Chris T. Ketcham

This past week I talked to two different people about something that has always been important to me: which sports team one supports. In these two separate conversations it was about American football. One person roots for the Washington Redskins, but she also roots for their division rivals the Philadelphia Eagles - when Washington has no chance (like this season). I was perplexed. Why would you root for a division rival? Well...her reasoning is that she likes the quarterback, the fat coach, and their continual bridesmaid status of not being able to win the Super Bowl.

Yesterday I found myself in New Jersey at a Christmas party hosted by some soon to be in-law’s extended family. Knowing that we were from Washington DC, a guy, born and bred on the western side of New Jersey struck up a conversation with us about the Washington Redskins. He’s always liked them. Did he have some connection? A parent or friend from the DC area? Nope. He just liked them ever since he was a kid.

I find this sort of thing fascinating when it comes to real football/soccer. Generally American fans can be quite orthodox with collegiate sports and popular pro sports. Mr. Albion Road has a very fierce allegiance to his university, and, I believe he was raised that way by his parents. My parents grew up in different parts of the country and (the Midwest and New England) while their children were raised in Washington DC. I grew up a fan of all the teams of Washington DC. My father liked the Washington Redskins when they were good (the 80’s through the early 90’s), but when they started to suck, he more or less switched allegiance to the team from near where he was raised: the Kansas City Chiefs.