Like you, I grew up on Houston Oilers football and that started my passion for watching pro football.
As a result of the Oilers, I hated two teams: the Steelers and the Cowboys.
Hate for the Steelers was obvious. The road went through Pittsburgh, and as a division rival, they pretty much owned the Oilers when it mattered the most (playoffs). Heartbreak leads to hate.
Hate for the Cowboys was a different matter. They weren't in our division or even in our conference. I just hated them because my folks hated them, because many people around me taught me to hate them.
Why? Well, in hindsight, it's pretty obvious. It had very little do to with anything on the field. "America's Team" and all the smug bandwagon fans, multiple Super Bowls and championships, smug Cowboys fans who live in Houston. The whole thing just reeked of herd mentality and had no basis in tribal logic like you have with rooting for a hometown team. As an adult, I recognize it. Some folks want to associate with winners, regardless if they have any ties to them. And some folks resent that and perhaps even envy the success that continuously eludes the home team.
Fast forward to the run & shoot era, 35-3, Buddy Ryan. Good times, but heartbreak. MONUMENTAL sports depression. Almost life changing in the way it warps a fan's perception of things. I certainly never rooted for a team like I did after that historic meltdown. I doubt that I ever could again. Reality check. It's just a game. They play and we watch and all that jazz. Entertainment.
Then - POOF! - the team is gone. Just like that. Lots of reasons, none of them in any of our control as individuals. Just politics, business, and lots of bad history with an obtuse owner.
Hatred follows. Burning desire to be mean to the man. Hatred so heated that it diminishes the dislike for those enemies of yesteryear. My hate for the Titans eclipsed anything I felt about the Cowboys or Steelers, to the point that I lost any animosity toward Pittsburgh and developed a mere dislike for Dallas. My reality check was bouncing due to insufficient funds in the account...
Weird feeling, though. Those players were drafted as Houston Oilers. Strange dichotomy to be a free agent fan. Rooted a little for old enemy John Elway, jumped on a Brett Favre bandwagon. But never really cared, to be honest. Just needed a fix.
Continue to fast foward...yay, Houston got a team!...19-10! It's on!...what...that's our highlight reel?...that one game?...2-14, blech!...hometown hero as head coach rah rah rah...VY debacle, Houston fans eating their own....oh wait, we finally beat the Colts after 10 tries...yippee!...another highlight for our reel!...*sigh*
And.Here.We.Are.
Y'know, the dictionary defines "rival" as: team that competes with another in the same field. Very generic, and describes all of our division opponents.
But, in the NFL, rivalries are different. They are forged through the years of competition. Made through the blood and sweat of players duking it out when things matter. History of team rivalries include playoffs, dashed chances, and smack downs that mean something.
When things matter...
And NFL rivalries are - or at least should be - beyond just fan emotion. It should be the attitude of the teams themselves. From the owners, coaches, and players, they hate each other and leave everything they've got on the field trying to beat the other team.
So I guess what I'm getting at...when have things mattered for the Houston Texans? When is Texans vs. Titans really going to mean something to our team?
Yeah, we can Buck Fud as fans until we are luv ya blue in the face (sorry, couldn't resist). We can tell our players, our kids, and each other.
But when is OUR team going to REPRESENT us? They certainly could have cared less about our desire to punk the Cowboys last year. Some of us are still seething about that apathy.
AJ was The Man by beating the F out of Innegan. That said a whole lot to us, meant a lot to us, like it was each of our fists beating the crap out of that old Slug Adams...but then...then our team goes and rolls over like a beaten dog in Nashville just a few weeks later.
Until this game matters to our team, and I mean REALLY matters like the old Steelers rivalry, I'm slowing losing that desire to get pumped full of animosity in a silly sports sort of way when perpetual mediocrity represents us.
I'll care about it being more than another division game when our team cares about it being more than another division game. They let VY punk us in our house. They let a freakin' kicker set an NFL record in our house.
This week's game matters. If this is The Year, and you know what I'm talking about as Texans fans, then let's see our team act like it on the field.
Beat down the Titans and demand the division. Bring home PRIDE. BRING HOME VICTORY.
Otherwise, it's just another division game. And just another Texans season.
