The clock hit zero’s on the final home game of the historic career of Duke’s men basketballs head coach Mike Krzyzewski. The favored Blue Devils lost to their rival North Carolina Tar Heels 94-81. It was a huge win for UNC that almost certainly ensures them an at large bid in this years NCAA Tournament. But my thoughts after the clock hit 0’s in Durham North Carolina wasn’t to the great career of Coach K. It wasn’t the Tar Heels getting the signature win they needed to ensure their name to be called when the bracket is released this Sunday. It was me thinking of why do I hate Duke Men’s basketball. Why do all of my friends hate Dukes Men’s Basketball. Why do we hate the Cowboys, Yankees and Lakers (the other programs that have massive fan followings not just in their regions but nationally, even internationally). I’ve never been to New York on North Carolina. Outside of the Lakers none of those teams I named have any rivalry with any team I root for. I asked three big questions to three of my closest friends about sparks this hate not just for us but many of the country. They gave me their answers and I will conclude with my synopsis on why this is true and why we are primarily powerless in my opinion to change this narrative.
Question 1: Why do we hate these big brands so much?
Joe: As a fan of a small town team (Bills fan). It is always disheartening to see the teams from larger markets that have been long been able to work the media get an oversized amount of attention, especially when it’s unwarranted.
Adub: Yankees and Lakers I hate most in particular because they literally buy championships- it is not completely balanced when you can spend 10 times more than a city in a smaller market. I hate Duke because the Cameron crazies are just awful. They heckle fans of other schools and basically say to their face that they are smart and you are dumb.
Q: Because they win so much and often times spend big bucks to get those big time players. The players they have often had also seem pretentious.
Question 2: Who is to blame for this problem, the media or the fans?
Joe: The media. They are simply chasing fanbases. Also, that disdain leads people like me to pay attention out of spite of that team, which the media also knows and plays off of. It’s an unvirtuous circle.
Adub: ESPN is a huge problem in this area. Their coverage is disproportionate of those teams compared to other teams in it’s various sports. But the fans are also to blame because fans of these teams are insufferable.
Q: Probably a little bit of both. The fans of those teams often think they run their perspective leagues. The media often props them up because they have huge following and it gets eyeballs to the television to watch… they win more often than not. Even when they are crappy though they still prop them up like we all care about them.
Question 3: Do you think we could ever change the narrative on these particular brands. Of the four teams I’ve named above three of them haven’t even won much in recent years (Lakers, Yankees, Cowboys).
Joe: I don’t think it’s much about changing a narrative as much as a natural occurrence. If a team’s ownership will continue to mismanage, they will naturally suck the interest out of their fanbase and the media will focus on the next shiny thing. There will always be historical greatness to interest new fans, but at some point that turns nostalgic, and nostalgia isn’t sexy. With a long enough time frame, everything becomes irrelevant.
Adub: I doubt the narrative changes due to popularity. Non sports fans or really casual sports fans flock to those teams because they are “cool, aka popular.
Q: I highly doubt it, Yanks, Cowboys and Lakers are such high profile teams now that they have staying power for years to come. Especially with the markets they play in. They will always be big no matter what. The Pats were not really a thing until Brady came around. They will fade now since Brady left. But the Yankees and Cowboys had spans in the past where they were dominant for decades and that builds generations of fans.
I appreciated Joe, Adam and Q for helping out with this subject. They all had very different perspectives but all have equal disdain for all of these big brands. Even though most of the teams above have no rivalry or close affiliation with the teams they root for (Lakers the exception here in their case, Suns rival). Here is my thoughts on the psychology of such a fascinating subject as this one. I’ve opened Pandora’s box and it’s time for me to look inside.
The Source
So what is the source of why we all say to each other, “man I hate Jerry Jones”. Jerry Jones seems a little eccentric but he’s not an awful human being. He hasn’t done anything to really hinder the lives of us or anyone we love. Actually my Cardinals over the years have had some of their biggest triumphs over Jerry’s Lone Stars. Why should I hate this team. Why should me and my friends hate the Yankees. Thanks to Mariano Rivera throwing the ball into center field, Scott Brosius forgetting that Jay Bell is really slow, and lastly Joe Torre playing the infield in when Rivera is the king of any pitcher in the history of baseball at jamming left handed hitters and having them hit small bloops into the shallow outfield. In other words the only reason why my home town has even one championship is because the Yankees didn’t just screw up once in the bottom of the ninth of Game 7 of the World Series while leading by a run going into the frame, but THREE TIMES!!! How could I hate that. Well the source is the media, which can be nostalgic even in a generation of rapid change and impatience. The Yankees were the team of the 60’s, 70’s, 90’s and can argue 2000’s (debatable, Red Sox and Cardinals were also pretty damn good that decade). The Cowboys were the team of the 70’s (pipe down Steeler boy) and 90’s (and branded as America’s team which is so arrogant that you are going to get a lot of eye rolls just by that phrase alone). The Lakers were the team of the 70’s, 80’s and 2000’s. Duke have been the team of college basketball for three decades now and they have had players who were so easy to hate (Christian Lattener, J.J Reddick, who both became solid and truly likeable role players while both having very successful lengthy NBA careers). But the media is the source because ESPN, FS1, and even the various networks that just service a particular league (NFL Network an example) talks about these brands more than any other brand. Even if the Cowboys (last season) and Lakers (this season) are truly mediocre and uninteresting. Remember I went to college for this crap so my professor in Journalism 101 said one of the truest things I’ve ever heard about any profession. The media is a conglomerate that is financially driven. Think of a restaurant that is going to open in a location and service a menu that will bring the most seats into their establishment. If ESPN feels that the Cowboys (even at 6-8) will get more eyeballs to the television on First Take or NFL Live then talking about say a 10-4 Rams team. Stephen A. Smith is going to yell about how inept the Cowboys instead of how awesome Aaron Donald is for 8 minutes. More viewership equals more lucrative advertisers, not rocket science.
Can We Change the Narrative
Again I will go to Joe’s response to question 1 to respond to this question. Stephen A. Smith is yelling about Russell Westbrook being a cancer to the Lakers and Jerry Jones not listening to his sons on personnel decisions because that is what gets the most eyeballs to the television. The Lakers are on Sunday afternoon basketball instead of a far better Grizzlies team or the Cowboys on Sunday night football over a far more interesting Titans team because the ratings show that WE care more and will watch more of these teams instead of their adversaries (that are actually better more interesting teams). Adub said it right too in one of his responses, the casual fans watch them because they are cool or popular. A person may be very smart and selective but the masses in society are lazy and usually will shop at stores they have heard of, eat at restaurants they know, listen to music that is on the radio or at the top of the Itunes most popular, or watch shows that are popular and root for teams that are most on national television. It’s easier in life just to be part of the herd instead of venturing off into the abyss and finding your own way. Many of us say we like to eat at that small restaurant in the strip mall and listen to indie rock. However, in actuality we shopping at Walmart and Target and are eating at Chili’s and Red Robin and listening to Ed Sheerhan, Dua Lipa and Cardi B. It’s easier just to be part of the group. Believe it or not this logic is the same for the sports teams we like. You see Lebron or the late Kobe Bryant on TV you root for their team. You see Dak Prescott running in QB Draws and Aaron Judge hitting mammoth homeruns you just can’t help to get sucked into the brand. Especially because it’s convienient and easy to do. So can we change the narrative? In this culture of being easy and agreeable more than ever I would argue it would be harder to shift from the narrative. But I have been wrong before. The Raiders once upon a time was a big brand and they sucked for 20 years and just recently have even been seen on Sunday night football again. But that’s because they are in Vegas, and Vegas is awesome!! I see you judging, judge away my friend judge away. What do you think about this subject? I would love for some responses in my twitter and facebook archives. Thanks again for reading, and it’s good to be back!!!