Anyone notice this "teaming phenomena"?

[BarronVangorToth]

It happens a lot, it's not in your head at all.

I'm not sure about the softplaying -- but people will often cheer on people on "their side" of the table when they're not in the hand, so it'll be a win for "our side," etc. etc. I think it's most standard at the higher low limit games ($5-10 and $10-20) vs. the smaller / higher limit OR no-limit games.