I was a diehard Oiler fan until they left. When Houston was no longer in front of their name, I was no longer a fan like I was. I watched the Superbowl in 2000 as a football fan, not caring who won as long as I saw a good game. I am the type of person that can only be a diehard fan to one team, and that freakin' flaming thumbtacks, bad rug owner, choking team is not mine. You can have them hillbillies.
I still root for the Titans, and the Texans, but I really could care less. I used to LIVE for football...now I just want my fantasy players to do well. Ah well.....at least my Sundays are free now. DD
Deep down, I think all these Texans/Titans fans are still Titans fans because of how good the team is, and are just Texans fans because they live in Houston, they're a new team, and its cool to support the home team. In a few years, when the Texans are the one with the powerhouse team, you'll see these loyalties differ... ie, the fair-weatherdness of these fans is quite obvious, as they WON'T be supporting a Titans team that's in last place. Mr Paige, and the rest of us Texans fans here don't care that we're the fledgling franchise who's supposed to get beat.... we're a bonafied NFL franchise; one that is commited to winning, and more commited to being the most first class than mostly any other franchises in all of sports. We live with them... we die with them... we don't care who they play... we don't care about the team that used to play here. We're Texans fans. That's ALL!
I can't speak for anyone else, but I *develop* a liking for a team b/c of location, but I *love* a team because of the players. I was so excited by McNair and Eddie. I followed them after they moved and I still root for them. Newer players on the team like Kearse and Mason and McCareins continue to make them a fun team to watch. I couldn't give a rat's ass about Adams. To me, he doesn't define the character of the team. The players do. That makes me a Titans fan. I root for the Texans b/c they are a hometown team, but *to me* they haven't developed a character that makes them exciting. There is no personality on that team that excites me yet. That may very well be due to the fact that they don't play on TV where I live, though. I'm a Titans fan. and I root for the Texans to do well, too. When the teams go head to head, my loyalties lie with the Titans. And I'll be yelling out my support from the top of Reliant Stadium on Sunday for my team. (though I am VERY nervous about the outcome of the game)
it was definately not a short period of time between oilers leaving and us having a guaranteed team......we didnt even know the name till couple months before hand so how can u say for the 2-3 years in between we had a team?!?!? TL i agree totally with you about the titans/texans and it bothers me when people call me a fairweather fan when its not true at all. I love both teams and go crazy watching each one. hopefully one day the Titans and Texans play each other for the Division and I can pick a side.....
I was so excited by McNair and Eddie. So if McNair had left through free agency, would you have dropped the Titans in favor of his new team? For that matter, when the Titans go through a rebuilding time and don't have exciting players that make them a fun team to watch (like the Cowboys of the Dave Campo era), do you stop being a Titans fan? There were several former Oilers on the Jags and Panthers in 1995. Why not take up with them? I believe it was Curtis Duncan that was going to do two touchdown celebrations at the Astrodome when the Jags and Oilers first met. I guess that's why I'm such a big Bears fan now... because of Chris Chandler (he did take immediately take the Oilers from 2-14 to 7-9). I would've been excited about McNair and George. too, if the team hadn't already been plotting their escape from Houston by teh time they came around. But neither player did all that much of anything while wearing a Houston Oilers uniform (George did rush for over 1,300 yards, but then again, it's not all that unlikely that Domanick Davis could've put up similar yardage had he started from day one and stayed healthy, and he's apparently not a player that makes the Texans exciting. McNair had all of six starts in Houston).
one of the smartest things the oilers did was to sit mcnair for 2 seasons to learn from veteran QBs.....he wouldnt be the same player he is today...an MVP worthy one....if the oilers didnt do that...
TL is a fairweather fan. He said he roots for the team based on which team has the more exciting players, as defined by wins, apparently, since the Texans, according to him, have no exciting players. The NFL expansion team was awarded to Houston on October 6, 1999, which was a month and a half after the Titans began play in Nashville. The team was not named for another year (on Sept 6, 2000), and the uniforms were not unveiled until another year later (Sept 25, 2001 - delayed from the original date by a few weeks due to the 9/11 attacks). The team began play a year after that. I think you're memory is really playing tricks on you if you think the name unveiling was only a couple of months before the team started playing. It was a full two years earlier. Heck, the stadium had a name two years before the team took the field. Yes, that was two seasons after the team left Houston, but they were still playing as the Oilers for two seasons, one in Memphis and one in Nashville in Vandy's stadium. But the groundwork was starting to be laid for a new team before the Oilers ever set foot in Nashville. On October 15 of 1997, the plans for Reliant Stadium were already on the drawing board and Paul Taglibue visited Houston to take a gander at the stadium plan and to speak with Bob McNair and Chuck Watson. All through 1998, there were more meetings as it was clear the NFL would expand again because the required adding of a new Cleveland franchise created a scheduling problem due to the odd number of teams. All through 1999, the expansion process was narrowed down, and as the year went on, it became more and more clear that the frontrunner (Los Angeles) wouldn't be able to deliver a stadium plan. So in October of 1999, Houston officially had an expansion team.
Though Chris Chandler wasn't a good QB to learn from, apparently. I've heard, from McNair, I believe, that Chandler was not all that keen on being a mentor. There is, of course, no way to tell whether McNair would've been any better or worse had he started right away. A lot of players say there is no substitute for game experience. Some would argue that sitting McNair hampered his ability and that's why it has taken him as long as it did to become the calibur of player he has become. But the point was that he didn't do anything exciting in Houston to get all worked up over him about at the time. He started six games.
This really is a fair-weather fan statement. Hopefully the Texans will be good one day so I can decide to really root for them.
Just to clarify, I don't really mean any personal insults with threads like these. Sports arguments are sports arguments, and I don't mean anything personal by them. It's easy to get caught up in it, though. So, I hope nobody takes offense at anything I say. But you're all wrong, and I'm right.
Wheee, my first Texans game to ever attend will be this one (in a Sky Box no less ). Lookin' forward to a good game, hopefully Carr will be in there. Go Texans!
Living in Nashville for college at the moment has only made me dislike the Titans more! I did have a convo with bud adams not too long ago hehe
oh and I wasnt' even here but it still makes me sick that the oilers/titans played in vandy's stadium
Que? More exciting isn't directly defined by more wins. It's aided by a number of things, including ability and character (which may translate into wins in a perfect world, but...)
So all of you calling us traitors, were you or weren't you Houston oiler fans? your argument holds not water. You , just like us, have rooted for more than one team. Kind of ironic isn't it. It's hypocritical. Do you root for only one child when your children play each other. Or do you love them both. Or do you root for the kid who has a chance at the playoffs when the other one doesn't? For anyone who was a straight up Houston Texan fan and not an Oiler fan ever I can respect your opinion. However, most of you were loyal Oiler fans and have absolutely no argument. You are exactly the same as us.
Oilers as CHILDREN? No, thats way too intense. Its more like this: You have this girlfriend. She's really cool, you love her to death (through thick and thin, and despite her tendencies to wear this terrible shade of girlie blue), but then one day she freaking gets up and walks out on you. She's gone. She could care less about you, in fact despite the fact that you wish her the best and devoted so much time to her, she claims that the last two years you really didnt give her your all. Then she starts dating this mullet-wearing NASCAR loving guy who listens to country music and likes to hum this irritating song about "Rocky Top" all the time. And she talks about what a great guy he is, how attentive he is, and how you never paid that much attention to him the entire time you dated. Then this hottie, a young gal enters your life. She's young, but she's got potential. She dresses better. She lives in a huge new house. She even lets you babeque at her new estate (the other gal made you eat and drink in her house, and her nachos pretty much always gave you diarrhea). Are you a traitor for giving up on the ex- and falling in love again? I think not.
Mateo, you hit the nail on the head. From the time the oilers left until we got the TEXANS, I had no team.
Ok. That analogy is fine. But I can still root for my ex girlfriend right? I did love her afterall. We shared some good times. Or am I supposed to hate on her for the rest of my life. What good does that do anyone. To each his own, but don't call the Titans fans traitors because they still love their ex and choose to support her rather than knock her down.
