Comments on: Why Do You Like the Team that You Like?

By: Stephanie Liscio

Stephanie Liscio — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 02:42:52 +0000

I think that someday we will be rewarded for sticking with the Tribe through the good and the bad (and like Steven, I’d probably cry too if they won it all). There’s something special about sticking with a team through the bad times – the good times are that much more rewarding. My husband is a bandwagon Yankees fan who says he couldn’t “stand the misery of being an Indians fan.” But I think that loses its luster…in 2009 he barely seemed to care that they won again.

One positive about my detachment toward other sports – I do pretty well at fantasy football. I could care less about the teams and the players, so I pick things more rationally.

By: TomW

TomW — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 12:32:55 +0000

My Tribe fandom began at an early age. My first game was opening day, 1970. I was astonished that my dad would take me out of school to go. Sam McDowell pitched. Graig Nettles played third and went horizontal to try to catch a foul ball right in front of the third base seats where we were sitting. I was hooked!
Stephanie, I’m with you on the other sports. I used to watch the Browns until they moved and then realized three years later that I hadn’t watched a single football game after that. Watched LeBron and the Cavs play a couple of times but never regularly. To me there are just two sports seasons, “baseball” and “waiting for baseball.”

By: Steven Samaco

Steven Samaco — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 17:45:05 +0000

For me my Tribe fandom is all about the women in my life. When I was about 4-5 my mom would watch the Indians every night, no matter what. My father was a long distance truck driver and I was often home with just my mother and my little sister in the evening. Watching the Tribe with her just sort of became our thing. I started dating my wife when I was 16 in 1991, she also grew up a huge Tribe fan. Our first date was September 4, 1991 to a Canton Akron Indians game at old Thurman Munson Stadium. Our favorite date activity quickly became attending Tribe games starting in 1992 when I was old enough to drive with just me and her up to the stadium. The second half of the 90′s were a BLAST! My oldest daughter was born in 2005. Of course I exposed her to the Tribe very early on, but her interest took off like wildfire! She is absolutely in love with the team, we go to about 10 games a year and she is constantly on this Facebook fan page we found with highlights synced to Tom Hamilton’s call. She visits it at least a few times a week. I think we’ve watched Pronk’s walk off grand slam about 1,000 times-and it still gives me chills. I swear if the Tribe ever won the WS I’d cry like a baby!

By: Kyle

Kyle — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 16:51:10 +0000

I was 7 or 8 years old and growing up in central Indiana. I couldn’t really connect with either of the Chicago teams or the Cardinals like most people in this area seem to do and my parents weren’t into sports. Major League 2 had just come out and that 1995 team was just very likeable and fun to watch. Been a Tribe fan ever since!

By: Aaron

Aaron — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 14:01:28 +0000

I moved to Ohio in 1977 where seeing baseball was an absolute joy. Prior to this, the only thing close was an occasional Spring Training game while living in Arizona. One might think watching the Indians and associating the team with joy is ridiculous. However, when one is without professional baseball, one learns not to take the team for granted. I learned many lessons watching the Indians, win or lose. Two such lessons I value are commitment (for better or worse) and perserverance.