Should I root for or against my division/league rivals?

When I was a kid, I typically rooted for teams in the same division or league with the team I supported in a championship game. In the mid and late 80s, and the 1990s, when the Bears were not in the Super Bowl, I almost always rooted for the NFC teams – unless they were the Green Bay Packers.

In college sports, as an Illinois supporter and future alum, I always rooted for Big 10 teams, Including Indiana in 1987 and Michigan in 1989 in the basketball championship games. And I rooted for the Big 10 team in a football bowl game.

Baseball was a bit different, as there were several instances of rooting against NL teams: I rooted against the Cardinals in their World Series appearances, against the Padres in ’84 because they beat the Cubs and was rooting for the Red Sox against the Mets because the Sox had Bill Buckner. But generally, i would root for the NL, including for the Phillies, Marlins, Braves and whoever was facing the New York Yankees..

But as I’ve gotten older, any allegiance to the league of my favorite team has diminished. Instead, I have a list of teams I will always root against. Then, I go game by game, team by team to decide who I like or dislike.

Jealousy and interactions in social media definitely play a part. I no longer root for all the Big 10 teams, and was rooting against Michigan in the NCAA Basketball Championship and Indiana in the NCAA Football championship last year. Partially due to jealously over their success and partially due to their obnoxious fans on social media.

But really, every fanbase has obnoxious fans on social media, including the fan bases of every team I root for. So shouldn’t it make more sense for me to support these teams, because when they win, it ultimately makes the team I root for look better.

When the Brewers win the 2026 World Series (and potentially sweep through the Rays and Dodgers) won’t that make the National League and the Chicago Cubs look better?

On the other hand, disliking a team and rooting against the does make watching the games where I have no direct stake much more interesting. One reason it’s fun to root against the Brewers is that they are so good, and it guarantees that I’ll have someone to root against. It makes no sense to hate the Pirates, because I haven’t had the chance to watch them in a meaningful game in a long time.

So, I think I will root against the Brewers, but also respect what they have accomplished as a fellow member of the National League Central.

Just for fun, here are my Top 10 most hated teams, regardless of sport:

1. St. Louis Cardinals baseball – Milwaukee may have become the Cubs primary rival, but this hatred runs deep. Although, if “the Cardinal Way” becomes “the Brewers Way” it might change.
2. Green Bay Packers football – also embedded deep, with the Charles Martin cheap shot and Don Majkowski across the line TD pass helping shape my dislike. After moving to Minnesota, the one point of commonality with the Vikings fans is our shared hatred of the Packers.
3. New York Yankees baseball – their dominance in the late 90s, their free-spending ways, and their awful fans (especially with interfering with balls in play) during my baseball fandom keep them very high on this list.
4. Milwaukee Brewers baseball – They have moved way up the list in the past 5 years, but beyond some spats online with Brewers’ fans and the “L” flag trolling, my only beef with them comes out of jealousy and frustration.
5. Los Angeles Dodgers baseball – So …much…money. Deferred contracts, shenanigans with their TV deal, an owner involved in some shady dealings. A lot to hate. And yet, I was rooting for them over the Brewers in 2026 and the Yankees in 2024.
6. Duke men’s college basketball – Coach K may be retired and Dickie V has been fighting with cancer, so they’ve become a little more difficult to hate. But the blue-blood status and media fawning continues.
7. Iowa men’s college basketball – This is simple: Bruce Pearl, Deon Thomas and the NCAA. One of my close friends is a Hawkeye Alum, so I have to hide my hatred sometimes. Thank goodness the Illini beat Iowa in the Elite 8 last season.
8. Tottenham Hotspur Premier League soccer – this is kind of weird, as I really have no connection to Tottenham other than being an Arsenal fan. But somehow, the hatred has entered my fandom, possibly by osmisis.
9. Indiana men’s college basketball – They were much higher on my list growing up, with Bobby Knight being the primary reason. I can’t believe I actually rooted for them in 1987.
10. Houston Astros baseball – they were very high for a long time due to the garbage can banging in the playoffs. But their lack of playoff success in recent years, and the fact that they are in the AL West, have dropped them down.