Team Loyalty Question

[grcenter47]

This is something that happened to my cousins and I was just curious what everyone else here thinks....

I am part Spaniard and everyone in my family who does follow soccer are big Barcelona FC fans. The weird thing is that my family is mostly from Madrid and some are from Northern Spain. The reason why its weird is because the majority of people from Madrid are either supporters of Real Madrid or of Atletico Madrid. If you aren't familiar with the history in Spain, the Catalans (Barcelona) have been repressed historically for many years by Spain due to the brutal dictatorship of Franco. Franco used to instill a philosophy that there was Madrid and then there was everything else. Sadly this has been going on before his dictatorship and even after it as well. Catalonia pretty much wants to be autonomous and would like to preserve their language and culture. Since Spain has taken positive steps to improve relationships, there are still instances of tension between the two groups. This can be seen in El Clasico whenever Real Madrid play Barcelona in soccer. Real Madrid represents Franco while Barcelona resembles the Catalan’s plight against him.

My cousins decided to take a trip from Madrid to the Copa del Rey game where Real Madrid played Barcelona at Camp Nou in Catalonia. My cousins are middle to lower class and the only article of clothing they own when it comes to supporting Barcelona are scarves with the logo of the club. To cut it short, Real Madrid won 3 to 1 and embarrassed Barcelona on their field. When the match was over, my cousins were about to exit the stadium where they got into an altercation with some Barcelona supporters. The Barcelona supporters began to hurl insults towards them and began calling them spies for Real Madrid. Since my cousins were in a joyous mood talking Castillian Spanish and not Catalan, apparently that seemed to insult the supporters of Barcelona. This was their first trip ever to Camp Nou to see Barcelona play so they were happy to see a game and being able to tour the stadium. As a result, bottles were being thrown at them and they had to run out quickly. As a result, my female cousin got a black eye after getting hit with a bottle in the face and my other two cousins had to go to the hospital for stitches. They did go back to the Stadium the next day to speak with security officials and a person who worked for the club and apparently my cousins were ignored. In other words, they were painted as aggressors who agitated their fans

Right now my family is hurt by all of this due to the unwavering support they have given the Barcelona FC team for years. I also am very upset and honestly can’t really bother supporting this team. I am actually thinking of supporting Real Madrid from now on.

Now my question is this, do you think this incident warrants a person to stop cheering for and supporting a team? I was just curious also if anyone here has ever changed allegiances in their support of a sports team due to an incident that completely changed their view of a team

[Derlique]

This is something that happened to my cousins and I was just curious what everyone else here thinks....

I am part Spaniard and everyone in my family who does follow soccer are big Barcelona FC fans. The weird thing is that my family is mostly from Madrid and some are from Northern Spain. The reason why its weird is because the majority of people from Madrid are either supporters of Real Madrid or of Atletico Madrid. If you aren't familiar with the history in Spain, the Catalans (Barcelona) have been repressed historically for many years by Spain due to the brutal dictatorship of Franco. Franco used to instill a philosophy that there was Madrid and then there was everything else. Sadly this has been going on before his dictatorship and even after it as well. Catalonia pretty much wants to be autonomous and would like to preserve their language and culture. Since Spain has taken positive steps to improve relationships, there are still instances of tension between the two groups. This can be seen in El Clasico whenever Real Madrid play Barcelona in soccer. Real Madrid represents Franco while Barcelona resembles the Catalan’s plight against him.

My cousins decided to take a trip from Madrid to the Copa del Rey game where Real Madrid played Barcelona at Camp Nou in Catalonia. My cousins are middle to lower class and the only article of clothing they own when it comes to supporting Barcelona are scarves with the logo of the club. To cut it short, Real Madrid won 3 to 1 and embarrassed Barcelona on their field. When the match was over, my cousins were about to exit the stadium where they got into an altercation with some Barcelona supporters. The Barcelona supporters began to hurl insults towards them and began calling them spies for Real Madrid. Since my cousins were in a joyous mood talking Castillian Spanish and not Catalan, apparently that seemed to insult the supporters of Barcelona. This was their first trip ever to Camp Nou to see Barcelona play so they were happy to see a game and being able to tour the stadium. As a result, bottles were being thrown at them and they had to run out quickly. As a result, my female cousin got a black eye after getting hit with a bottle in the face and my other two cousins had to go to the hospital for stitches. They did go back to the Stadium the next day to speak with security officials and a person who worked for the club and apparently my cousins were ignored. In other words, they were painted as aggressors who agitated their fans

Right now my family is hurt by all of this due to the unwavering support they have given the Barcelona FC team for years. I also am very upset and honestly can’t really bother supporting this team. I am actually thinking of supporting Real Madrid from now on.

Now my question is this, do you think this incident warrants a person to stop cheering for and supporting a team? I was just curious also if anyone here has ever changed allegiances in their support of a sports team due to an incident that completely changed their view of a team

Wow...sorry to hear about that. Man, that is a tough question and one that I don't think can be properly answered without going through that experience.  I'm obviously crazy about the Devils and if that happened to me at the Rock, I'd like to say I'd stay loyal to them, but you never know.  I think the difference between here and Europe is that American businesses are bread with the motto, "The customer is always right".  I'm not sure if that philosophy is similar in Spain, but I think looking at the sheer club size helps.  Barca is arguably the most popular team in the most popular sport in the world.  No offense, but your family ceasing to support the club won't impact them financially or their brand at all.  I feel it would be wayy different for a lower level La Liga club (in terms of the team compensating your family). 

[Daniel]

This is something that happened to my cousins and I was just curious what everyone else here thinks....I am part Spaniard and everyone in my family who does follow soccer are big Barcelona FC fans. The weird thing is that my family is mostly from Madrid and some are from Northern Spain. The reason why its weird is because the majority of people from Madrid are either supporters of Real Madrid or of Atletico Madrid. If you aren't familiar with the history in Spain, the Catalans (Barcelona) have been repressed historically for many years by Spain due to the brutal dictatorship of Franco. Franco used to instill a philosophy that there was Madrid and then there was everything else. Sadly this has been going on before his dictatorship and even after it as well. Catalonia pretty much wants to be autonomous and would like to preserve their language and culture. Since Spain has taken positive steps to improve relationships, there are still instances of tension between the two groups. This can be seen in El Clasico whenever Real Madrid play Barcelona in soccer. Real Madrid represents Franco while Barcelona resembles the Catalan’s plight against him.My cousins decided to take a trip from Madrid to the Copa del Rey game where Real Madrid played Barcelona at Camp Nou in Catalonia. My cousins are middle to lower class and the only article of clothing they own when it comes to supporting Barcelona are scarves with the logo of the club. To cut it short, Real Madrid won 3 to 1 and embarrassed Barcelona on their field. When the match was over, my cousins were about to exit the stadium where they got into an altercation with some Barcelona supporters. The Barcelona supporters began to hurl insults towards them and began calling them spies for Real Madrid. Since my cousins were in a joyous mood talking Castillian Spanish and not Catalan, apparently that seemed to insult the supporters of Barcelona. This was their first trip ever to Camp Nou to see Barcelona play so they were happy to see a game and being able to tour the stadium. As a result, bottles were being thrown at them and they had to run out quickly. As a result, my female cousin got a black eye after getting hit with a bottle in the face and my other two cousins had to go to the hospital for stitches. They did go back to the Stadium the next day to speak with security officials and a person who worked for the club and apparently my cousins were ignored. In other words, they were painted as aggressors who agitated their fansRight now my family is hurt by all of this due to the unwavering support they have given the Barcelona FC team for years. I also am very upset and honestly can’t really bother supporting this team. I am actually thinking of supporting Real Madrid from now on.Now my question is this, do you think this incident warrants a person to stop cheering for and supporting a team? I was just curious also if anyone here has ever changed allegiances in their support of a sports team due to an incident that completely changed their view of a

This is something that happened to my cousins and I was just curious what everyone else here thinks....I am part Spaniard and everyone in my family who does follow soccer are big Barcelona FC fans. The weird thing is that my family is mostly from Madrid and some are from Northern Spain. The reason why its weird is because the majority of people from Madrid are either supporters of Real Madrid or of Atletico Madrid. If you aren't familiar with the history in Spain, the Catalans (Barcelona) have been repressed historically for many years by Spain due to the brutal dictatorship of Franco. Franco used to instill a philosophy that there was Madrid and then there was everything else. Sadly this has been going on before his dictatorship and even after it as well. Catalonia pretty much wants to be autonomous and would like to preserve their language and culture. Since Spain has taken positive steps to improve relationships, there are still instances of tension between the two groups. This can be seen in El Clasico whenever Real Madrid play Barcelona in soccer. Real Madrid represents Franco while Barcelona resembles the Catalan’s plight against him.My cousins decided to take a trip from Madrid to the Copa del Rey game where Real Madrid played Barcelona at Camp Nou in Catalonia. My cousins are middle to lower class and the only article of clothing they own when it comes to supporting Barcelona are scarves with the logo of the club. To cut it short, Real Madrid won 3 to 1 and embarrassed Barcelona on their field. When the match was over, my cousins were about to exit the stadium where they got into an altercation with some Barcelona supporters. The Barcelona supporters began to hurl insults towards them and began calling them spies for Real Madrid. Since my cousins were in a joyous mood talking Castillian Spanish and not Catalan, apparently that seemed to insult the supporters of Barcelona. This was their first trip ever to Camp Nou to see Barcelona play so they were happy to see a game and being able to tour the stadium. As a result, bottles were being thrown at them and they had to run out quickly. As a result, my female cousin got a black eye after getting hit with a bottle in the face and my other two cousins had to go to the hospital for stitches. They did go back to the Stadium the next day to speak with security officials and a person who worked for the club and apparently my cousins were ignored. In other words, they were painted as aggressors who agitated their fansRight now my family is hurt by all of this due to the unwavering support they have given the Barcelona FC team for years. I also am very upset and honestly can’t really bother supporting this team. I am actually thinking of supporting Real Madrid from now on.Now my question is this, do you think this incident warrants a person to stop cheering for and supporting a team? I was just curious also if anyone here has ever changed allegiances in their support of a sports team due to an incident that completely changed their view of a team

I suppose if there was a persistent and unique pattern of barbaric behavior by Devils fans (or any other team I rooted for) I would cease to support the team, although I would never take the extra step and root for the Rangers or Flyers. Mostly though you have random idiots that come with any team.

I suspect that there's roughly and equal amount of abuse that originates from Real Madrid fans as does from Barca fans. It's probably the poltical aspect that makes it more volatile.

[Derlique]

ame="grcenter47" post="1174499" timestamp="1362183749"]This is something that happened to my cousins and I was just curious what everyone else here thinks....I am part Spaniard and everyone in my family who does follow soccer are big Barcelona FC fans. The weird thing is that my family is mostly from Madrid and some are from Northern Spain. The reason why its weird is because the majority of people from Madrid are either supporters of Real Madrid or of Atletico Madrid. If you aren't familiar with the history in Spain, the Catalans (Barcelona) have been repressed historically for many years by Spain due to the brutal dictatorship of Franco. Franco used to instill a philosophy that there was Madrid and then there was everything else. Sadly this has been going on before his dictatorship and even after it as well. Catalonia pretty much wants to be autonomous and would like to preserve their language and culture. Since Spain has taken positive steps to improve relationships, there are still instances of tension between the two groups. This can be seen in El Clasico whenever Real Madrid play Barcelona in soccer. Real Madrid represents Franco while Barcelona resembles the Catalan’s plight against him.My cousins decided to take a trip from Madrid to the Copa del Rey game where Real Madrid played Barcelona at Camp Nou in Catalonia. My cousins are middle to lower class and the only article of clothing they own when it comes to supporting Barcelona are scarves with the logo of the club. To cut it short, Real Madrid won 3 to 1 and embarrassed Barcelona on their field. When the match was over, my cousins were about to exit the stadium where they got into an altercation with some Barcelona supporters. The Barcelona supporters began to hurl insults towards them and began calling them spies for Real Madrid. Since my cousins were in a joyous mood talking Castillian Spanish and not Catalan, apparently that seemed to insult the supporters of Barcelona. This was their first trip ever to Camp Nou to see Barcelona play so they were happy to see a game and being able to tour the stadium. As a result, bottles were being thrown at them and they had to run out quickly. As a result, my female cousin got a black eye after getting hit with a bottle in the face and my other two cousins had to go to the hospital for stitches. They did go back to the Stadium the next day to speak with security officials and a person who worked for the club and apparently my cousins were ignored. In other words, they were painted as aggressors who agitated their fansRight now my family is hurt by all of this due to the unwavering support they have given the Barcelona FC team for years. I also am very upset and honestly can’t really bother supporting this team. I am actually thinking of supporting Real Madrid from now on.Now my question is this, do you think this incident warrants a person to stop cheering for and supporting a team? I was just curious also if anyone here has ever changed allegiances in their support of a sports team due to an incident that completely changed their view of a

I suppose if there was a persistent and unique pattern of barbaric behavior by Devils fans (or any other team I rooted for) I would cease to support the team, although I would never take the extra step and root for the Rangers or Flyers. Mostly though you have random idiots that come with any team.

I suspect that there's roughly and equal amount of abuse that originates from Real Madrid fans as does from Barca fans. It's probably the poltical aspect that makes it more volatile.

What do you consider unique? Do Philly fans have a defined pattern of atrocious behavior or should we take it one step further? The thing is, it's all subjective

[grcenter47]

Wow...sorry to hear about that. Man, that is a tough question and one that I don't think can be properly answered without going through that experience.  I'm obviously crazy about the Devils and if that happened to me at the Rock, I'd like to say I'd stay loyal to them, but you never know.  I think the difference between here and Europe is that American businesses are bread with the motto, "The customer is always right".  I'm not sure if that philosophy is similar in Spain, but I think looking at the sheer club size helps.  Barca is arguably the most popular team in the most popular sport in the world.  No offense, but your family ceasing to support the club won't impact them financially or their brand at all.  I feel it would be wayy different for a lower level La Liga club (in terms of the team compensating your family).

I don't think it was the reaction by the supporters but it was more how team officials treated the situation

[Daniel]

What do you consider unique? Do Philly fans have a defined pattern of atrocious behavior or should we take it one step further? The thing is, it's all subjective

I think Philly fans are unique for bad behavior, but not nearly at the level that it would make me not be a fan of one of those teams. For all the bad behavior it's very rare in the grand scheme of things.

Of course where someone wants to draw the line is subjective. Like the definition of pornography, I'll know it when I see it.

[2ELIAS6]

this is tough although i feel why your upset with the organization for their lack of care upon the safety of their fans, and unfortunently your family was injured at their event... im not sure if i would just stop being a fan of the team because of this. No matter what sport or team there are always going to be a$$hole fans.. ive seen devil fans like such and so on and so on.. The team themselves obviously have no control of what happens at their events.. more so i would be super pissed about the bottom of the barrel security people that they spoke with the day after that had nothing to say about the situation.