probably, but i still cheer for my old team. once you're a fan of a certian team. there's no other team or players in the world that can replace them.
I did move away from San Jose a little more than three years ago. About 8,000 miles away, in fact. Mind you, my passion I've felt for my hometown team, the San Jose Earthquakes, has not wavered one bit. I love following all of MLS, still-- but I always try and catch as many Quakes games as I can, which is a lot harder to do over here, even with the webcasts and all.
Are you kidding me? You can't tell me you don't enjoy seeing that considering all the Pittsburgh Steeler, Dallas Cowboy, and Philadelphia Eagle bars you can't miss when randomly swinging a dead cat anywhere in the South Bay? It would be with great joy that I would continue to cheer for teams of SoCal origin, especially the Galaxy, while clogging up traffic, taking a job a local could do for cheaper, and driving up housing prices in some other metropolis, were I to have the misfortune of having to leave my beloved home. Were I in a town with another MLS franchise, I would probably only go to matches involving the Galaxy, unless they had a cool new SSS to check out. However, if I were in a USL market I might go to more matches there and kind of have them as a second team, a la Nick Horby's support of Cambridge United whilst he was away at college.
I moved from DC to San Diego this past summer and with MLS showing all of the games online I didn't even have to think about missing any of DC's games. If San Diego had a team I would probably go to their games but i'd still cheer for DC. So far I have only made it to the HDC for MLS Cup but I might go to a few games next season if I have the time/money.
Having moved from Jersey to DC, I still like Metro best. However, it gets hard to hate DC when I go to a few of their games each year... Metro fans will kill me for saying I actually root for them (but not when they play Metro) Worse yet, I lost my MPF to the BlackOut! after my Metros were eliminated.
Having actually moved away from the MLS team I love, I can answer quite honestly. 1 - No, I would not support another MLS team. Not in New York, not in DC, not in NE. I have friends in all these cities, who I will visit and go see games with, especially if the Fire are in town, but I cannot support another team. 2, 3, 4 - I attend at least five Metro games per season, typically Fire and DCU. The former because of the Fire and the latter because of friends I want to see who are coming up. I will also typically attend an additional game or two depending on several factors, time of day, weather, budget, and if the Fire are playing in either NE or DC that weekend. Last season I was in DC for at least five games (3 of the Fire), NE for one (Fire), one in Chicago and one in Kansas City (also Fire). 4A - I don't attend games based solely on Fire attendance, but I will admit that if the Fire are there, there is a much greater chance that I will go. 5 - No. I can't. I have tried, hung out with players, GMs, fans, everything, but I bleed Fire red. How much do I support the Fire? I don't live in Chicago but I have season tickets. I know it all goes to the same place (MLS), fiscally, but I would rather have season tickets to the Fire than anyone else and then just get individual game tickets as needed.
Moved to Chicago for school, work for the F*re, and still support Crew. I usually end up seeing more games in Columbus than Chicago, every year. May change if I work full-time for the league.
I moved away from Virginia 7 years ago and have maintained my DC fandom ever since. I have supported A-league teams, such as Syracuse, which I can get away with. Now that they've folded I'll drive to Rochester to watch some of their games. If Rochester gets an MLS team, as predicted by many, I won't even think about it. I'll go to the Rochester games and support soccer, but my heart will always lie with DC.
I don't live near an MLS team, but barring my ultimate wet dream of new franchise in Memphis (okay, I'd take a relocated Wiz), abandoning the Quakes isn't an option. If the Quakes moved, I'd have to re-evaluate my options.
Even if they moved to Santa Clara or elsewhere near San Jose (which is the furthest they'll move, if they move at all)? -G
To connect this to another thread, I would be perfectly happy rooting for the San Jose Earthquakes of Santa Clara.
Good Post.It seems very relavant to my current situation. I'm looking at a possible move from Denver to Austin. My first MLS team to support was the RAPIDS now I will be moving to a city with only a PDL team ( that I will try to support) and a MLS team 3 hours drive away. I do support the league as a whole and love to attend Rapids games. I also enjoy watching EJ and Gibbs play as well as many other players on various teams in the league. So I think supporting FC Dallas will be an easier transition. Though, I still can't see ever cheering for anyone other than the Rapids if they come to Dallas. Over time if I've lived in Austin for 8 years and seen several FC Dallas home games in Frisco and only 2 Rapids home games in that time. I could see my support swayed.
This is not a hypothetical question for me. I moved from Maryland in October 2003. I have not only kept my alliance with DC United, but it has grown. Absence makes the heart grow fonder? I have watched every game that is on the MLS package with Directv, abc, espn2, and HDNet. I have attended every DC game at the HDC. I have also tried to become a Galaxy fan. I have watched a number of games on tv and have attended 3 games that were not DC games. I went to those games and tried to root for the Galaxy(I was with Galaxy fans) but ended up pulling for Fire, Wizards and Metrostars(!!!!). I thought I hated the Metrostars. Ruiz just really grates on my nerves. Suarez also agitates me. I dislike Victorine and Jones. I will continue to try to find some empathy with the Galaxy, but I am not hopeful. I have been fortunate to be 40 minutes from the HDC. I have seen 2 MLS Cups, 3 College Cup games, a USMNT friendly, and am looking forward to attending 2 of the 3 sessions of the U-20 World Championship qualifying next week.