Bad sports, good sports: What is with these Titans fans?
I spent most of this week with my wife’s family in Nashville, Tennessee. More so than ever before, I was witness to a very odd phenomenon that goes against the very fiber of my being as a football fan. If you read this column regularly, you know I am a Philadelphia Eagles fan. In the last 7 years, I have also become a fan of the Tennessee Titans, due to the fact that my wife is from Nashville and was a Titans fan when I met her (and still is, although she also roots for the Eagles). Allegiance to a team is a personal thing. Some people are true fans, living and dying with their team, while others are casual fans. Titans fans, at least the ones I know, are a different breed entirely, and it’s all about Peyton Manning.
For those of you who are unaware, Peyton Manning is the quarterback of the Indianapolis Colts. He is widely considered to be one of the top two quarterbacks in the league (Tom Brady being the other), and has had a fantastic career over the last decade. Before entering the NFL, Manning played at the University of Tennessee. His father, Archie Manning, was a Heisman Trophy winner at the University of Mississippi before playing in the NFL for the New Orleans Saints. Manning has always had the reputation for being a very clean cut guy, in addition to being a great quarterback. He is also very charismatic, appearing in virtually every commercial shown during a typical football game (or maybe it just seems that way). The problem is that the people of Tennessee are still huge fans of his. This wasn’t that much of a problem before 2002, when the Colts were in the AFC East and the Titans were in the AFC Central. Once the expansion of 2002 occurred, the divisions were reorganized and the Titans and the Colts were placed into the new AFC South together.
I can’t imagine many situations that would involve me rooting for the Dallas Cowboys, the Washington Redskins, or the New York Giants. This is because they have been in the Eagles’ division for my whole life. It’s not necessarily reasonable for me to expect the Titans fans to stop rooting for Peyton Manning because his team was moved to their division seven years ago. Still, I feel like no self-respecting Titans fan should root for the Colts in any way. Rooting for Manning is one thing, but I have talked to several Titans fans who firmly believe it is okay to root for the Colts, especially with the Titans out of the playoff race. Root for Manning to do well if you want, but don’t root for his team, Titans fans. The Titans will appreciate it.
Bad Sports, continued:
2) Continuing the almost-all-football week, the Washington Redskins started off the week by executing one of the worst plays I have ever seen. I can’t even begin to describe the ridiculousness of this, so follow the link and watch the video. If there was any doubt whatsoever that Jim Zorn needed to be fired, this would have erased that doubt.
3) This one made me throw up in my mouth a bit. Eagles players selected Michael Vick as the team’s recipient of the Ed Block Courage Award this week. You read that correctly. Michael Vick. Yes, the one who killed the dogs. Eagles players, you should be ashamed of yourselves.
4) What a bizarre week for University of Florida head coach Urban Meyer. No, his name was Urban before this week…that’s not it. On Saturday, he announced that he was resigning due to health problems. On Sunday, he changed his mind and said he was merely taking a leave of absence, and expected to be on the sidelines for the 2010 season.
5) Albert Haynesworth should be the poster boy for the problem with giving a player a huge contract after one big year. Haynesworth has always had great talent, but was mostly considered a lazy player with an attitude problem before the 2008 season, when he was a huge difference maker for the Titans’ defense. After that year, the Redskins gave him a gigantic contract to come play for them. The talent is still there, but so is the attitude. This week, he put a cherry on top of the mediocre season he is having by stating that the Redskins coaches are to blame for his lack of impact. Granted, the Redskins coaches are certainly not doing much of note, and they will likely be gone after the season, but Haynesworth’s comments were inflammatory and unnecessary. No surprise there.
6) In our one non-football story, LA Lakers forward Ron Artest continued his All-Moron career by falling down the steps at his home, giving himself a concussion and injuring his elbow. Awesome. Can’t wait for the explanantion for this one.
Bad Sports, Good Sports appears every Monday
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Been a long time since I attended an Eagles game … Roman Gabriel was the QB, at the end of his career. My heart belonged to that team out in western P-A … and still does.
How about the Colts, this weekend, and the decision to pull some of the starters?
Been a long time since I attended an Eagles game … Roman Gabriel was the QB, at the end of his career. My heart belonged to that team out in western P-A … and still does. How about the Colts, this weekend, and the decision to pull some of the starters?
What a horrible decision by the Colt’s management. You could see the disgust on the faces of the starters as the perfect record they’d worked so hard for was flushed down the crapper.
If they don’t win the Super Bowl, I could see this being somewhat problematic for the team. As in: Peyton leaves so he can go play for a team that wants to win…
Honestly, I completely agree with Jim Caldwell’s decision. The goal is to win the Super Bowl. If Peyton Manning gets hurt in the second half of a meaningless game and is lost for the playoffs, the whole season has been a waste. No way you take that chance. The starters played a significant amount of the game and were leading when they left. You can’t possibly keep them in the whole game. You don’t get an extra trophy for winning all of your games before winning the Super Bowl. Only the big game itself actually counts there.
I disagree with your article. I don’t understand your arguement. The idea of not being able to root for a team just because they are in the same division as your favorite team doesn’t make sense to me. It seems like sour grapes.
How can you root for a player and not the team? Is that like hoping that Peyton Manning throws for 500 yards but the Colts lose 49-0?
There are so many reasons to like or dislike a team; a player or players, playing style, coaches, uniforms, franchise history, geographic location, the way the media treats a team, the list could go on. I suppose “They have to play my team twice a year” isn’t a valid reason for me. I suppose I grew out of that “I hate this team because they are in direct competition with my team!” phase. The team that plays better usually wins and playing well isn’t a reason to be disliked.
Sure, I might root against a team if it means a first round bye or a playoff spot for my favorite team…but at the end of the day I want my team to win it all because they were great and beat great teams, not because everyone else fell on their ass and they backed into a championship.