What to do when a player you like ends up on a team you don't?

[gorrister]

What do you do when a player you like and respect and have rooted for years for ends up on a team that you despise. I'm a Payton Manning fan, but, I'm an Oakland Raiders fan. Because I'm a Raiders fan, I, naturally, hate the Broncos! I'd love to see Manning do well, but I'd like to see the Bronco's go 0-16. What do you do in this case? Hope that your player does well, but his team doesn't? Root for the player and team because you like him? Stick by your original loyalties and damn the player and his team? I'm hoping Payton does well, but that the Broncos stink and end up missing the playoffs.

[familytoad]

Steve,
I hear you man!
My favorite teams/players are Mike Schmidt, Steve Yzerman and Dan Marino.
Those guys all share a unique feat by only playing with one team, my favorite team.
And those aren't "recent players", which means that i've had trouble picking favorites in the era that sees free agents and many player movements.

I like Hunter Pence quite a bit and he was moved 2 weeks ago. I cannot really cheer for the Giants, although they are on the "Familytoad Less-Loathed List".
If Pence can hit well and put up good personal numbers without making the team win too much, I'd be rather happy
He was pretty deft at that already so far in 2012 with my beloved Phils, so I think he can do it again!
That's the beauty of team sports I guess

[alanu]

I usually lose interest in that player if they go to a team I really don't like.

On the other hand, I didn't know what to do when Iverson played for the Nuggets a few years back, I like the Nuggets, but really disliked "Mr. Practice" Iverson.

[39special]

I was a huge Larry Bowa fan.When he was traded to the Cubs,I would follow
the box scores.When the Phillies played the Cubs,I wanted him to go have a big game,and I wanted the Cubs to lose!

[gorrister]

When Pete Rose signed with the Phillies, I was such a huge fan that I switched allegiances to the Phillies. When he was traded to the Expos, I switched back to the reds.

[T2069bk]

I am currently trying to convince my 8 yr old son that there are only 49 states - simply because Zach Parise signed with Minnesota. Luckily he was number 4 on the depth chart of favorites... so his loss did not hurt as much!!!

[Runscott]

Very interesting - I had sort of the opposite happen. I have always been both a Cowboys and a Broncos fan. I couldn't stand Craig Morton and was thrilled to see him get traded to the hated NY Giants. But then they traded him to the Broncos. I had to pull for my team, as that comes before the player. So I would say, you have to continue to hate the Broncos, but hope Manning does well - nothing wrong with respecting a good player. I respect Eli, even though I still hate the Giants.

PS - Cowboys come before Broncos, so I doubly enjoyed seeing the Cowboys spank the Broncos (and Morton) in the '77 Superbowl.

[D. Bergin]

As a Yankee fan I always rooted for my favorites like Willie Randolph, Mickey Rivers, Dave Winfield, Craig Nettles, Don Baylor, etc.., to do well after they left the team, regardless of where they went.

[cubsfan-budman]

I love the Cubs. I love Ryne Sandberg. Dislike the Phillies and...annoyed...that he's in the Phils org.

I'll root for the Cubs to beat the Phillies, but I absolutely hope Sandberg has a great career outside the Cubs org.

[Paul S]

Originally Posted by 39special

I was a huge Larry Bowa fan.When he was traded to the Cubs,I would follow
the box scores.When the Phillies played the Cubs,I wanted him to go have a big game,and I wanted the Cubs to lose!

I feel the same way -- just need to swap out the player name and team name.

[k-dog]

I consider myself to be an open-minded sports fan who loves the games more than specific teams...and even though I am not really a fan of his, it took some getting used to when Pete Rose was no longer wearing a "C" on his helmet!

[novakjr]

As a Cleveland fan, I find it hard to not love a player that you cherished over the years, despite their new allegiances. When Albert Belle went to the ChiSox, I still liked and respected Albert. I understood the move. Same when Thome went to the Phillies/White Sox/Twins/etc..Still liked the guy. Omar in Chicago, no problem. Same for Lofton. V-mart in Boston and Detroit(two teams that I despise), again no problem. CC to the Yankees(ughh), still no problem...I still respect what these players have done for the Indians and other organizations. Hell, I still love Manny...

However, and I know this is a broken record(and different sport), but when Lebron went to Miami(which I will note as a team I always liked). I suddenly hate them both...And no, this isn't about 'the decision" or any of that mess. Something just doesn't seem right about it to me.. and it may just be that the current Heat and the way the team was assembled, seems to circumvent all that we know and love about sports and competition. It's kinda like finding out that Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and Pam Anderson's tits weren't real all at once...I still can't watch the NBA because I think that professionally, the competitive nature of the sport is ruined..

[terjung]

I know that Rose played in Philly and Montreal and did well in Philly, but he will always be a Red to me.

Some things just don't look right - like Joe Montana in a Chiefs uniform.

Provided that the departure isn't ugly, I generally wish for them to do well, but only maintain a passing interest in actively following them.

As an aside, as a Cleveland Cavs fan how they feel about Lebron James.

[terjung]

Originally Posted by novakjr

As a Cleveland fan, I find it hard to not love a player that you cherished over the years, despite their new allegiances. When Albert Belle went to the ChiSox, I still liked and respected Albert. I understood the move. Same when Thome went to the Phillies/White Sox/Twins/etc..Still liked the guy. Omar in Chicago, no problem. Same for Lofton. V-mart in Boston and Detroit(two teams that I despise), again no problem. CC to the Yankees(ughh), still no problem...I still respect what these players have done for the Indians and other organizations. Hell, I still love Manny...

What? No Carlos Baerga reference? or Sandy Alomar? or Paul Assenmacher?

(I was right there with you rooting for them if you couldn't tell)

[novakjr]

Originally Posted by terjung

What? No Carlos Baerga reference? or Sandy Alomar? or Paul Assenmacher?

(I was right there with you rooting for them if you couldn't tell)

Why not just include Glenallen Hill, Candy Maldanado Alvaro Espinosa and "Hard Hittin" Mark Whitten? I'd have included them too, but those guys were pretty much irrelevant by the time they left.. I probably could've included Colon, Lee, Sexton, Giles, Casey, Burnitz, Jeff Kent, Julio Franco, Matt Williams, Dave Justice and Grady Sizemore....Oh Wait! Grady's still an Indian, I think...At this point, I'd be happy to see him in "any" uniform...

[travrosty]

when favre went to the vikings, not one packer fan wanted him to do well, but for the vikings to lose, they all wanted him to break both legs.