I would never abandon my A’s no matter. I lived in downtown Toronto for 4 years and I remained an A’s fan. Things did not work out when I moved back to norcal so now I am back in the middle of nowhere, southwestern ontario. I am about halfway between Toronto and Detroit now…. A’s fan I remain.

I think that the only other team that I own a hat for is the Expos, and that is because my wife has some French Canadian heritage….....

Hate the Sox.

Boston or Oakland? ‘Nuff said.

I’ve been in LA for about six years, and I like to watch the Lakers. Coming down in ‘02 I hated them, being a Kings fan. I still like the Kings more, but living in LA, you can’t help but follow the Lakers. But when it comes down to head-to-head games, I still go for Sac.

Baseball’s a little tougher. I could sort of stand watching the Angels at first, but now I only like watching for Vlad. Maybe if there was an NL team that I didn’t despise (Fucking Kirk Motherfucking Gibson), I could follow them. I could see rooting for another AL team outside the division.

But if you would root for the Red Sox over the A’s in an ALCS? They could have you.

the heretic should be burned at the stake!

Raised as an A’s – Giants fan… but always leaned closer to the A’s. When I was old enough to really decide/care, went all the way with the A’s.
Now I live in Washington, DC and I am surrounded by fans of the Red Sox, Yankees, Mets, Phillies, etc…. but come on man! Boston? Of all the teams to make your second team, Boston??
In my opinion, that’s pretty weak. I would have gone with a National League team, something neutral… never Boston… I personally root for the Giants, Mets and Cubs (and if they are playing each other, Giants)... but in the end, it really doesn’t matter what happens in the National league to me because the A’s are my #1.
That’s me.

Longtime A’s fan growing up, I went to Jersey for college and now work in D.C. I have had to deal with a ton of Phillies, Mets, Orioles, Yankees and (dear God!) Nats fans and I think it’s very important to keep your identity.

It’s ok to root for a National League team, but picking up a team that prevents the A’s from reaching the World Series is totally wrong. I may never get back to California to live, but my allegiances have been built and nurtured. With the way that Billy keeps things exciting and competitive there’s no way I’d ever turn to another team.

Look at who you get to root for: A small market team that continues to reinvent itself to stay competitve and get to the playoffs while fighting the ivory towers of Boston, NY, and LAA (haha). They continue to bring up young talent and put all of the “analysts” in the position of having picked it wrong again for Oakland.

I love nothing more than walking around sporting my A’s gear. CMON!!!! We’re the Green and Gold BAY-BEE!!!! What a sweet color combo.

Also if you get MLB.TV you get to watch just about every game live because you’re out of market.

I choose to keep my affection for the A’s because they’re the non-traditional team that gets to sport that plucky demeanor of David vs. Goliath while wearing white cleats. You have to choose for yourself: do you want to be associated with being “from Boston?”

Are you kidding me?! You make it sound like you paid your dues or something … the Sox can have you. Yes, by all means, be a Red Sox fan. Because the reasons you’ve listed are the primary reasons people become Red Sox fans … the team is good, lots and lots of people who no little about baseball decide to root for the team they hear about all the time, and ESPN shills for Boston endlessly.

It doesn’t surprise me … not at all … because 95% of the people you see wearing Red Sox gear (especially west of the Mississippi) jumped on the wagon in ‘04. So you’re no different. By all means, go Red Sox!!!! What a sell-out.

get out

The Boston Red Sox are the new New York Yankees. They overspend on aging veterans, swindle their fans (you have to PAY to join “Red Sox Nation?”), and have a fanbase derived entirely from people who saw Fever Pitch. It’s disgusting. I live in Boston, and the town’s insanity over their post-2004 baseball team is the only reason I started caring about baseball in the first place. I needed a team so I wouldn’t turn into one of the eighty million pink hat-wearing Bud Light-drinking mulleted idiots at Fenway. I chose the Angels thanks to geography (I’m from LA), but I could have just as easily chosen the A’s, or the Twins, or the Rays. And now that I’ve chosen a team, I’m sticking with it, because I’m not a rampant bandwagoneer.

You pick a team and you live and die with that team. Otherwise where’s the fun when they finally win? Judging by the teams I’ve chosen, it’s probably gonna be a while before I see any of them win anything (Kings Stanley Cup in ‘09? LOL OMG JK), but when they finally do, it’ll mean so much more to me.

that’s the most constructive thing I can say.

except that, you know, i’m not a totally lame bandwagoner…
i lived in the bay area in the bash brothers era but my favorite team was the red sox. then i moved to boston, realized sox fans are all obnoxious d-bags, and became an a’s fan.
if moving to boston had the opposite effect on you, it’s possible you may be an obnoxious d-bag yourself (also based on your non-sarcastic use of the term “Red Sox Nation”).
goodbye.

I have moved twice as an adult – from milwaukee to atlanta in the 80s and to the bay area this year. I was a rabid brewers fan and actively despised the braves my first years in the atl, particularly the bandwagon jumpin’ lame-os who got on board once the braves got good in ‘91. But…time passes and you get interested in some kid who turns a bunch of raw talent into a major league career – a ron gant type – or you see a pair of pitchers come along, one a wildass fireballer and one a crafty little lefty, and they’re both overmatched and getting their brains beat then all of a sudden they turn into smoltz and glavine who have these epic, multi-generational careers. Meanwhile, the old team develops its own trajectory, and there you are, a braves guy.

Seems like it would be even harder to remain an a’s fan from long distance, since any young studs who do come along are going to be harvested and recycled into even younger studs – when frank thomas is your “old-school continuity” guy, wow, that’s a team with shallow roots! Of course that understates the a’s appeal. What most of the people on this site – definitely including me – find appealing is the “idea” of the a’s – the idea that it’s possible to outsmart the system by finding guys whose value is obscured by some cosmetic and fundamentally trivial failings. (ok – a 5 run error is not exactly trivial or cosmetic).

Anyway, just hang out and let it happen – it’s definitely not an ethical or moral dilemma, just a fun way to while away your tv watchin’ hours!

And I live about 3000 miles away.

Get MLB.com and stop watching those REDSOX. Watching those jerks can make you go blind. (Yes, really).

the only nation in sports is Raider Nation. sox fans don’t have shit on anyone, just a huge inferiority complex