What makes a team so hated by fans and others?

[SabresRule]

Sorry I haven't posted so frequently as I usually do, but I had a TERRIBLE internet connection problem. Thankfully, it's been fixed for now.

Anyway, I have this question:

In sports, one of the most common things heard is that/how a team is loved or hated.

What exactly makes a team so hated? What does it take to hate a team?

Titles? attitude? Always being on big TV slots/networks?

Maybe two of the most hated teams in sports, IMO, are the Dallas Cowboys and Notre Dame football.

I read this old L.A. Times article from 1985, and it intrigued me. I'll paraphrase the article:

If you do not like Notre Dame or the Dallas Cowboys, this was the greatest football weekend ever. It was like having your cake and eating it, too. It was like having a genie grant you two football wishes, and saving the third one for some local high school you hate.

If CBS television instituted a new weekly series in which different teams got to defeat Notre Dame and the Dallas Cowboys on a regular basis, it would receive the highest Nielsen ratings since "Roots." You could put anything up against it, even Bill Cosby, and nothing would top it.

For as long as I can remember, there have been no two football teams that make opponents foam at the mouth the way Notre Dame and the Dallas Cowboys do.

No matter where I have lived in this country, I have discovered that the one common denominator that binds football fans together is the ability to root against the Cowboys on Sunday, no matter who they are playing.

To hear that the Chicago Bears took care of America's Team-44-0!-in Dallas!-is to hear that your lottery number has come up, that gas has come down to 50 cents a gallon, that the common cold has been cured, that Cary Grant is going to make another movie. It is something you have always wanted, and it will last you for at least a week, when the Cowboys play again.

 

[Claude Greiner]

Its a matter of how good the team plays!

Take the Yankees for example, great team but to be honest im tired of seeing them make it to the play offs every year and winning world series after world series.

Its the same for Boston and Tampa Bay. I was rooting for Tampa Bay, since Boston Won last year!

 

[SabresRule]

HD, Bill, anders- this topic seems right up your alley.

Care to contribute?

 

[Lkr]

The fans. The Yankees fans are arrogant, and half of them aren't even real fans. Boston has started to become the same way, so I cheer for the opposition against any Boston team.

 

[HD MM]

I think "hating" a sports team is the biggest form of flattery. To me, this means the hater covets some aspect of the hated team. Whether it's Championships, past success, dominance over a particular team or just the result of a built-up rivalry, these are all reasons why people hate other teams.

For instance, the Ohio St. Buckeyes, from what I understand, are hated pretty well outside of their fan base. Some claim this is because of their over exposure at the National Championships and under performances at this big game (in the last 2 years). But to me, this is a form of jealousy that has built up over the years.

Please let me expand on some of the reasons why I think the haters despise this program, as I alluded to earlier that I think it runs deeper than just the last 2 years.....

The Buckeyes have won 3 straight outright Big Ten Titles. If they win this year, it will be the ONLY time in Big Ten history that a team has won 4 straight outright conference titles in it's history! In the last 5 years, the Buckeyes have been to 3 National Championship games and won once. This is a consistently dominant program with annual success.

Through the 2006 season, Ohio State players have by a significant margin won more trophies than any other NCAA Division 1A program. Ohio State players have won 34 of the listed major awards, with the next closest being 26 (Oklahoma). Ohio State is the only university to have received each of the awards at least once. Of the five awards created prior to 1980 (Heisman, Lombardi, Maxwell, Outland, and Walter Camp), Ohio State has received the most with 25 (Notre Dame follows with 23).

Ohio State has won a championship in the Big Ten, 32 times. Second most in the conference and third most conference titles of any school in any conference.

The Buckeyes are a part of one of the greatest rivalries in all of sports with the Michigan Wolverines. Since 1935, the annual game against Michigan has been the final meeting of the regular season for both teams.

Ohio State has had 329 of their players drafted into the NFL. 54 of them have went on to the Super Bowl. 6 of them are Hall-of-Famers. In the 2004 NFL Draft, 14 Buckeyes were drafted, a record number for any school in a single draft.

Ohio State has the second highest winning percentage of any school in the nation since the National Championship Era (Circa 1936), with a win percentage of .741.

Since Jim Tressel took over as head coach in 2001, the Buckeyes are 80-17 for a win percentage of 82.1, with 4 conferance championships, 1 national championship and we are 6-1 against Michigan.

So to sum it up, a program with such a rich history of tradition and success breeds hate more so than anything else. I like to consider this hate more of an envy instead.

 

[Paul Wozniak]

I hate "that evil school from down South". It's not flattery, just pure unadulterated hatred.

 

[salsadancer7]

For instance, the Ohio St. Buckeyes, from what I understand, are hated pretty well outside of their fan base. Some claim this is because of their over exposure at the National Championships and under performances at this big game (in the last 2 years). But to me, this is a form of jealousy that has built up over the years.

Please let me expand on some of the reasons why I think the haters despise this program, as I alluded to earlier that I think it runs deeper than just the last 2 years.....

The Buckeyes have won 3 straight outright Big Ten Titles. If they win this year, it will be the ONLY time in Big Ten history that a team has won 4 straight outright conference titles in it's history! In the last 5 years, the Buckeyes have been to 3 National Championship games and won once. This is a consistently dominant program with annual success.

Ohio State has had 329 of their players drafted into the NFL. 54 of them have went on to the Super Bowl. 6 of them are Hall-of-Famers. In the 2004 NFL Draft, 14 Buckeyes were drafted, a record number for any school in a single draft.

Ohio State has the second highest winning percentage of any school in the nation since the National Championship Era (Circa 1936), with a win percentage of .741.

Since Jim Tressel took over as head coach in 2001, the Buckeyes are 80-17 for a win percentage of 82.1, with 4 conferance championships, 1 national championship and we are 6-1 against Michigan.

So to sum it up, a program with such a rich history of tradition and success breeds hate more so than anything else. I like to consider this hate more of an envy instead.

Well....The U hates Ohio State because 'we was robbed'....no jealousy there, just pure unadulterated thievery!! BUT, Jim Tressel was heavily looked at when the U was looking for a coach after Butch Davis....so they can't be that bad.... And of course, I will counter how many players have been drafted out of your tOSU with a few draft numbers from The U:


According to the USA Today, a comprehensive database of the past 20 NFL drafts, assembled by USA TODAY, illuminates trends in geography (school and conference), position and player size.

-NFL teams have selected 136 Hurricanes, more than any other school. Florida State (125) is second followed by Tennessee (120), Ohio State (116) and Notre Dame (115). Miami takes advantage of homegrown talent — 66% of its draft picks are from Florida.

-Miami has the most 1st round picks since 2000 with an ungodly 25. After Miami is Ohio State and Florida State (each with 13), Texas (12), Wisconsin, Tennessee, Penn State, Oklahoma, USC and Georgia (all with 8).

-Miami has had 4 Tight Ends drafted in the first round since 2000. No other school has had more than 1.

-Miami was either 1st or 2nd in every position except quarterback and kicker. Sebastian Janikowski was the only kicker drafted in the first round during this time period.

I think The U is one of the, if not THE most hated AND envied college football teams EVER.