning the only payoff.
I just can't identify with that, especially when it comes to how fast someone can run, throw or hit a ball, or laps in a pool.

 

[SnowyMacie]

There's no major intrafamily rivalry, besides my maternal grandfather going to UT and my dad went to A&M, but it's not big deal. My closest friends and I, who I consider brothers, agree on all sports except college football. Two of us are Aggies, one is a Longhorn, and another is an OU fan. We all reached an agreement to not talk about the games in which our teams play each other, and everything has been fine with that rule.

My first girlfriend was a Longhorn fan, her dad went to UT, and she ended up going there as well. We got along fine despite that, but she wasn't as diehard of a Longhorn fan as I am an A&M fan. I take rivalries extremely serious, but I'm not sure it would be a deal breaker if she was a passionate fan of a rival, especially since I'm best friends with guys I've known my whole life that are passionate fans of my favorite team's rivals. On the other hand, I'm not sure the "don't talk about it" rule would work as well in a marriage. The only team out there I can say for certain "ABSOLUTELY NOT" would a die hard fan of New England Patriots, but that's mainly because of their front office, head coach, and quarterback.

 

[Al T]

Surely having a bit of a competitive element - that's lived out through your teams - can only bring a bit of spice to the relationship.

Of course that goes out the window if you or your partner are bonkers over local derby stuff.

So in summary everything should be fine as long as neither of you are crazy. Are you?

 

[Maka]

My dad is a huge sports fan, especially hockey, soccer and football. Between being a workaholic, playing and watching sports, he didn't have much time to spend with my mom. It was a big factor in their separation.

Anyways.. To answer the question I cheer for team Canada, that's about it. I don't get the whole idolizing of players/teams thing. I am competitive and enjoy being active so I'd rather do those things together, instead of sitting and watching it.

 

[High Fidelity]

I think if people can manage theological differences (There will almost certainly be some), chances are they can manage sports differences.

Wouldn't be an issue for me, at least

 

[Tess]

I don't understand how anyone can feel so strongly about sports teams at all!
... no offence to those of you that do, but it's absolutely baffling to me.

 

[LoveDivine]

I'm a diehard Yankees fan and I have dated guys who liked other baseball teams. Truthfully, it makes it more fun in a way to root for different teams. Just like AI T stated, the rivalry adds some excitement. I would totally date a Red Sox fan. He would just have to accept that I'm going to gloat when the Yankees win If he can handle that, we're good, haha. I have lots of friends/acquaintances that absolutely hate the Yankees. I've just come to expect that I'm going to hear all about it when the Yankees lose. I think their smack talk is funny and it genuinely doesn't bother me (once I get over the loss, lol).

 

[Gnarwhal]

I'm a diehard Yankees fan and I have dated guys who liked other baseball teams. Truthfully, it makes it more fun in a way to root for different teams. Just like AI T stated, the rivalry adds some excitement. I would totally date a Red Sox fan. He would just have to accept that I'm going to gloat when the Yankees win If he can handle that, we're good, haha. I have lots of friends/acquaintances that absolutely hate the Yankees. I've just come to expect that I'm going to hear all about it when the Yankees lose. I think their smack talk is funny and it genuinely doesn't bother me (once I get over the loss, lol).

I like you. You're cool.

 

[ReesePiece23]

Me and my ex were both hardcore cricket fans. The only problem was I'm from England, and she was originally from India. So when it came to England v India it would be hell on earth between us - in a fun way of course.

If the rivalry is serious and its affecting your relationship, then you both need to have your heads tested.

 

[MiniEmu]

No self respecting Saddlers fan would date a Wolves supporter. That's the sort of rivalry which sees people come out of a pub with a gap in their smile.

Football is serious business. So serious that one normally "converts" to the other side, in my experience it's rare an inter-team relationship remains inter-team for long. At least where one is a die-hard fan and the other is more "eh, it's just a game".

A nice bit of "this is my home team, whoo!" rivalry is always fun.

 

[Messy]

LOL, I can't imagine myself even being interested in a woman who held a passionate support for one team over another team.

I wouldn't mind if someone had a favorite club, as long as it's not extreme.

 

[TheOliveSeed]

I like sports and if I like a team I will cheer them on. But other than that I'm not a fanatic. Liking different teams shouldn't be a problem. If it is, they should definitely get their heads examined, like Reese suggested.

 

[SnowyMacie]

As I diehard sports fan, I will admit that I don't really understand the mindset of not liking sports. I understand why people don't, but it's hard to comprehend. I can't speak for Darth, Ash, or Yankee, but for me sports and competitiveness have been apart of me for my entire life. Sports are a big part of my familial life, in fact, the brother-in-law wasn't a sports fan at all until he came into our family, and we often joke (it's funny cause it's true) that he did so for survival. There's a video of me just before my third birthday reciting the names of Houston Astros players, and for that same birthday I received a plastic tee and on the same tape it's a video of my dad tossing me a ball and I'm hitting it back to him with a toy bat. I don't remember those events, but my earliest memories are of playing T-Ball. I'm related to more people that played sports on a high school level than didn't. It's basically a value in our family.

 

[Hawthorne]

I think if people can manage theological differences (There will almost certainly be some),

Justinian and Theodora are a good example.

chances are they can manage sports differences.

I don't know... It must have been pretty hard to have a spouse supporting a different team during the Nika riots.

 

[MehGuy]

None whatsoever, considering I find sports to be boring.

There might be a problem if she's a sports freak.

As a child I always felt weird not liking sports. I tried watching an entire football game once, but I couldn't make it.

 

[scraparcs]

I just wondered if it could get to the point where it might have an effect on relationships between people. I've seen people support rival teams, but usually it's more of a good natured sort of rivalry. I can't imagine it being so serious it would cause a rift, but it looks like that's possible. Honestly I think if he didn't like sports at all, that would be a bigger issue.

 

[Gnarwhal]

I just wondered if it could get to the point where it might have an effect on relationships between people. I've seen people support rival teams, but usually it's more of a good natured sort of rivalry. I can't imagine it being so serious it would cause a rift, but it looks like that's possible. Honestly I think if he didn't like sports at all, that would be a bigger issue.

If it got mean spirited I think it would cause problems. Such as, if the Dodgers beat the Giants or they were higher up in the division than the Giants and she wouldn't stop giving me crap about it, then it might be an issue. People have to know when to stop.