Thoughtful Thursday: Underdog
June 21, 2012
I like to root for the underdog. I don’t have a lot of sports allegiances, but the teams for whom I do have any affinity are those to whom I either have a personal connection (went to that school, lived in that city, know someone who played for the team) or they are lovable losers. I would never root for a powerful team like the Yankees — just not my style. The team to whom I have the strongest allegiance became a championship team, but it’s okay because when I started following them they were terrible.
I also like to root for the underdog with my children. Burrito and Tamale have very different strengths, and luckily they are both great at some things, rather than one or the other always being ahead as happens with some twins. They seem to alternate their firsts. One was first to walk, then a few weeks later the other was first to talk, etc.
I want both of them to succeed, of course, but for each accomplishment, I secretly root for the underdog to do well, especially when one is far ahead of the other.
My preference for underdogs is odd considering that I don’t think I could be considered an underdog in any aspect of life, at any time in my life. I have often been considered a frontrunner, in many ways.
Except family-building. I have definitely been an underdog, and then some, at fertility.
Do you root for winners or underdogs?
June 22, 2012 at 1:37 am
The Underdogs! Because they are the ones that are full of surprises.
It is easy to get a point across to the class superbrains…but when someone labelled as average lights up, it pleases me to no end!
June 22, 2012 at 5:37 am
When it comes to sports, I like to root for whoever rooting for will bring me the most happiness. The only team sport I tend to watch is football during the world cup and european championships; if you’re watching a game with a bunch of Italians and Italy is playing, even if they are losing, you still root for them. Two world cups ago, I started out rooting for the US (my home country) and then when they went out the Netherlands (my adopted country) and then when they went out, the UK (since I was watching on the BBC and how could you not support the UK when the commentators got so excited about them?). Last world cup I had the pleasure of watching the Netherlands get all the way to the finals.
For things like the Olympics — which I’m looking forward to very much! — I don’t really care much about overall country stats, but individual performances. Especially in athletics, where I’ve followed coverage on the BBC enough in the last 6 years that I’m familiar with a number of the athletes, and have comparisons that I can make between their performances now and previously. I root for whoever I think should win, whether due to training, history, or simply “It’s X’s turn.” I don’t really think of it in terms of underdog or front runner.
June 22, 2012 at 9:09 am
I am inconsistent. Sometimes it’s the underdog, sometimes it’s the obvious winner.
June 22, 2012 at 1:48 pm
I never root for anyone, ever. I don’t like team sports or the team mentality. I do not understand why people do.
June 22, 2012 at 3:18 pm
yup, the underdog. so much more satisfying when they win. yankees shmankees!
June 22, 2012 at 4:28 pm
It really depends on the situation. Most of the time I like the underdogs, but if it’s a team or person that I’ve been rooting for for a while then I’ll root for them regardless if they’ve been winning or not. So yeah, I rooted for the Blue Jays in the mid 90′s because I’d been a fan for a while and they went and won the World Series twice. I still root for them now even when they are at the bottom of the pack – but I’m also for the Red Sox because I live in Boston.
June 22, 2012 at 10:50 pm
My husband is teaching my son to root for the underdog. “Always root for the (NCAA) team in the dark uniforms.”
But in the pros, Son is taught to always root for the Celtics.
It’s gratifying that you, an IF underdog, came out as such a winner.
June 24, 2012 at 4:23 pm
I root for whoever I think deserves to win. Sometimes players are jerks and then I hope they lose. Not that I watch sports very often at all. We happen to live in a state with a rabid football fan base and my husband is from the state of their main rivals and is a fan of that team. Luckily, I don’t care about either team so I stay neutral.
For non-sport contests, I root for whomever I think has done the best job, whether effort and/or results. Sometimes that’s the favorite and sometimes that’s the underdog.
June 24, 2012 at 6:31 pm
i have always rooted for underdogs!! it’s nice to see a team excel in a way that it wasn’t supposed to. along those same lines, i like to watch teams that are more defensive than offensive. i like to see them put up a fight, do great with the opposition, and shut down their powerhouses. i’m the same way in life, i love to see the underdogs win. really, who doesn’t love an underdog?? like cat, though, i sometimes start to bring jugdement into it: who DESERVES to win? usually that is the underdog. my “home” team that i love and am very devoted to has a history of being the winningist team, but has a long line of “haters” and people that think that they are overrated….but we have been especially bad for quite a few years. and i still root for them. i’m devoted!
June 25, 2012 at 2:10 pm
I’m always for the underdogs. I usually am also the underdog too, which is probably why, LOL!
June 26, 2012 at 10:36 am
I’m not so much about the people/teams I’m rooting for as much as the commitment. Like I love being part of Steeler Nation, and I root for the Cardinals, because I’m from St. Louis. Underdogs and heroes in movies and on TV are often underwritten, so I often find myself rooting for the villain, because s/he wants whatever they want so bad. I really feel their frustration when they’re “Cripes! Foiled again!”
June 27, 2012 at 12:19 pm
Huh… I’ve never thought about this, but I also don’t think there is any pattern to my rooting — whether its underdog or winner. It seems to be based on each individual moment/choice/person.
June 27, 2012 at 6:54 pm
Nav is from Boston and went to The University of Michigan. He has taught the boys, especially Alex, to root for those teams. I will root for them also or for whomever is playing against the teams I don’t like. Otherwise, yup, the underdog.
July 10, 2012 at 12:09 pm
Usually the underdogs. Someone’s got to!