masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgHere is a good question to ponder this weekend: How do you feel about a fan that dumps one team for another?

How would feel about an Orioles fan that dumps the Birds for say the Nationals or Red Sox or Yankees or any other baseball team?

I think fans have the right to be upset with their team, to rip their team on the message boards and talk shows and clearly they have the right to decide against purchasing any tickets or team merchandise.

No one could blame any longtime Orioles fan to be…Here is a good question to ponder this weekend: How do you feel about a fan that dumps one team for another?

How would feel about an Orioles fan that dumps the Birds for say the Nationals or Red Sox or Yankees or any other baseball team?

I think fans have the right to be upset with their team, to rip their team on the message boards and talk shows and clearly they have the right to decide against purchasing any tickets or team merchandise.

No one could blame any longtime Orioles fan to be totally frustrated with 14 years of losing. Criticizing your team on the blogs or the airwaves doesn’t make you less of a fan than someone who refuses to do that.

Dumping your team for another is a fan’s right also. But I draw the line there. Be ticked off at the Orioles all you want, but if you tell me you are switching your fandom to another major league team I think that’s a joke.

I think any fan that really, truly is a fan has developed some level of emotional attachment to the team, even a team that routinely breaks their heart or disappoints them. That kind of fan is still a fan, no matter what. Even after 14 losing seasons. That doesn’t mean you have to spend a dime on the team or watch every game, but when you cut to the chase, you are still, at the root of all of it, supportive of your team.

That certainly doesn’t mean blind loyalty, but loyalty of some sort.

Being honest here, I would pretty much not respect someone that told me they were an Orioles fan before but now they are with the Nats. Or a Yankees fan “because they win.”

I think very few fans have actually abandoned the team for another major league team. Maybe I am wrong about that but I think even some of the Orioles’ harshest critics among the fan base still would never completely jump ship on the team.

What is your take?