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!

[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!

[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.

[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.