Why do you like one team more than any other?

It’s a simple question for any level of sports fan, yet the number of reasonable responses is staggering. Everyone has a favorite team, and most sports fans have several favorites across multiple sports. Clearly it’s something we all do.

So, why?

The most common response is something like “I grew up there.” Obviously, this makes a lot of sense: if you grow up in Boston, you’re a lot more likely to root for the Red Sox than the Royals. Advertisements are all around you, the stadium is nearby, the games are televised. Why not root for them?

I can certainly relate to this phenomenon, having spent the first 18 years of my life in Southern California. The first baseball games I ever went to were Angels games, and I’ve rooted for them for as long as I can remember–since the days of Chuck Finley, Gary DiSarcina, Jim Edmonds, blue uniforms and everyone recognizing that Anaheim is not Los Angeles. I have never wavered on this, and I cannot imagine ever switching allegiances, no matter how many Bay Area fans stop talking to me when I mention 2002.

The location-based reasoning has several corollaries like, “I live in Pittsburgh, but my dad’s always been a big Giants fan,” “I’m from Seattle, but my family is all from Dallas, so I like the Cowboys” and “I go to Stanford, duh!” Again, who’s to say that rooting with your family is wrong? Most (but certainly not all) sports fans receive their first exposure to sports from their families, so it’s natural to continue their rooting interests. And of course, almost any sports fan roots for his or her college team.

For me, this reasoning had a major impact on me, because I have been a Stanford fan since birth. While obviously I now root for the Cardinal as a student first, I was foremost a son of two Stanford alums growing up. As Wyndam discussed earlier in the week, it’s hard when your favorite college team from childhood clashes with your current college team. Luckily for me, those are both Stanford, so I can root doubly hard without questioning it.

Beyond the “it’s-been-with-me-since-birth” logic, though, things change a little. People will accept you as a Yankees fan–even if they feel that cheering for the Evil Empire should be punishable by firing squad–if you come from New York. If your whole family has gone to USC, they can’t be surprised that you root for the Trojans (although they can still make sure you know what a rotten hellhole U$C is and rejoice in every failure of your pitiful excuse for a school, all while wearing Biggest Upset Ever shirts).

Still, many people feel that these from-birth reasons are the only legitimate ones for liking a team. But what makes your reason for liking one team “legitimate”? Is it necessarily true that growing up in Green Bay is a better reason for supporting the Packers than liking green and yellow? I say no.

When I tell people that I’m a Colts fan, people invariably question my choice. No, I’m not from Indianapolis or Baltimore, and no, nobody else in my family likes them. In fact, I’ve never been to Indianapolis or Baltimore, and I’ve never seen a Colts game in person. My question is: why does this make me any less of a fan than someone who grew up in Indianapolis?

I started cheering for the Colts a little more than a decade ago because: 1) As mentioned before, I live in southern California, far enough away from the Chargers that I wouldn’t consider them a “hometown team,” so I had to choose for myself, 2) I really liked Peyton Manning from his days at Tennessee, and I loved the Colts’ style and 3) Yes, I’ll admit, blue is my favorite color, and I like the blue-and-white combo.

The decision to root for them was truly my own, and it was not based on any fair-weather fandom (the Colts hadn’t been to a Super Bowl since the days of Johnny Unitas). Not living in the Indianapolis market, I had to work to follow the team, and I still do. I’m not pretending I know more about the Colts than anyone in the world, but I do follow them pretty closely and I have confidence saying I follow them more than most Indianapolis natives. As far as I can tell, that is at least as legitimate as my reason for supporting the Angels.

As I see it, who cares why you started rooting for a team? Maybe it’s because you grew up there, maybe it’s because you like the mascot, maybe it’s because your uncle knew the owner, maybe it’s because your girlfriend likes the team or maybe it’s because your boyfriend hates the team.

However it started, if you’re passionate about that team, you’re a real fan in my book.