Confessions of a Sports Atheist

I'm a sports atheist. But that doesn't mean I'm not a believer.
Most truly avid sports fans love their team, or their city's teams. They can tell you their backup center, their mop-up duty long reliever, and their third line winger. If it's a question about the Yankees, Giants, or Rangers, they know. But when you ask them about the St. Louis Cardinals, Rams, or Blues, it's like these teams don't exist.
I just love sports. The Oakland A's acquired Josh Willingham! The Trailblazers' Brandon Roy looks washed up at Age 26? You're right, Kansas City Chiefs' Dwayne Bowe and homeless Randy Moss are the two receivers most likely to go for 15 catches 150 yards and two touchdowns one week and bagels the next. What I'm saying is: I don't care where the team is, I care period.
I've never really understood why I'm not a homer. It's natural to root for your local teams. It makes sense. You grow up seeing some teams almost every week and they just end up sticking with you.
So is that my problem? I don't think so. I grew up a Yankees fan, but I remember secretly rooting for the Braves when I went to games 1 and 2 of the 1996 World Series. I liked the Yankees enough when I was growing up, but became disillusioned when they bought the rest of the league after 2001. Out, Scott BROscious. Enter Jason Giambi, his golden thong (gross), his 'stache (awesome), and a bagful of steroids (sad).
I still root for the Yankees somewhat, but I'm just not a frenzied fanatic like most of my friends. I find the Yankees to be exciting, but a bit overbearing. It's World Series or bust, but it should be when you have $80 million more talent on your team than 25 of the other 30 teams in the league.
I root for the Mets. My brothers are mostly Mets fans. If the Mets are playing basically anyone in the league, I'd want them to win. But I just don't have that same self-hating, but "maybe this year" mentality that a true Mets fan exudes.
My closest friends from college are sports fans par excellance. I've seen my friend walk around like a ghost for 3 days after a Cowboys' loss and avoid watching SportsCenter for a week because he couldn't bear seeing replays. It's not that he cares only about the Cowboys and nothing else. He can name players 8-deep on every NBA team, which I think is insane. But still, that connection with the Cowboys is so strong that it can sever his desire to connect with the sports world until his 'Boys are on the big screen again the following Sunday.
Most sports fans understand that. You're deeply and undyingly loyal to a single team or a single city. When your team wins, life is good. When your team loses, it's like you've been broken up with. When your team is the Cowboys and you expect to be playing in the Super Bowl, but they're 4-9 instead, then it's like you had a date with Giselle Bundchen but Rosie O'Donnell showed up instead. It's haunting.
I understand that type of sports fan-dom. But it's just not me. Am I destined to be a sports bachelor that likes playing the field too much? Is it wrong that I love sports generally, without limiting myself only to one team or one city?
I don't think so. People find it strange that I like the Steelers being from New Jersey. They think I'm a bandwagon fan. I tell them that the reason I like the Steelers is that my first sports memory is Neil O'Donnell throwing a Super Bowl defeat-clinching INT to Cowboys' Larry Brown. From that point on, I followed the Steelers. Jerome Bettis is my favorite NFL player of all-time. 3.5 yards every carry. Hines Ward is a legend. But that doesn't mean I don't still root for the local Giants and Jets.
Perhaps being from New Jersey has contributed to my general love of sports, but my wariness to lock in on only one team. New Jersey has the Devils and the Nets (kind of, moving to Brooklyn). The Giants and Jets play in New Jersey, but would never be thought of as NJ teams. Can this dearth of local teams explain it?
Hardly. Northern New Jersey passionately loves it's New York teams, while Southern New Jersey loves it's Philly teams. Most of my friends are as rabid Yankees fans as any. The bleed G-Men blue. The minority Mets fans of the bunch are tried and true. If you ask them about the recent Mets September collapses, they become somber and ashen. Even the few Jets fans stuck with them through the 1-15 years and have long awaited a truly competitive team. Being from NJ can't explain it.
Maybe there is no explanation. I'm not going to apologize for loving sports without discriminating. I get the benefit of being able to have genuine cross-league interest, without the pain of defeat when your local team loses.
In response, my Cowboys' friend would, perhaps rightly, point out that true loyalty to a team comes with the lowest of lows, but also the highest of highs.
Maybe he's right. But if loving sports generally is wrong, maybe I don't want to be right. I know it's strange that my sports interest is spread a bit more broadly than normal, but I wouldn't say it's spread too thin. Sports are galvanizing. It doesn't need to be your team for it to be a good game. If you like baseball, you care that Shaun Marcum was traded to the Brewers. Sports interest shouldn't have to be based on one's proximity. It certainly makes sense, but there are enough story lines in any given game to make it interesting to a fan regardless of location.
I understand why people kneel at the alter of the Cowboys, or the Phillies, or the Lakers. But while they're genuflecting, repenting, praying, and rejoicing, I'll be sitting in my lounge chair, watching the days' best game. And I'm fine with that.