They say you can pick your friends and your nose, but you can’t pick your friends’ nose. How one selects the teams and players one is going to root for are myriad and obvious.

What’s not so clear is why some sports fans to enjoy rooting against more than rooting for a team. I think it’s more than how a person looks at life or has a positive spin on things. Sometimes we go off script and root for our rivals when they move on a la the Brewers. I’ve spoken with a handful of passionate Cub fans who have no use for STL or Milwaukee, but are rooting hard for the Brewers to win it all. Not sure if they think Milwaukee’s success will reflect positively on all the teams in the NL Central or that the Cubs will be forced to change their evil ways?

I do remember when there were more college football conferences than bowl games, Pac-10 alumni and fans would cheer for conference foes when they reached the Rose Bowl. I even knew professional athletes that played at Auburn who didn’t hate the Crimson Tide.

Personally, I enjoy myself more when I am surrounded by fans rooting for their team, no matter how much I might dislike the team or particular players than being with a group of wahoos cheering against the other team. There’s a time and place for good nature banter between fanbases, however when alcohol rules the day, good sportsmanship takes a back seat to pride.

While it’s a revenue generator, legalized sports gambling and all of its ugly tentacles has had a profoundly negative effect on public consumption of sports. It’s no fun at all to be sitting near folks with no inherent rooting interest in a game (in a stadium or bar) other than some line. They’re likely going to be betting the other side the following game. Talk about your bandwagon jumpers.

If you have to have juice on the game to enjoy it, does the game itself really matter?