For myself, I have two rules for rooting against a team. For me, they usually have to be in same division or conference, but additionally they have to be one of the better teams in the sport at the time. I find no purpose in rooting against a team if they are clearly no threat.
Currently the teams I root against most, and fear but respect most, are the Los Angeles Dodgers in baseball and the Seattle Seahawks in the NFL. Also being a Warriors (36-2) fan, I will keep a keen on on Western Conference San Antonio Spurs this year. While all the national attention is on Steph Curry and the Warriors and records they are breaking right and left, the Spurs remain just under the radar with only six losses so far this season which would on any other year be noteworthy near the halfway point.
As for the Los Angeles Dodgers, they have the best and most consistent pitcher in baseball in Clayton Kershaw who went 1.83, 1.77, and 2.13 in the last three years on a team that captured the NL West with 92 or better on wins in that time period. Zack Greinke was a very dangerous #2 pitcher for them and should have won the Cy Young this year to add to Kershaw's wins. Of course I want my SF Giants to win the division for the first time since 2012, but if we don't I certainly don't want LA to win it for their unprecedented fourth time in row. It hurts that we are in same division as the most talented team in the NL, but that we are also in the same state making the rivalry represent the two most high profile cities here. It's great that baseball's current dynasty is the San Francisco Giants, but it's not good that the Los Angeles Dodgers have consistently been a better team on any given day and had captured the NL West an additional two times in a row before SF began their recent dynasty. No matter how good the Giants are doing and how bright the postseason looks, the Dodgers are always there to rain on our parade.
As for the Seattle Seahawks, they won the Super Bowl two years ago, won the NFC Championship last year, and are still in it for this current NFL postseason. That's three straight trips to the postseason plus a wildcard trip before that making four straight postseason showings. They are certainly, on every level, better than my SF 49ers, especially now that the 49ers are in rebuilding mode and not in any contention to get back to postseason anytime soon. Whether the dislike is because one of the best quarterbacks in the game in the smart Russell Wilson is hard to contain for us, or the trash talking of Richard Sherman most directed at San Francisco, the Seahawks are the easiest team the 49ers can find to hate. It's also no fun trying to contain Beast Mode. The youth of the Seahawks makes it likely that they can make another four trips to postseason before their core is done for and it wouldn't be unlikely to see them capture two more Lombardi trophies and be considered a real NFL dynasty. It's not inconceivable that they can win three Super Bowls in a decade like the Patriots during 2001-2004 and the Cowboys during 1992-1995. It's bad enough to be inferior to your division rivals as mentioned against the talented Los Angeles Dodgers, but it's undeniably disgusting to be the bitch and whipping post for the sport's next dynasty who happens to enjoy beating you. Nothing would please me more to end up with either Beast Mode, Russell Wilson, or Richard Sherman donning a 49ers uniform one day and contributing to our next San Francisco Super Bowl win. We did take division rival player Deion Sanders for a year and he was a key ingredient in our ultimately successful 1994 49ers season.
All that being said, if the 49ers were at the top of the NFC West with no true rivals, or the San Francisco Giants ruled the NL West with no true rivals, then I wouldn't root against anybody. I could put all my undivided attention to rooting for my team and not pay attention to anybody else. It's tiring to have to follow the Seahawks or the Dodgers and hope they lose their games. There's only so much time in a day and I just want to know my own team even better and relish in their victories and forget about the rest. For a team at least, focusing on just winning leads to championships and it doesn't hurt if the fans are on the same page. If anybody is busy rooting against a team or hating them, then a loss against them usually carries over into other games against other opponents. You have to always be in the present and take care of your own house.
Currently the teams I root against most, and fear but respect most, are the Los Angeles Dodgers in baseball and the Seattle Seahawks in the NFL. Also being a Warriors (36-2) fan, I will keep a keen on on Western Conference San Antonio Spurs this year. While all the national attention is on Steph Curry and the Warriors and records they are breaking right and left, the Spurs remain just under the radar with only six losses so far this season which would on any other year be noteworthy near the halfway point.
As for the Los Angeles Dodgers, they have the best and most consistent pitcher in baseball in Clayton Kershaw who went 1.83, 1.77, and 2.13 in the last three years on a team that captured the NL West with 92 or better on wins in that time period. Zack Greinke was a very dangerous #2 pitcher for them and should have won the Cy Young this year to add to Kershaw's wins. Of course I want my SF Giants to win the division for the first time since 2012, but if we don't I certainly don't want LA to win it for their unprecedented fourth time in row. It hurts that we are in same division as the most talented team in the NL, but that we are also in the same state making the rivalry represent the two most high profile cities here. It's great that baseball's current dynasty is the San Francisco Giants, but it's not good that the Los Angeles Dodgers have consistently been a better team on any given day and had captured the NL West an additional two times in a row before SF began their recent dynasty. No matter how good the Giants are doing and how bright the postseason looks, the Dodgers are always there to rain on our parade.
As for the Seattle Seahawks, they won the Super Bowl two years ago, won the NFC Championship last year, and are still in it for this current NFL postseason. That's three straight trips to the postseason plus a wildcard trip before that making four straight postseason showings. They are certainly, on every level, better than my SF 49ers, especially now that the 49ers are in rebuilding mode and not in any contention to get back to postseason anytime soon. Whether the dislike is because one of the best quarterbacks in the game in the smart Russell Wilson is hard to contain for us, or the trash talking of Richard Sherman most directed at San Francisco, the Seahawks are the easiest team the 49ers can find to hate. It's also no fun trying to contain Beast Mode. The youth of the Seahawks makes it likely that they can make another four trips to postseason before their core is done for and it wouldn't be unlikely to see them capture two more Lombardi trophies and be considered a real NFL dynasty. It's not inconceivable that they can win three Super Bowls in a decade like the Patriots during 2001-2004 and the Cowboys during 1992-1995. It's bad enough to be inferior to your division rivals as mentioned against the talented Los Angeles Dodgers, but it's undeniably disgusting to be the bitch and whipping post for the sport's next dynasty who happens to enjoy beating you. Nothing would please me more to end up with either Beast Mode, Russell Wilson, or Richard Sherman donning a 49ers uniform one day and contributing to our next San Francisco Super Bowl win. We did take division rival player Deion Sanders for a year and he was a key ingredient in our ultimately successful 1994 49ers season.
All that being said, if the 49ers were at the top of the NFC West with no true rivals, or the San Francisco Giants ruled the NL West with no true rivals, then I wouldn't root against anybody. I could put all my undivided attention to rooting for my team and not pay attention to anybody else. It's tiring to have to follow the Seahawks or the Dodgers and hope they lose their games. There's only so much time in a day and I just want to know my own team even better and relish in their victories and forget about the rest. For a team at least, focusing on just winning leads to championships and it doesn't hurt if the fans are on the same page. If anybody is busy rooting against a team or hating them, then a loss against them usually carries over into other games against other opponents. You have to always be in the present and take care of your own house.
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And no rule as to why. Basically, if there is no team involved I root for, that may change very well during the match just as well - I find rooting for / against makes it way more interesting and fun. I don't take professional sports that serious though although I follow it quite closely.
