WHAT'S THE PROTOCOL ON TEAM LOYALTY IN THE POSTSEASON?

by Rupert, Ghosts of Wayne Fontes

In the midst of celebrating my love for black people, I'm taking a hiatus from Match.com Monday today. It doesn't seem right to make fun of people today, since this is really a solemn day which marks an important element in our nation's fine history. May you rest in peace Dr. The King. You were, are, and always will be a damn fine man and an inspiration to those of us who wish we had large nards.

Instead, today I would simply like to raise some questions about loyalty. What brought this about is Sunday's playoff game. You see, Stan and I, the two compadres who do the bulk of the work over at GoWF, are both Michigan natives, but have since transplanted ourselves in San Diego and New York City, respectively. Hence, it seems logical who we would root for in the AFC and NFC championship games. But, we've both met some resistance along the way. Some people strongly believe that rooting for your surrogate teams is a sin in sports fandom. I think it's only natural, since you live in a new city to at least take a little pride in the place, but I also understand the sentiments of those who disagree. Plus, I still hate the fucking Yankees, even though I like heading up to Yankee stadium for a ballgame.

Ultimately, it's a tough call. To take it further, we're both die hard Big Ten fans, so after Michigan and MSU shit the bed most seasons, we'll often take the 180 turn and root for OSU in the national championship or even the other teams' school - arch rivals no less. I don't see it as a sellout move, but rather a support for an underachieving conference that is losing respect at an exponential rate. Again, I totally agree with those who disagree. It certainly does reek of vagina.

Anyway, I have a list of some questions of loyalty and I'd be curious to see how everyone feels on these quandaries? So, without further ado...

If you hate a team, but feel like there’s a pretty good wager in their favor, can you make the bet?

That’s take that one a step further, would you bet against your team in a game just to ease the disappointment factor in the event of a loss?

Do you root for you arch rival if they are in the finals and your team is out?

If a team you don’t really care about makes it to the finals, but it’s a friends team, do you root for or against?

Do root for your arch nemesis player’s to get hurt?

If you move to another city, do you start rooting for that team?

What if it’s the Yankees?

Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments and long the the King.