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Whatever city you are from or near, that city's pro team gives you a sense of unity and identity. When the team wins, everyone gets to rejoice and be proud. When the team loses, it gves everyone a sesne to be collectively depressed. Either way, the city's sports team proves to be the great unifier.
That is why like it or not, a city never seems to be considered "big time" until it gets a pro sports team. A city can have all the great restaraunts possible, all the great museums you can think of, but without that sports team for everyone to get behind, it would always seem to be missing something.
And yes, players change teams. The team could move and break the city's heart. But no matter what, the idea of the five or nine or eleven or how many ever guys wearing a city's name across their chests carries a great amount of power to the city's people. When they win the championship, people go into the streets in spontaneous, joyful celebration. When they lose a heartbreaking game, the whole city seems to shut down.
I remember being in Baltimore last year when the Ravens were about face the Indianapolis (Colts), who were the former incarnation of the Baltimore Colts before they were ripped away from the city in the middle of the night. The whole week the city was psyching itself up--the word was should the Ravens win, what a great catharsis it would be for the 13 years the city was without a NFL team. And in the end, the Ravens lost. And the day after, the whole city seemed to be in a huge funk--I walked into a supermarket and nobody seemed to have the slightest of smile or in the mood to talk. In a way, it was sad. But in another way, it felt good in a strange way. Too many times, people get sad and depressed over things that no one else can understand or relate to. But when you see an entire city sad, you get the feeling that just for this one little, seemingly inconsequential thing, you are not alone in your bitterness and disappointment. That you have several hundred thousand people who feel the same way you do, for the exact same reason you do. And it gives you a connection with your neighbors, in the strangest of ways.
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