do you root for favorite or underdogs? and why?

J.Brown · #1 07-18-2007, 07:59 PM

so i had a huge discussion about this with a friend and want the ELDF people to help.

i have noticed in my life i root for favorites and people/movies/music/sports teams/business ventures to dominate in whatever field they endeavor.

i know this sounds broad based and vague, but my arguement/discussion was with a friend who always roots against tiger woods, apple, the yankees, songs to be at number one for an all time record on the billboard charts, etc. etc. i tend to be a bit of the opposite.

i really like the thought of seeing the greatest of all time in our generation.
i love it when a movie gets broad based critical acclaim and crushes at the box office. rare i know

i wish roger federer would win every tennis match he plays until he retires so there is no question who is the best ever.

i never want undefeated boxers to lose. i hated it when tyson lost for the first time and had to hear it from my dad that he was no ali. he wasn't, but that isn't the point.

for some crazy reason i want brian townsend/phil ivey/patrik antonius (or someone else) emerge as the greatest poker player the world has ever seen and dominate(no donkaments don't count phil hellmuth fans, lol)

i really like to see records broken, now, and not have to debate some vague history of so and so was the GOAT. let us see them today and have some superstars in all fields instead of mediocrity.

so do you think this is a consistent trait among people or do you mix and match who you root for or who your favorites are in life? give me some examples. for me i am a favorites guy......maybe to a fault. J.

JohnAndersen · #2 07-18-2007, 08:11 PM

I agree with some of what you are saying but I think there is a certain novelty with someone who succeeds even though all odds and opinions are against them.

I think for me it depends on the specific person and backstory. I think my greatest example of an underdog is the 1980 US hockey team. We are all biased because we are American but I feel like there was the will of many nations behind our team.

I was also happy for the Detroit Tigers last year (even though they lost the series) I think it is great when a team can use their resources to rise form mediocrity

J.Brown · #3 07-18-2007, 08:17 PM

oh i love underdogs on an international level, but that almost goes without saying. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

rocky vs. drago in rocky 4 is may favorite underdog of all time!

suzzer99 · #4 07-18-2007, 08:35 PM

I root for something interesting to happen, unless it's my home team of course. So if that means something like Mike Tyson dominating a guy in 30 sec., then I'll root for that. But generally that means rooting for the underdog, and a lifetime of sports pain. Also there's something inherently uplifting when the guy who couldn't possibly win does. It gives all us normal shlubs a little bit of hope.

kerowo · #5 07-18-2007, 08:46 PM

I don't watch sports that I don't have a favorite in (except for the Tour) so I root for the favorites.

In movies I watch the movie, I don't root for a particular outcome. Or were you talking box office?

threeonefour · #6 07-19-2007, 01:46 AM

I root almost strictly for underdogs. its almost pathological, to the point where i am pretty sure i wouldn't like the OP in person after reading this post.

seriously how could any non new yorker root for the yankees?
how could anyone root for jamie gold at the final table last year?

i know in 1992 i rooted for the dream team, but i was only 8, but i would never root for the American Olympic basketball today, and would be upset if anyone i knew overtly supported them. other American Olympic events would mostly be ok though, if you are a citizen. i'll give people a pass for the home team since there isn't much you can do about that.

a big one for me is rooting for Phil Ivey in a cash game or tournament? its like rooting for Bill Gates or Warren Buffet to do better at their jobs so they make more money. that one i don't even get rooting at all, let alone rooting for the rich and famous guy for whom the win doesn't even matter.

[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] the Royals!

'Chair · #7 07-19-2007, 11:42 AM

I guess you could say I root for underdogs. A better way to phrase it is that I root for a good (exciting) game.

Taso · #8 07-19-2007, 01:24 PM

I always root for the favorite.

Well, in poker anyways. I didn't consider Jamie Gold to be the favorite last year, I thought Cunningham was. Always root for the pro to win because it re-affirms my belief that poker is a skill game :P And then when friends go "its just luck" I can point to how the pro's are always at the final tables, even though the odds are stacked against them.

Yankees - well, I'm from NY.

Tiger Woods - want to see some awesome amazing golf, why would I root against him.

The only time I'll root for the underdog is if I'm watching sports and don't care who's playing (this is the case with most sports) and I'm betting on the underdog.

gumpzilla · #9 07-19-2007, 01:29 PM

[ QUOTE ]

Well, in poker anyways. I didn't consider Jamie Gold to be the favorite last year, I thought Cunningham was. Always root for the pro to win because it re-affirms my belief that poker is a skill game :P And then when friends go "its just luck" I can point to how the pro's are always at the final tables, even though the odds are stacked against them.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, in poker it's an interesting dynamic because most people who care enough to watch consider themselves more skilled than average and thus identify with the sense of poker justice in the pro winning. I think this frequently leads to blinkered thought, where everything the pro does is savvy, and the others are just fishy. A lot of the response to Yang and this year's FT seems to be along those lines.

With me, there's sort of a crossover point where I start pulling for favorites. If the favorite is merely very good, I'll frequently pull for an underdog. If the favorite is embarking on a campaign of epic, singular dominance, I'll frequently start to have better feelings about them. The Federer example is a great one (though I was still one of what seems to be approximately 120 people cheering for Nadal at Wimbledon; the number of times I've heard people complaining about him solely because he wears stupid pants blows my mind)

Aloysius · #10 07-19-2007, 01:44 PM

[ QUOTE ]
With me, there's sort of a crossover point where I start pulling for favorites. If the favorite is merely very good, I'll frequently pull for an underdog. If the favorite is embarking on a campaign of epic, singular dominance, I'll frequently start to have better feelings about them.

[/ QUOTE ]

This pretty much sums up my feelings on this, smart way to explain it, Gump. I'm usually rooting for the underdog because, as mentioned above, I wanna see a good game, match, whatever. Perhaps a touch of schadenfreude too in there.

But athletes / teams should be recognized for epic, history-making achievement, and since everyone's a hater dominance is the only way.

Actually, the "crossover point" is a lot harder for me to achieve in teams sports vs. individual sports. For example, I moved to LA during the Kobe-Shaq Laker years, and no way in hell I'd ever pull for these guys, so I got Clipper season tickets instead.

-Al