At the very end of the AFC title game today, they showed a fan waving a the Chicago “W” (for win) flag which got me thinking, which team does Indianapolis root for?
As a quick side note, to all the Jets fans out there, sorry you didn't win today. I was rooting for you. I don't talk about Football here that much, but many of you who follow this blog know that I am born in North Jersey but I was raised in Baltimore. Through my childhood I had a strong connection the New York Mets, but not to any New York football teams. I was in first grade when Baltimore got the Ravens, thus that Baltimore bond was formed (yet I say Baltimore like I'm from the north, so Ravens fans see me as an imposter as well).
The more I started to think about this, the more I realized how complex of a question this is. My knowledge of sports in that region of the United States is slim. In fact, it really only goes as far as knowing that I have relatives that live in Louisville, KY, which basically borders south Ohio and south Indiana. From what I understand, in at least football terms in that part of KY, fans either root for the Bengals, or the slightly farther Colts.
When it comes to baseball in Indiana though, because that is where this article focuses on, there are no major league teams in the state, but the state is surrounded by several teams. In neighboring Illinois, there are the Cubs and White Sox. In neighboring Ohio, there are the Indians and the closer Reds. In fact, the Reds seem to be the closest team to Indianapolis. That does not mean that Colt fans root for the Reds.
My understanding of fandom out in most of the country is mostly due to this map. While I take this map with a grain of salt (mainly because it does over exaggerate a lot of places), there is some truth in it. The Cubs are an extremely popular team, an atribute that is helped out by their coverage on WGN. Of course there is also the ever popular Cards as well. Another team to cosider (oddly) is the Pirates. Conventional thinking would say that the Pirates are too far away however Indianopolis does have a baseball team, and its the AAA affialties of the Pirates.
I think this is just a long explanation to say that I have no idea who Colt fans root for, and if any of you out there know, I would really appreciate it.
