Ahh, what does a true sports fan love more than doing battle with others?
Teams/Franchises
- Sports message boards are rife with this kind of strife, even setting aside the classic, easily mockable (Yankees Suck!/Red Sox suck!) back-and-forths between fanbases. Within a fandom there is almost always a Broken Base. Best-case scenario, fans of a team will simply disagree on the quality of a given transaction. Over a long enough time, however, fans who frequently criticize management are usually accused of disloyalty or outright troll status, while those who frequently defend management are considered irrational fanboys incapable of independent thought. And that's without mentioning the cults of personality that tend to develop around certain players; if the two players should happen to compete for playing time with each other, the Flame Wars can get quite messy. Serious Business, indeed.
- Go ask NHL fans how teams in warm weather cities are doing, and prepare to duck from the flames. On one side are fans who point to Dallas, Los Angeles, San Jose, Anaheim, and Las Vegas as proof that the sport can succeed in places without snow; on the other are the fans who point to Florida, Atlanta and Phoenix as proof that the sport doesn't work in such areas, with Carolina, Nashville and Tampa used by both sides to prove their point. Don't even try touching the debate about whether the league should be on ESPN or NBC Sports Network in the US, either...
- Formula One fanbase is pretty broken. Essentially, there are two types of F1 fans now:
- First, the “purist” F1 fans which highly praise the old times saying it was the pinnacle of the sport and the 90s were the start of the decay with the introduction of driving aids and refueling. The F1 purists also highly praise the classic circuits, like Monza, Monaco, and Spa, saying they are the masterpieces of racing while hating the new circuits for having excessive asphalt run-off areas. While they praise the refueling ban in the recent era, they criticize the restrictions in aerodynamics and engines, saying F1 should pursue speed and that this will make the races better. F1 purists also often criticize the pursuit of safety, arguing that F1 is safe enough now and the drivers know the risks. Purists generally see the new fans and the open minded ones as people who don't know the “true F1” and should watch some classic races before saying anything.
- Second, the “open minded” F1 fans who welcome almost any changes that improve the racing or make the sport more fair, like technology restrictions and the cost cap (which limits the money which an F1 team could spend in a season). They also strongly defend a more fair distribution of F1 money in order for small teams to have a chance of closing the gap between themselves and the best teams, making the races more exciting. Also, the open minded ones don't care about tradition or the historic value of F1. They think it's better to make changes instead of living in traditionalism. Open minded fans generally see the purists as nostalgia-driven fans.
- About the Monaco Grand Prix, some fans say the circuit isn't suitable for F1 now, due to the excessive car downforce and the lack of overtaking points, resulting in boring races. The purist fanbase usually hits back saying the Monaco Grand Prix is a traditional F1 circuit and should racing here forever and F1 without Monaco isn't F1.
- The proposal of a canopy broke the base even more (even the F1 drivers themselves have different opinions about this). The purists say an F1 car must have an open cockpit and that adding a canopy will ruin the design of car, making it ugly and looking like a Le Mans car. Others insist that F1 must continue to make safety improvements, often pointing to the deaths of Henry Surtees, Maria di Villotta, and Jules Bianchi, and that whether the cars are safe is more important than whether they're good-looking.
- About the other open-wheel series, F1 purists generally hate IndyCar saying it's a luck based racing series and hate Formula E too because of electric motors and the annoying motor sound. Other F1 fans don't mind and some of them follow these two racing series.
- North American open-wheel racing:
- The split (from 1996 to 2008): did you like CART / Champ Car (more road racing and undoubtedly the more popular drivers up until around 2002) or the IndyCar Series (strictly ovals until 2005, including the Indy 500, but started adding non-ovals prior to the open-wheel reunion)?
- After the split: The all-or-mostly ovals schedule that was part of the IndyCar Series' original plan, or the roughly 50/50 schedule between ovals and road/street courses that's taken effect since 2009? Do you like how similar the cars are, or does it turn you off? Is Danica Patrick a legitimately good racer or is she just eye candy that happened to get a win in 2008?
- The Yankees/Red Sox rivalry: greatest rivalry in sports or the Creator's Pet of baseball due to its massive coverage by ESPN?
- A lot of individual franchises have their base-breakers as well, typically among the players. Alex Rodriguez, PED-using cheater who deserves to get pegged at least once a game, or superstar with a bad rep? Aroldis Chapman; domestic abuser who should never be allowed to play, or superhuman flamethrower? The Cubs especially got hit hard by the Chapman base break when they traded for him to be their closer in 2016, and giving up the game-tying homer to Rajai Davis in Game 7 of the World Series did NOT help matters.
- Women's American football
- Legends (formerly Lingerie) Football Leaguenote vs. "traditional" women's football (WFA, IWFL, USWFL). The LFL proponents point to their organization's success, TV deal (with MTV2), notable arenas, and major publicity, dismissing the fully-equipped women's leagues as purists who are beneath notice, claiming that their game is slow-paced and boring while noting that they don't have one-tenth the publicity that the LFL/X League has. On the other hand, the traditional women's proponents' argument is more one of integrity, claiming they play "real" football closer to the NFL, NCAA, and high school rules, and the LFL is a cheap gimmick, with the women degrading themselves for the publicity.
- Especially true in markets which are home to both LFL and WFA/IWFL/USWFL teams. It is not uncommon for the traditional women's team to challenge the LFL team to a scrimmage (in Chicago, the WFA's Force to the LFL's Bliss, in Cleveland, the WFA's Fusion to the LFL's Crush, and in St. Louis, the WFA's Slam to the LFL's Saints). Of course, no LFL team has accepted, or even answered said traditional team's challenge as of yet.
- Legends (formerly Lingerie) Football Leaguenote vs. "traditional" women's football (WFA, IWFL, USWFL). The LFL proponents point to their organization's success, TV deal (with MTV2), notable arenas, and major publicity, dismissing the fully-equipped women's leagues as purists who are beneath notice, claiming that their game is slow-paced and boring while noting that they don't have one-tenth the publicity that the LFL/X League has. On the other hand, the traditional women's proponents' argument is more one of integrity, claiming they play "real" football closer to the NFL, NCAA, and high school rules, and the LFL is a cheap gimmick, with the women degrading themselves for the publicity.
- Christian Laettner making the 1992 US Dream Team over Shaquille O'Neal. Today people feel Shaq should've been the lone college player selected to the team due to being the #1 pick in that year's NBA draft and going on to have a Hall of Fame career. Laettner's defenders point out that while he didn't become a superstar in the NBA, he is still considered one of the greatest college players of all time, won National Player of the Year in 1992 and a national championship, and out-dueled Shaq when their respective college teams Duke and LSU met in both 1991 and 1992.
- National Football League:
- San Francisco 49ers fans are a tad divided on the team's move from Candlestick Park in San Francisco to Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, about 50 miles south. Longtime fans find it a sore point for obvious reasons, while others point out that the 49ers are headquartered in Santa Clara anyway, so if anything it's a convenience for the players who don't have to travel long distances from their facilities to their home games anymore. Another form of Broken Base concerns traffic; fans in the South Bay are either grateful that 49ers home games are much easier to travel to and also enjoy the many public transit options (several local bus lines, a light rail line, and trains from two transit agencies make stops at or near Levi's Stadium on a daily basis, a benefit Candlestick Park lacked even amongst San Francisco locals), while others (along with non-fans) feel that the resulting traffic practically turns several key expressways and highways into parking lots on game days.
- One proposed idea for Levi's Stadium was for both the 49ers and the Oakland Raiders to share the same stadium. Proponents supported it from an economic standpoint (since both teams were in roughly the same region, why not have them in the same stadium, much like the Giants and Jets?), and opponents pointed out that the Raiders' historically rowdy fanbase (just look up "Raider Nation") and the rivalry between 49ers and Raiders fans—known for getting straight up violent at times—made this a very, very bad idea. This all became moot when the Raiders moved to Las Vegas after the 2019 season.
- Did the Indianapolis Colts tank the 2011 season (2-14 record) as a means to get Andrew Luck with the first pick in the next NFL Draft? Some will say that they did, because it was getting to that point where the Colts were looking for a replacement for their longtime quarterback Peyton Manning, who had just gone through multiple neck surgeries. Others will say that they didn't since the two games they won occurred within the final three games of the season where they had all the reason at that point to pack their bags and try again next year.
Rules of the game
- College football's BCS. Was it really better than what there was before? What teams should be involved in a given year? Do teams from outside the power conferences have a fair chance? And the big one: Should the whole thing just be blown up and replaced with a playoff?
- Now that the four-team College Football Playoff took the place of the BCS in 2014, the argument has shifted to how many teams should be eligible and how can a team be eligible.
- A discussion of NHL fan opinion split that doesn't include the phrase 'shootout'? For shame. It's not just the fans that are divided, opinion of its effect on the game are divided amongst the players!
- Also... fighting in hockey. Many hockey fans love a good tumble but there are many fans who refuse to watch the NHL but love the international juniors because of its clean fight-free play.
- Dispute over different rules codes, or between supporters and opponents of a change in the rules. For example, the "designated hitter" rule in effect in Major League Baseball's American League (but not the National League) has its supporters and detractors. There are also differences in rules between professional and college football, and between professional and college basketball, the relative merits of which are disputed by fans of the sport.
- For the designated hitter rule, its detractors are traditionally from the older school of baseball fans, who believe everyone should have a chance to hit and field, no matter how lousy pitchers typically are at the bat. They believe it reeks of specialization, effectively turning MLB into something akin to modern-day NFL. On the other hand, the DH rule's supporters believe it makes baseball more exciting and high-scoring, while allowing pitchers to focus on what they do best, and allowing certain hitters who can't run or field much due to injuries (or other reasons) to remain productive.
- Speaking of modern-day, specialized NFL and American football in general, many older fans and ex-players long for the days of two-way football, where it wouldn't be uncommon for players to play every single down, all 60 minutes, on both offense and defense. Then again, fans of American football as we now know it believe that playing two-way ended a lot of careers prematurely, and often increased the likelihood of dementia in ex-players.
- In 2005, the NBA changed its collective bargaining rules regarding player eligibility. By the mid-2010s, this affected college basketball's base, breaking it between (more or less) two different ideologies.
- The traditional powerhouses (Duke, Kentucky, etc.) using "one-and-done" players: elite five-star recruits who are students for only one year before declaring for the NBA Draft with an emphasis on individual talent and up-tempo offense. In the eyes of their critics, this was nothing more than taking the student out of student-athlete, practically ignoring defense, and ignoring the team aspect of the sport by trying to turn the NCAA into the NBA-lite.
- More low-tempo, team-oriented, lower-scoring, defense-intensive teams. The chief examples included Arizona, Virginia, and Wisconsin. Virginia's meteoric rise over two years from the barely .500 in the ACC to outright conference champion (and later national champion) was particularly criticized by those in the first camp as the epitome of "boring" and "what's wrong with college basketball", and helped spur a shortening of the shot clock down to 30 seconds in 2015. Possibly related to this was that these three teams run the "pack-line" defense, invented by former Wisconsin coach (and father of Virginia's coach) Dick Bennett.
Individual Players/Staff Members
- LeBron James leaving Cleveland and going to Miami. Was it a betrayal of his hometown and team, or was it warranted, due to his team being ineffective and his free agency period allowing him to join another team? Was The Decision really that bad, or was it just a clumsy way to say where he was going to? Can we blame him for The Decision, or does it fall on the shoulders of ESPN for even giving it that much publicity? Was he flat-out cheating his way into a championship by teaming up with two superstars, or was it warranted, due to being the only competent man in his original team for seven straight years? Many agree that he got cockier afterwards, but does he still deserve the same amount of disdain since then?
- Apparently not, since he returned to Cleveland in 2014 and brought an NBA title to the city in 2016. While he left again in 2018, this time for the LA Lakers (where he'd win another title in 2020), he got a lot less hate in Cleveland this time around, because of the title and his much classier departure. Not to mention that even the most dedicated Cavs fans realized their title window had closed.
- Billy Beane and his "Moneyball" system either does what nobody else thought to do to - make a great baseball team on a shoestring budget, or created an overrated endlessly-copied system which makes for boring play and limited success in the postseason and gives cheap general managers an excuse for not paying people what they're worth. (For the uninitiated, he uses spreadsheets and such to determine from past statistics who the most underrated players are, and he rejects some flashy strategies like stealing in favor of whatever has the highest statistical probability of getting a run.)
- Peyton Manning is either the Jesus Christ of professional American football, or he's an overrated, whiny douchebag who chokes in pressure situations. The latter group had mostly grown silent since the Colts won Super Bowl XLI, but their loss to the Saints was like miracle CPR to them, as Manning threw a critical interception in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XLIV which ensured a Colts defeat. His stint with the Broncos has done nothing to silence the debate. First he produced an unquestionably great regular season, shattering records and earning MVP in the process only to spectacularly lose in the Super Bowl (though his own statistical production in the game was decent at the very least). Then, two years later, he plays an abysmal injury plagued regular season, gets benched in favor of his backup and somehow still makes it to the Super Bowl which his defense wins for him (though he made no major mistake and Cam Newton did not look good in the game either). Manning would retire a month after that Super Bowl. The debate comes down to individual achievements versus team performance or more crudely "stats vs. rings". Often those debates are complicated by dragging Tom Brady into it, who is in many ways Peyton's foil and has his own very vocal fans and detractors.
- Michael Vick, before, during and after his conviction and jail term for dog-fighting: "He's paid his debt. Leave him be" crowd vs. the "That dogkiller should be a pariah" crowd. There's also the third crowd: fans of the Eagles who say "Why did we hire this guy again? He can't win a game to save his life!"
- Similarly (to an extent), Ben Roethlisberger following the Pittsburgh Steeler quarterback following the recent string of accusations of sexual assault (particularly a 2010 accusation that led to his being suspended for the first four games of that season).
- Eli Manning (Peyton's younger brother). Genius clutch god who "outbradyed Brady" twice. Or "Fluke to end all Flukes" who got lucky with a ball stuck in a facemask? Not at all helped by the fact that he was the first overall pick in the 2004 draft which produced an impressive amount of good or very good quarterbacks and went to the team with the most insane media market in the league. Since he retired after the 2019 season without either another Vince Lombardi Trophy or seriously awful choking, the dispute will likely never be settled. However, the fact that his play outside of the two Super Bowl seasons has been very inconsistent has also played a part.
- Stephon Marbury, he's either a selfish Jerkass who destroyed the Knicks organization, or a guy who was vindictively, blackballed and railroaded because of his testimony at a sexual harassment case that was leveled at the Knicks organization (which damaged their case). Or all of the above...
- ...but don't say that to any Chinese fan, as he resurrected his career in the Chinese Basketball Association, and became by all accounts a model immigrant, even being granted permanent residency in the country.
- Fans of the Houston Rockets had a civil war for a long time over now-retired star Tracy McGrady. His defenders said he was a hard-working player who battled through injuries, was forced to have major surgery, and then after working extremely hard on the rehab was benched due to their vindictive coach or GM. His attackers viewed him as a selfish media hound who puts himself before the team, has been faking his injuries for the last 2 years, and was no longer part of the new star-less system created by their brilliant coach and GM that has done wonders for the team. And then we don't even get into the GM, Daryl Morey, who has been bringing the "Moneyball" approach described below into basketball.
- Prepare to run from the chaos that will ensue if you say Alexander Ovechkin is better than Sidney Crosby, or vice-versa.
- This seems to be dying down since it looks like while Alex is good, Sid before his unfortunate concussion was clearly surpassing his famous rival.
- The fact that Crosby has multiple team awards note while Ovechkin and his Washington Capitals had yet to win anything but regular season awards doesn't help Ovechkin supporters, either. Ovechkin finally hoisting Lord Stanley's Mug in 2018 didn't quiet the controversy.
- Kimbo Slice for many mixed martial arts fans. Was he a real fighter, one from the street with no training who just had a bad run, or a hustler who scammed his way onto national television for a buck?
- Tim Tebow for NFL fans. His outspoken religiosity tends to be divisive. His abilities as a quarterback even more. Although he led the Denver Broncos to some amazing comeback victories in the 2011 season, his (in)ability to pass well sparked much criticism.
- Although his fans and detractors at least seem to agree that the Tebowing phenomenon is highly amusing, and it has become one of the first major memes of the Internet age that isn't restricted to younger generations, but apparently enjoyed by all age groups in America. (for any Europeans reading this, do a Google image search for Tebowing, you'll see what we mean).
- He continues to be this, despite being the backup quarterback for a team that missed the playoffs last year; during preseason, the New York Daily News was publishing his stats
from practices, apparently just so people can argue about him. - And even after leaving football behind for an attempt at a pro baseball career that never got him to The Show. And then an unsuccessful attempt to revive his NFL career in 2021 as a tight end.
- The Jerry Sandusky case has done this to Penn State's football fandom, particularly when anything related to Joe Paterno comes up. However, the pro-Paterno faction appears to be the most vocal.
- Jay Bouwmeester brings Calgary Flames boards to rubble at the mention of his name. He was acquired as a player that was expected to take the team over the top, but in a league where 50% of the teams qualify for the playoffs, failed to do that in his tenure. Combined with a low intensity personality and a big paycheck, and the ongoing conflict of him being a capable player on a bad team or being dead weight nearly brought entire forums to their knees. He would eventually win a Stanley Cup... with the St. Louis Blues.
- Lolo Jones: Fans of track & field either think she's a media darling because of her great personality, or it's because she's light-skinned and attractive. Also bring up how the media overly profile her at the expense of her other team mates, whom some believe is more deserving of the attention.
- Some would justify her media coverage due to the fact she has personality and is media friendly. But that within itself is controversial. What's more important: Looks and personality? Or skill? Ideally both but her popularity seems to primarily be based on her looks and charisma more so than athletic ability.
- Australian Rules Football, amongst Essendon fans: Is Kevin Sheedy the greatest coach in the history of the game, or an overrated, self-hyped man who should have won more premierships than he did?
- In the modern boxing world, there's Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. Considered by sports experts as the best pure boxer (Mayweather) and the best slugger (Pacquiao) of their generation. Mayweather went undefeated for his entire career, and spent much of it on top of the pound-for-pound list as the number one boxer. Pacquiao was honored as the fighter of the decade for his great run that lasted nearly ten years. However, according to boxing fans, either both fighters are great and represent possibly the last generation of truly talented fighters since both have retired or are close to it, or they're cherry-picking frauds whom carefully chose their opponents to make themselves look good.
- Richie McCaw: one of the best rugby players of all time and a great leader/role model, or a dirty cheat who gets away with murder by playing the referee? Your answer is likely to be heavily influenced by whether McCaw plays for or against your team.
Football
- For whatever incomprehensible reason, fans of Association Football absolutely adore getting into online flame wars about whether to call it "soccer" or "football".
- And in real life, too.
John Oliver: When you call the sport by that name [soccer], an Englishman dies. - Arsène Wenger: a manager doing the best he can with limited finances, or a stubborn manager who has focussed on his youth policy to the detriment of the team?
- After the groundbreaking transfer of Mesut Özil, however, he seems to have broken the image of "stingy old man" for most people.
- There was also the VERY loud debate between Arsenal fans over whether he should be allowed to stay due to the success of the club under him (three League titles - one of which saw them go an entire season without losing a game in the leaguenote - and seven FA Cups), or whether he's had his time at the club and somebody new should be allowed to take the reins. That was finally settled when he was shown the door after the 2017–18 season.
- Manchester City (and before that, Chelsea): Teams just doing what's necessary to compete with Manchester United by spending bucketloads of cash, or ruining Association Football by distorting competition?
- Who is the greater/more iconic English football team: Liverpool or Manchester United?
- The Premier League: The best league in the world that provides thrilling entertainment, or a cash cow that has spoiled the game, concentrated the trophies in too few hands, ruined the English national team by over saturating the highest competition with foreign-born players and that the lower leagues represent "proper" football?
- Although the perception of Premier League is "concentrated the trophies in too few hands" might have been changed due to Leicester City's shockingly unexpected title in 2015-16, proving that you don't need to be a powerhouse teamnote or need to have lots of moneynote to have a shot for the title.
- Barcelona: One of the best sides of all time that provide brilliant entertainment or diving, whining cheats that aren't really that exciting anyway because they just pass it without actually doing anything with it?
- Stoke City under Tony Pulis: Practical, pragmatic tactics that allowed Stoke to stay in the Premier League, get to a cup final and qualify for Europe, or dire, dull and dirty?
- Not only discussions about whoever is the best player in the world today (Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar...) get heated, but you can expect the mention of the "greatest of all time" Pelé (or the nearest contender, Maradona), and discussion on if the player being defended is better than him.
Other
- The animosity between rugby union and rugby league have been going on for over a hundred years, with league supporters accusing rugby union elitist, and union supporters calling league a game for "criminals and northerners". While the vitriol has decreased somewhat since the professionalization of rugby union, the debate shows no signs of going away.
- In women's gymnastics, the debate usually is Russia vs. USA. On Tumblr, saying you like the American team better is pretty much a death sentence. More generally, this extends into a divide between those who emphasize the 'artistic' part of "artistic gymnastics" and think that dance and musicality are paramount while big tumbling is less important, vs those who emphasize the 'gymnastics' part and think that the sport should be doing skills that are bigger, better, higher, and stronger, dance and musicality be damned.
- Relatedly, the just exactly what the definition of 'artistry' should in the first place. Does someone like the USA's Jordyn Wieber, with clear musicality but a more modern style of choreography, count? Or is the term to be reserved for the balletic style of choreography exemplified by the Netherlands' Lieke Wevers, despite her relatively low-difficulty tumbling? Do not even breathe in this argument's direction if you value your life.
- Relatedly, the just exactly what the definition of 'artistry' should in the first place. Does someone like the USA's Jordyn Wieber
- In Rugby Union, the New Zealand All Blacks' performance of haka before each game. Some fans believe that it's a great spectacle that adds to the contest, while others say it is "barbaric" and gives the All Blacks an unfair psychological advantage. Other teamsnote also do a similar performance before the game, but the All Blacks' one is by far the most controversial, because they are regularly the #1 ranked team in the world and therefore get more attention.
- The rise of advanced stats has caused some vicious Broken Bases over individual players, teams, strategies, and the nature of statistics themselves. As of 2015, the acceptance of advanced stats is near-universal in baseball and basketball (with the exception of some pundits), but American football and particularly ice hockey see spirited debates over attributes like grit, heart, toughness, and winning/choking nature, all of which stat-heads argue are almost entirely made up.
- The allegations of Spanish conspiracy in the 2015 MotoGP season has caused some massive Broken Bases over the last few races. The most notable of those though, is the penalty received by Valentino Rossi over his collision with Marc Márquez at Sepang. He was forced to start from last after being deemed kicking Marquez's bike in that incident. Those who sided with Márquez said that Rossi deserved the penalty, since according to them, he rides dirty and he has some notable & controversial incidentsnote with other riders throughout his career. Those who sided with Rossi, however, noted that the incident is started by Márquez running into Rossi's knee; had Márquez seemingly let Lorenzo pass him several laps before the incident happened; and there's no way that someone is able to knock down a moving 157 kg motorcycle with just a kick note .
- In cycling, any ex-doper returning to the sport, no matter the role, can spark a lot of debate.
- Australian Rules Football: The Brownlow Medal is awarded to the "Best and Fairest" player in a season, and players who have been suspended during the regular season are ineligible for that year. The controversy over whether it should simply be for the best player, and suspended players should be eligible, has raged for decades (the great, yet Brownlowless, Jack Dyer once said that the medal goes to the greatest milksop).
- Adding to the controversy is the existence of the Leigh Matthews Trophy, awarded by the AFL players' union to the league's MVP as voted by the players themselves. This award disregards disciplinary suspensions; in fact, one player who finished in a tie for the Brownlow but was disqualified due to a suspension won the Matthews Trophy in that same season.
- An unrelated controversy comes from the method by which the winners are determined. The Brownlow Medal is awarded on a points system, with the game officials determining the three best players in each match, with points accumulating over the season. (By contrast, the Matthews Trophy is based on the entire regular season.) This system has led to its own controversies:
- Umpires cast their votes for each game regardless of the eligibility criteria of the players—meaning that a player who is known to be ineligible can still receive votes. In fairness, this system does allow for cases in which a player is clearly among the best on the ground, but gets reported for a violation in that match but later cleared by the AFL Tribunal (avoiding a suspension).
- Many believe that the officials are not the best suited individuals to judge the quality of gameplay.
- Additionally, midfielders have dominated the list of Brownlow honourees. Some of the game's greatest players in "key positions" (i.e., forwards and backs) have never come close to the Brownlow. By contrast, the Matthews Trophy is far more likely to go to a key-position player.
