Can you really get into rooting for another team in the Super Bowl?

[Albany,n.y.]

For me, the answer last Sunday was Yes, I can. I wonder if it's a lot easier when you have money riding on the outcome. Here's how it went for me last Sunday. I live about 140-145 miles from MetLife Stadium (it's less than a 2.5 hour drive, about half the time to Ralph Wilson Stadium from my house) & when the weather forecast turned out so good for the game, I decided to go. I also had a chance to win a bracket playoff pool with Seattle & get both money and bragging rights with a Seahawk victory. During the game I really got into rooting for Seattle and loved every second of the game.

Beyond the pool victory, there were other reasons why I wanted Seattle to beat Denver. Seattle has more ex-Bills than Denver does. Head Coach Pete Carroll's 1st NFL coaching job was with the Bills. They also have major player Marshawn Lynch & reserve Tarvaris Jackson on the team. At the end I liked the fact that Jackson ended up with more Super Bowl snaps than Gailey ever gave him with the Bills. Denver has no ex-Bills players and has 2 assistant coaches who were once with the Bills (Studesville & Tolbert). Other reasons I wanted a Seahawk victory included Seattle had never won a Super Bowl before & I like to see the 1st time winner to reward the fans. Also, I thought Pete Carroll was royally screwed by the Jets 20 years ago when he was fired after 1 year as head coach & replaced by Rich Kotite. I really wanted to see him win it all in the Jets home stadium. I also like the guy for his unconventional methods. So, overall, I found it pretty easy to go in & root hard for a Seattle victory.

I also wonder if it's easier for fans who gamble to adopt a team on a given Sunday. I don't bet individual games but sometimes I can win a pool when the last game of the week or season comes down to one game for me to win it all. I find it easy to adopt the team I need for that game & I can really get into rooting for them. I'm sure the individual game bettors know how easy it is to root for a team this week that you will be rooting against the next week.

Overall, I think having a rooting interest & seeing that team win enhanced my Super Bowl experience. Also, this year's Super Bowl crowd was the best I'd ever seen in the 5 Super Bowls I've been to (I went to all 4 of the Bills Super Bowls back in the 1990s). I think the main reason was that there were a lot fewer corporate types in the stands. Instead of someone with connections bringing a client to the game, the corporate types didn't want to bring a client to the game & have them there with the potential for bad weather, so they sold those seats on the secondary market instead. Because of the weather threat & the "suits" selling the tickets, more tickets were available on the secondary market & prices came down. When prices came down, more real football fans saw the chance to go to the Super Bowl cheaper than most years & jumped on the chance. Also, it made the game more available & affordable to the fans of the 2 teams involved & helped create a crowd of more fans with a rooting interest than your typical warm weather or indoor Super Bowl.

[Pinkerton Security]

I rooted for anyone in the SB against the Pats as if they are the Bills - I particularly remember the David Tyree catch for the Giants, and I remember me jumping around like a mad man...and I cant stand the Giants (probably mostly their fans lol)

[IlluminatusUIUC]

Last year I watched the Super Bowl in Las Vegas and it was amazing. EVERYBODY has an intense rooting interest for obvious reasons, and so it makes the crowd experience great. Plus, you know, Vegas.

[Meathead]

yeah nuthin like watching a big game in vegas. almost as good as being there

but no, i really struggle to give a flying fudge about who wins the sb most years. if the cheats or fish or jets or girls are in it then yeah the other team will be my team for that game. but otherwise if i have to watch the game and pick a team i will choose like most girls do - which team has the nicest uniform, which city i would rather live in, which team has the nicer butts, stuff like that

[DynaPaul]

Aside from monetary wagers, which I haven't done in years, I'm completely into whoever faces the Patriots in the big game. Also, back during our glory days when everyone said that the NFC Championship was the real Super Bowl I went nuts rooting for Denver during their back-to-back Super Bowl Championships because I was tired of that talk.

[Albany,n.y.]

Aside from monetary wagers, which I haven't done in years, I'm completely into whoever faces the Patriots in the big game. Also, back during our glory days when everyone said that the NFC Championship was the real Super Bowl I went nuts rooting for Denver during their back-to-back Super Bowl Championships because I was tired of that talk.
I remember the year Denver beat Green Bay to end the NFC's winning streak I was rooting like crazy for Denver and you couldn't get the smile off my face for about a week. I think this is the 1st Super Bowl since that Denver/GB game that I rooted so hard for one team & enjoyed it so much. The only bad thing about the Super Bowl for me was I stayed in NJ Sunday night & when I checked into the motel & turned on the TV, I found out it was going to snow the next day, starting at 4:30 AM. I ended up checking out of the motel at 4:00 AM & driving back home before the snow hit. I only got 2.5 hours sleep, but I was home safe at 6 AM. Looking back, I should have just driven back from the game & I would have been home by 1:30, but I anticipated more traffic on the roads getting out of the stadium to my car 4-5 miles away (bus shuttle) more traffic heading north where I had to go by the stadium again, but there was no traffic at all.

[Mace]

Yeah, yeah I can. I love the sport, and it's fun for me to see cities have the fun I wish we had.

I couldn't even get upset when the Pats won, because there were a lot of no name guys out there having a moment of personal glory they'll never experience again, and every person they knew felt it too. If you really think about it, if we won, wouldn't you want everyone to be as happy for us ? That team made it....and geez how it must feel to be on top. Even the hated Pats don't often get there.

[DynaPaul]

I remember the year Denver beat Green Bay to end the NFC's winning streak I was rooting like crazy for Denver and you couldn't get the smile off my face for about a week. I think this is the 1st Super Bowl since that Denver/GB game that I rooted so hard for one team & enjoyed it so much. The only bad thing about the Super Bowl for me was I stayed in NJ Sunday night & when I checked into the motel & turned on the TV, I found out it was going to snow the next day, starting at 4:30 AM. I ended up checking out of the motel at 4:00 AM & driving back home before the snow hit. I only got 2.5 hours sleep, but I was home safe at 6 AM. Looking back, I should have just driven back from the game & I would have been home by 1:30, but I anticipated more traffic on the roads getting out of the stadium to my car 4-5 miles away (bus shuttle) more traffic heading north where I had to go by the stadium again, but there was no traffic at all.

I've driven that route many times on my tours down in Westchester. You did right by leaving early because it could have been disastrous. They should really widen I87 to 3 lanes for the whole stretch.

[feldspar]

I wonder if it's a lot easier when you have money riding on the outcome...
I also wonder if it's easier for fans who gamble to adopt a team on a given Sunday.

Wonder no further.

It is absolutely easier when you have money riding on the outcome. I've been wagering every week on the NFL for a very long time. If you can take away your bias, I think you actually learn more about what's happening around the league when your money is riding. I mean you obviously are more interested and pay closer attention.

I'm coming off the biggest winning streak in my "career" at the tail-end of this season, like from week 14 onward. I've also won money on the last 4 Super Bowls, including this year.

Gotta admit that I got just plain lucky this year, as I hit a big parlay consisting of prop bets...also hit on individual prop bets. I hate prop bets...Super Bowl week is the only time I do them.

I hit big on this parlay:
Total points scored in the 3rd quarter - OVER 10
Total combined fumbles for both teams - Over 1
More points would be scored in the 2nd half and overtime than the first half.
Last team to take a snap under center - Broncos

I also bet that the Seahawks would score a rushing TD, Marshawn Lynch would score a rushing TD, OVER 48 points would be scored, and Wes Welker would have more than 5.5 catches. Got those.

I also did some terrible things like bet that more than 4.5 sacks would happen (there was 1), no team would score 3 or more unanswered points (Seattle did it SEVEN times I think), and total points scored by the Broncos would be OVER 25 (they scored 8).

I also bet on the Broncos -2.5, and that was the worst one as far as making me look bad :doh:...$50. I really WANTED to root for them, but I didn't feel strongly enough that it would actually happen to go big or parlay it in any way. It's not a good idea to think this way while wagering, but I really wanted to halt the whole "Brady is clearly better than Manning talk." Stupid.

I guess my point is to relay my own experience of the game here, as this is what the thread is about I presume. The game itself was really uncompetitive and terrible (unless you are a Seahawks fan), but I managed to be on the edge of my seat up until the end because of all the prop bets that I made. I purposely made a bunch of them where it would take pretty much the whole game to discover how they turned out. I mean "the Broncos will take the final snap?" Yeah, that's skill. I should be an oddsmaker getting that one right. Most people just shook their heads when Seattle forced a Manning fumble near the end, but I was totally psyched. That mattered to me. Could not believe it when Percy Harvin returned the 3rd quarter opening kickoff...that may have been the end of the game really, but I had total points in the 3rd quarter over 10...couldn't have gotten off to a better start.

As far as ex-Bills go, I'm not really the kind of guy that really roots for them once they are off the team. My mother actually knew Pete Carroll, but I don't really give a **** about that either.

One thing that some Bills fans probably don't know is that former Bill Steve Freeman was an official in this year's Super Bowl. He played for the Bills for about a dozen years, and I he was the Back Judge in the Super Bowl, I think.

[JoeMama]

Can't get into rooting for another team in the Super Bowl.

Hell, I can't even watch the Super Bowl most years. I don't like seeing other teams or their fans enjoying the thrill of success. If we're going to be excluded from all the playoff fun every year, I'd sooner not watch any of it.

I skipped DEN/SEA entirely. And by the looks of the final score, I didn't miss anything important.

[stuckincincy]

For me, the answer last Sunday was Yes, I can.

For me - no. There are clubs I do not like - DEN and PGH - because they break the faith and gratuitously go out and injure other players. Other than those two, I care not.

[jdaltroy5]

I usually cheer for whichever QB I like better. I was cheering for Manning, Warner, and Rodgers when they were in the SB.

We also have a SB pool among my friends that everyone chips in $50. We all have our favourite team and the first person's team to win gets the pot.

That means I always cheer against San Fran, Cincy, Washington, Houston, Dallas, and the Jets.

No one's really worried about paying me the money.

[imbondz]

If you can't get into rooting for another team during the SB, I feel bad for you. I couldn't have been more excited about this years game unless the Bills were in it. The party I was at had about 12 people all rooting for the Broncos. So the game sucked, but I can definitely get into rooting for another team.

I almost cried with excitement when the Giants beat the Pats twice. The Rams are my 2nd favorite team, I jumped on all my living room furniture when they won back in 2000.


Mostly tho it's rooting against teams.

[gebobs]

I can't. No way. I didn't even watch.

I hate the Super Bowl anyway. They've ruined the game.