Where does your loyalty lie?

[Casperian]

I'm a fan of the team first, of course. I'm a Boston Celtics fan. If we have to trade my favorite player to win a championship, then that's what we have to do. That being said, I also have loyalty to the players. If guys like Rondo or Perk get traded, you bet I'll still be following their careers and cheering them on as players with their new team. Especially guys like that who are Celtics through and through. As much as I love Ray and KG, they haven't been Celtics for the extent of their career like Paul, Perk, etc have, so those guys have a bit more of my loyalty.

That´s exactly my approach. There are players I like, and I follow the ex-celtics more closely than I follow other players, but first and foremost I´m a Boston Celtics fan and want them to win.

Let´s be honest: If the FO would trade Rondo for a draft Pick, and that Rookie turns out to be the next Wade, we´d all hype him up in maximum 6 months. I don´t exactly want them to trade one of our starters, but if it´s for the best...

I think there's a reason why ownership pays someone to be the general manager.  

[WedmanIsMyHero]

Sorry, to rephrase, I am a fan of whatever makes the Celtics more likely to win.  I root for the Celtics regardless, even when they are terrible. . .

My loyalty lies with winning.  What have we learned from the Patriots (remember Lawyer Milloy, etc.) and the Red Sox (not resigning Pedro, Johnny Damon, etc.)?  In a world of free agency, when most players go where the $$ leads them, just like people in many other professions, I root for the team.

What matters is building a winner.  If a trade makes winning more likely, sounds like a good deal to me.  I could imagine some truly extenuating circumstances, but very few. 

Why would anyone ever *want* their team to pursue a course that would lead to less wins?

So you are a front runner?

My loyalty is to the team. I have zero loyalty to the city, since they are the only Boston team I grew up rooting for.

[Fafnir]

My loyalty is with the team, and to my favorite players on the team.

I don't really have any connection to Boston, nor do I really care about the management. Just as long as the GM/Coach do their jobs well....

[andrewf]

i dont live in boston or like any other boston sports teams, so my loyalty is with the franchise, and also to players who become my favorites by being consistent and showing full effort, i feel next to no allegiance to the front office of any sports team i like

[Scribbles]

My loyalty is with the city and team.  However if one of my favorite players on the Celtics, Red Sox, etc was traded, I certainly would still follow their career and be a fan of theirs.  Obviously I wouldn't want them to beat Boston, but I still would root for them to a certain extent.  

[socalceltsfan]

First and foremost with the franchise.  I've been a C's fan since the mid 80's (I'm 30).  Even though I was born and raised in LA the history, tradition, and glory associated with the Celtics drew me in as a fan.  I've stuck by them through thick and thin and are grooming my kids to be the same rabid C's fans  

I do admire the greats that have come and gone but you can't be blind to what every franchise ultimately is, a business.  In saying that, decisions need to be made when a player is on the decline regardless of how great he is or how much he's contributed.  "Ubuntu" shouldn't apply to winning one championship, it should also apply to doing things to ensure future ones.

[indeedproceed]

Franchise/Team
Management
Players
City

I'm not from the boston area. I cannot stand the Red Sox..although I don't like baseball in general, and I honestly hate the Yankees more. Hockey? Canadiens then Rangers, but I like hockey just a little more than baseball, so not much at all. Football? Lions. I respect the Pats, but I don't root for them, 'course I root against the Giants most times, except for the playoffs, and even then I'd never declare myself a fan. The buffalo Bills will ruin my night if Im surrounded by their fans. Its like being surrounded by the football apostels. God I cannot stand Buffalo Bills fans.

Hypothetical exchange, a year ago:
Random guy: Yeah man, so Buffalo is looking good this year, huh? (he'll just open a conversation like that, because for some reason he can, cuz he's buffalo fan. I am not joking.)
Me: Yeah man.
Random: Mershawn is such a beast man. he's an animal. He's gonna get 2000 yards this season.
Me; Well he probably won't. Buffalo's strength isn't their line.
Random: Yeah but with Lee Evans finally coming around, I really think this is their year.
Me: Yeah and don't forget about JP Losman. He's got "breakout written all over him. Watch out Tom Brady, huh?
Random: Exactly!
Me: I was being sarcastic. JP Losman is one of the worst starting QB's in the NFL. And even if he wasn't, even Peyton Manning would have trouble staying up behind that line.
Random: No man, he's gonna show everyone this year.
Me: It doesn't change that the only thing good about your armpit of a city is Mighty Taco and water that falls down really far.
*Random Guy swears he's about to hit me and walks away*

Seriously...I hate Buffalo. But i digress. Am I forgetting a major sport?

I would say I care a lot more about a match between the All-Blacks and the Wallabies than the entire baseball season, and I care more about a game between the Celtics and the Raptors than any hockey game. In fact I care more about a game between the Eagles and whatever Mexico's team name is than any individual baseball playoff series, including the World Series. I absolutely hate baseball.

[ManUp]

To the Celtics

However, you can't just use players and treat them like interchangeable parts.

Certain players should be able to reach that untouchable status.

[Eja117]

1 High School
2 Elementary School
3 College
4 My kid isn't old enough but then his schools
5 City
6 whoever treats me the way I want to be treated as a fan. For example. Bill Simmons has stated that the Bruins ownership has placed profit over winning/fans for years now and that he won't write about them till ownership changes and not a second sooner. Simmons treats fans the way I want to be treated so I side with him on this. If Bronson Aroyo plays the Sox I hope he throws a perfect game against them and manages to accidentally hit Theo Epstein and John Henry with a wild pitch for screwing him.

Then it gets complicated. If a player has done everything he could and wants to be paid what he's worth I usually identify with that although the Pats have taught me that a team has a right to offer what they think a guy is worth

I don't have any loyalty to holdouts that involve not honoring a contract they signed or a rookie who hasn't done anything yet, but largely see that as free market economics. But when Philly fans threw batteries at JD Drew for not signing with them cause his team was too cheap to get it done I would have thrown the batteries right back at them. If they fined me I'd be like "Money well spent, especially now that I have lots of it cause my new employers aren't cheap like the Phillies."

[cornbreadsmart]

even bob cousy played for another team. some great c's played elsewhere. so many of our former greats coached other teams. no matter what happens, in the end, nothing compares to winning a title as a celtic. i REALLY DO believe that. if pierce does'nt end his career here i bet he'll be showing up at c's events and maybe practice.that's what was so great and IMPORTANT, SOOO IMPORTANT to this franchise.we will have pierce and maybe kg ,allen,rondo for future c's to look to, hear the story,what it took to win, all that cool stuff.

[boscel33]

Cornbread wrote in another thread:  "i trust danny. i love that he's exploring everything. danny will absolutely trade paul pierce if it helps the franchise. he would have traded bird,mchale,parrish. i believe that. no player. not even larry bird is more important than the team."

This brings into focus a question I've had regarding the torrent of trade threads:  who or what are Celtics fans loyal to?  Is it the franchise (Wyc), the team, the town, the players?  Is it just anyone wearing the right jersey?

In my own mind, I'm stuck in the middle.  I respect the tradition and the history of the team and believe that is where my loyalty lies.  But I also feel some loyalty to some players, especially players like PP and Perk and to a slightly lesser extent Rondo.  And I don't like to think about trading these guys, guys I think of as our Boston Celtics.

So I'm curious how other people look at it, especially those who really enjoy all the trade talk.  What do you think, where does your loyalty lie?

it depends on the sport.  baseball, soccer, football, hockey and basketball is all about the team. 

the c's have been my number one since the early 70's.  i've lived with the ups and downs of the franchise.  my family says that i bleed green (i don't, it's red :-))

i don't think i would ever be about the city.

nascar racing, though, it's about the driver.  i'll root for bill elliot and kasey kahne no matter who or what they drive.

[Redz]

With very few exceptions I keep following ex-Celtics throughout the remainder of their careers more closely, and I enjoy seeing them play against us or do well against our rivals.

[Gomesfan]

Bottom line, My loyalty lies with the Boston Celtics.
After that it runs with P2. I do trust DA and will roll with his choices!

In Danny we trust!!!!!

[Jon]

I'm loyal to the team above all.

However, if Danny decided to trade away Pierce this year, I'd be calling for his head note because PP has been a lifelong Celtics, but because unless he was getting LeBron, Kobe, Dunan or the like in return, it wouldn't be a good trade. 

[LB3533]

1. Player
2. Team (includes Coach, GM)
3. City


1. Someone has to get me to watch, to root for them. If we got stank players or punks. I won't watch or root.

2. If the team isn't good because the players are poor in quality, talent or chemistry it's useless to follow them as closely as a good team. Sure, call me a  bandwagoner.

3. I don't know how to really place a loyalty on any city except from the city I have lived and raised from. I guess it's not just one of the more important things on my list.