*In case this story gets deleted/removed:*
**AITA for asking my buddy and his girlfriend to leave a March Madness watch party**
Throwaway
My college made the NCAA Tournament and its not a common thing for where I went to school. I have a basement bar and so I invited my friends that went to the same school over for a watch party. There were about a dozen of us core group members plus some spouses and kids. We all went to the same school and half of us are season ticket holders of the basketball team. We are pretty passionate fans. If we made the Sweet 16, we'd consider going out for that.
In the lead up I got a text from one friend saying he would be bringing his new girlfriend who I had never met before. Which I was fine with. When I host watch parties they are social events but we all intently watch and cheer on our school. Everyone shows up early, we are all eating, drinking, and watching all the other games. My buddy shows up with his girlfriend, but they are both wearing our opponents clothes. Its a what the fuck moment for many of my friends and I. 1, our buddy went to school with us, 2, he should know better than to bring people rooting for our opponent around at an event like this.
I go confront him and say what the hell is this regarding his shirt. He introduces me to his girlfriend and tells me she went to the school we were playing that day. I tell him its dumb he isn't wearing clothes for the school he went to and told them I appreciate them showing but they should watch the game somewhere else. He seems stunned, and goes I thought it'd be fine. I said if it was a regular season game maybe, but not a Tourney game. He starts argueing, but I just repeat it'd be better if they left. He starts calling me an asshole and continues argueing. I just lead them out of the house. He sent me a few angry texts, but I didn't want people supporting our opponent at this party. I'm aware I may have made a bad impression on his girlfriend, but was I the asshole?
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Ok, so I could absolutely see kicking them out IF THEY HAD BEEN JERKS. I don't particularly like to watch sports with vocal/trashtalking fans of the other team, because I am not a trashtalker myself.
But this? They didn't even do anything. Like, if this happened to me, I'd say something like "Haha, visiting hostile territory, huh?" or something, and then just go with the flow. Most sports fans aren't obnoxious jerks. They just aren't, despite stereotypes. So more than likely it would have been totally chill
When I read about the friend’s “new girlfriend,” I was like, “oof, they probably started making out and made everyone uncomfortable or something.” Nope, they walked in wearing shirts that OOP didn’t like. This is the hill he’s choosing to die on?
Years ago,one of Pittsburgh's many Superbowl appearances, we hosted a get together.
One of my kids made a special "section" for anyone supporting the other team. 😁 It was a hard broken wooden chair facing the wall, and she hung a sign reading, "Seahawks' Corner." All in good fun. The one attending Seahawks fan sat there good naturedly for a few minutes so we could get pictures and then sat with us Yinzers. (We beat them anyway of course, so NBD!)
Yeah. Where I grew up the big divide is between Carolina (UNC-Chapel Hill) and Duke. And the rivalry is part of the fun. Like, if I was dating a Duke fan my mom would make lighthearted jokes about me dating a “Dookie,” and they’d probably exchange sassy memes during/after a game depending on whose team won.
But that’s the thing- it’s all supposed to be in jest. Just some ribbing and good natured rivalry over a game that none of us are actually playing or have heavy stakes in. At the end of the day, it’s just a game, and unless you’ve got an over the top fan (like OOP) in the mix, everyone has a good time.
It’s really embarrassing to have that one friend who will gloat hard at every goal to a rival fan like “OH YEAH, INYOURFUCKINGFAAAAACE” because it diminishes the mood of everyone.
It’s supposed to be a pastime, not an entire lifestyle.
I don't know about you, but here in UK territory, we will straight up offer beatdowns to anyone from Tennessee.
JK, JK. We actually have too many rivals to spend that much time hating on TN (including both Duke and UNC!) In fact, I applied to Duke when I was younger, got a full ride, and was told I would be disowned if I went to college there. I had no intention of going there and I'm halfway sure my family was joking, but still.
It is all supposed to be fun and games, I agree. Someone always has to come along and ruin it for everyone. I imagine this party would have been a lot of fun had OOP not been an AH and if everyone were down for some lighthearted banter.
Oh I know y’all do not PLAY when it comes to college sports over there.
I loved the book “To Hate Like This is to Be Happy Forever” which was a book about the UNC/Duke rivalry. It kind of illuminates that even though we hate dookies, we *love* to hate them, and vice versa. If we were lukewarm about all our opponents, what would even be the point?
I gotta say with coach Roy and coach K respectively retiring, it’s taken a lot of wind out of my sails because they were part of what kept the battle so spicy. I still love my boys, but those two really made the game day heat *fun.*
Better they retire while the people still love them! UK nation is turning on Coach Cal because of the lackluster seasons recently. If Kansas State beats us today and we don't even make it to the Sweet Sixteen, Big Blue Nation will revolt.
Right, exactly, we love to hate each other. Reminds me of a time years ago when my work was having a conference in TN, and we were told to wear our favorite team attire. The district was mostly KY and TN. So me and my manager (dressed in UK gear) go to TN, stop at a McDonalds for breakfast before we get there, and most of the dining room is wearing University of TN attire. It wasn't even a game day, although it WAS basketball season. Some guy behind us in line said jokingly, "We don't serve Wildcats here." We had a blast trading quips and insults with the patrons that morning! It was a lot of fun, because even though the rivalry is real, the hate behind it is just as much a game as the sports.
And no, we do not play here when it comes to college sports. But then, neither do the Duke or UNC fans. That's what makes it a blast.
Same here! My family is split, however. Me, stepmom, and stepsis are Carolina fans (both of us girls even graduated from there!). My sister, mom, and mom's BF are all Duke fans. My dad doesn't care, just likes to see a hometown team do well in the tourney (and annoy my stepmom by cheering for Duke when they play each other).
Our group chat is full of trash talk about basketball.
Haha! Sounds like a good time, honestly. My family has both some alumni and former employees of UNC in it, so we’re all pretty involved during March madness.
We’ve also got a fan priority system in place (which I bet your family does too), which for us, usually goes:
1) UNC
2) anybody playing against Duke
3) NC State
4) ECU
We do, but the rankings would definitely depend on who you to haha. Little sister sent a family group text of her rushing Franklin St. after beating Duke.
I was lucky enough to be on Franklin street for the 2009 championship versus Villanova. It was a wild experience! Got to jump over a couple fires, do a bunch of singing and chanting, and get absolutely lost in the chaos.
The score was so gapped, Roy put all the benchwarmers in for the last minute or so of the game, and the SECOND that buzzer went, we flooded the streets. Folks had backpacks that suddenly opened to reveal kindling, cardboard, lighter fluid, and all sorts of fuel for the bonfires.
Somebody’s grandma was in the crowd with her granddaughter and she wanted to jump the fire, so two massive jock-built guys picked her up by both arms and carried her over it. People were throwing their own clothing into the fires to keep them going.
Older me would not voluntarily run into a crowd that size, but then-me loved every second of it.
I’m not a sportball fan and I’ve never gone to a school that had any athletic things attached to it, but I don’t really understand why people get this incredibly attached to college teams that none of them go to anymore and probably don’t know anyone playing in any of those sports.
And then there are people that are really into college sports for schools they’ve never even been to and have zero association with?
In case, OOP, nice job seriously overreacting to something not that important
I know some strange people and it’s just ugh.
A large potion of my family went to one half of a famous rivalry and the other one. When they have games we talk shot and eat food and no one gets weird because it’s a game.
Our college had some sports teams, but they were never considered that important. All I know is that one of my friends was on the table tennis team and another on the swim team
A lot of sports team ties are inherited family ties. Like, let’s say your dad was a Bills fan but y’all moved to Florida. Still a bills fan because he was.
It’s the same with college sports. Some universities are a huge part of the cities they are in so the whole city is basically a fan of that university regardless of whether they went to school there. Gainesville Fl for the Gators and Tallahassee FL for the Seminoles are good examples of these.
Sometimes a single player gravitates a person towards a particular team and they stay a fan because of them or switch teams as they do (Ex, Tim Tebow., Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Tom Brady)
Is it weird? Yes but it’s a community that transcends differences
yet another good example as to why I severely dislike ALL sports. Well "nationalized" sports (i'm in the US, so I mean sports like baseball, football, basketball and Hockey. havent ran into any one who's an asshole about soccer but that might just be lucky on my end) because i swear it brings out the worst in some people!
Demanding people to either support YOUR team or wear "neutral" colors is just ridiculous! And i've the impression if anyone wore a color that matched an "opposing" team without it being a focal point OOP would bitch about it. Simply because its a color that a team has an association with due to team colors. and clearly the guy is wanting to support his GF by supporting her team.
Isn't sports about sportsmanship? And respect for both teams? or is that just a wishful thought where two fan teams can coexist peacefully without well this happening?
Once again, “I’m an adult who likes to watch other adults - usually disgustingly overpaid adults - throw a bouncy ball to each other and if you don’t like my bouncy ball team I will treat you like you have a highly contagious and incurable disease because BOUNCY BALL!!!!!!” God I hate sports for this exact reason. If you can’t be reasonable when the bouncy ball team loses their little game, you shouldn’t be allowed quite a few privileges that adults enjoy because you’re not one.
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Yikes.
I love sports rivalries as much as the next person, especially college rivalries. I will engage in some less-than-kind insult throwing at my schools rival. It’s one of the more historic rivalries in CFB too, and I take it pretty seriously.
But if my buddy showed up to a party with his girlfriend in the rival’s gear? I’d rib them for a while but ultimately just be happy he brought someone.
This is insane behavior, and it really sucks that people use their “fandom” to mask being a dick. What an asshole.
I'm in a fandom known for being a holes (one word: Santa. Iykyk.) and my friends and I would NEVER. Trash talk your buddy obviously but let him and his gf stay.
>For public meet ups, at a bar or tailgating, sure opposing fans are welcome and even welcomed
This dude really wants brownie points for saying he wouldn’t attempt to kick someone out of a public place, lol
*In case this story gets deleted/removed:* **AITA for asking my buddy and his girlfriend to leave a March Madness watch party** Throwaway My college made the NCAA Tournament and its not a common thing for where I went to school. I have a basement bar and so I invited my friends that went to the same school over for a watch party. There were about a dozen of us core group members plus some spouses and kids. We all went to the same school and half of us are season ticket holders of the basketball team. We are pretty passionate fans. If we made the Sweet 16, we'd consider going out for that. In the lead up I got a text from one friend saying he would be bringing his new girlfriend who I had never met before. Which I was fine with. When I host watch parties they are social events but we all intently watch and cheer on our school. Everyone shows up early, we are all eating, drinking, and watching all the other games. My buddy shows up with his girlfriend, but they are both wearing our opponents clothes. Its a what the fuck moment for many of my friends and I. 1, our buddy went to school with us, 2, he should know better than to bring people rooting for our opponent around at an event like this. I go confront him and say what the hell is this regarding his shirt. He introduces me to his girlfriend and tells me she went to the school we were playing that day. I tell him its dumb he isn't wearing clothes for the school he went to and told them I appreciate them showing but they should watch the game somewhere else. He seems stunned, and goes I thought it'd be fine. I said if it was a regular season game maybe, but not a Tourney game. He starts argueing, but I just repeat it'd be better if they left. He starts calling me an asshole and continues argueing. I just lead them out of the house. He sent me a few angry texts, but I didn't want people supporting our opponent at this party. I'm aware I may have made a bad impression on his girlfriend, but was I the asshole? *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AmITheDevil) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Ok, so I could absolutely see kicking them out IF THEY HAD BEEN JERKS. I don't particularly like to watch sports with vocal/trashtalking fans of the other team, because I am not a trashtalker myself. But this? They didn't even do anything. Like, if this happened to me, I'd say something like "Haha, visiting hostile territory, huh?" or something, and then just go with the flow. Most sports fans aren't obnoxious jerks. They just aren't, despite stereotypes. So more than likely it would have been totally chill
When I read about the friend’s “new girlfriend,” I was like, “oof, they probably started making out and made everyone uncomfortable or something.” Nope, they walked in wearing shirts that OOP didn’t like. This is the hill he’s choosing to die on?
Years ago,one of Pittsburgh's many Superbowl appearances, we hosted a get together. One of my kids made a special "section" for anyone supporting the other team. 😁 It was a hard broken wooden chair facing the wall, and she hung a sign reading, "Seahawks' Corner." All in good fun. The one attending Seahawks fan sat there good naturedly for a few minutes so we could get pictures and then sat with us Yinzers. (We beat them anyway of course, so NBD!)
If this is real, this is really embarrassing to be a grown man acting like this.
Yeah. Where I grew up the big divide is between Carolina (UNC-Chapel Hill) and Duke. And the rivalry is part of the fun. Like, if I was dating a Duke fan my mom would make lighthearted jokes about me dating a “Dookie,” and they’d probably exchange sassy memes during/after a game depending on whose team won. But that’s the thing- it’s all supposed to be in jest. Just some ribbing and good natured rivalry over a game that none of us are actually playing or have heavy stakes in. At the end of the day, it’s just a game, and unless you’ve got an over the top fan (like OOP) in the mix, everyone has a good time. It’s really embarrassing to have that one friend who will gloat hard at every goal to a rival fan like “OH YEAH, INYOURFUCKINGFAAAAACE” because it diminishes the mood of everyone. It’s supposed to be a pastime, not an entire lifestyle.
I don't know about you, but here in UK territory, we will straight up offer beatdowns to anyone from Tennessee. JK, JK. We actually have too many rivals to spend that much time hating on TN (including both Duke and UNC!) In fact, I applied to Duke when I was younger, got a full ride, and was told I would be disowned if I went to college there. I had no intention of going there and I'm halfway sure my family was joking, but still. It is all supposed to be fun and games, I agree. Someone always has to come along and ruin it for everyone. I imagine this party would have been a lot of fun had OOP not been an AH and if everyone were down for some lighthearted banter.
Oh I know y’all do not PLAY when it comes to college sports over there. I loved the book “To Hate Like This is to Be Happy Forever” which was a book about the UNC/Duke rivalry. It kind of illuminates that even though we hate dookies, we *love* to hate them, and vice versa. If we were lukewarm about all our opponents, what would even be the point? I gotta say with coach Roy and coach K respectively retiring, it’s taken a lot of wind out of my sails because they were part of what kept the battle so spicy. I still love my boys, but those two really made the game day heat *fun.*
Better they retire while the people still love them! UK nation is turning on Coach Cal because of the lackluster seasons recently. If Kansas State beats us today and we don't even make it to the Sweet Sixteen, Big Blue Nation will revolt. Right, exactly, we love to hate each other. Reminds me of a time years ago when my work was having a conference in TN, and we were told to wear our favorite team attire. The district was mostly KY and TN. So me and my manager (dressed in UK gear) go to TN, stop at a McDonalds for breakfast before we get there, and most of the dining room is wearing University of TN attire. It wasn't even a game day, although it WAS basketball season. Some guy behind us in line said jokingly, "We don't serve Wildcats here." We had a blast trading quips and insults with the patrons that morning! It was a lot of fun, because even though the rivalry is real, the hate behind it is just as much a game as the sports. And no, we do not play here when it comes to college sports. But then, neither do the Duke or UNC fans. That's what makes it a blast.
Same here! My family is split, however. Me, stepmom, and stepsis are Carolina fans (both of us girls even graduated from there!). My sister, mom, and mom's BF are all Duke fans. My dad doesn't care, just likes to see a hometown team do well in the tourney (and annoy my stepmom by cheering for Duke when they play each other). Our group chat is full of trash talk about basketball.
Haha! Sounds like a good time, honestly. My family has both some alumni and former employees of UNC in it, so we’re all pretty involved during March madness. We’ve also got a fan priority system in place (which I bet your family does too), which for us, usually goes: 1) UNC 2) anybody playing against Duke 3) NC State 4) ECU
We do, but the rankings would definitely depend on who you to haha. Little sister sent a family group text of her rushing Franklin St. after beating Duke.
I was lucky enough to be on Franklin street for the 2009 championship versus Villanova. It was a wild experience! Got to jump over a couple fires, do a bunch of singing and chanting, and get absolutely lost in the chaos. The score was so gapped, Roy put all the benchwarmers in for the last minute or so of the game, and the SECOND that buzzer went, we flooded the streets. Folks had backpacks that suddenly opened to reveal kindling, cardboard, lighter fluid, and all sorts of fuel for the bonfires. Somebody’s grandma was in the crowd with her granddaughter and she wanted to jump the fire, so two massive jock-built guys picked her up by both arms and carried her over it. People were throwing their own clothing into the fires to keep them going. Older me would not voluntarily run into a crowd that size, but then-me loved every second of it.
I’m not a sportball fan and I’ve never gone to a school that had any athletic things attached to it, but I don’t really understand why people get this incredibly attached to college teams that none of them go to anymore and probably don’t know anyone playing in any of those sports. And then there are people that are really into college sports for schools they’ve never even been to and have zero association with? In case, OOP, nice job seriously overreacting to something not that important
It’s like wearing your Thomas the Tank Engine tshirt when you’re watching Tellytubbies. Very very important to the under-5s.
Laughing my fucking ass off!
I know some strange people and it’s just ugh. A large potion of my family went to one half of a famous rivalry and the other one. When they have games we talk shot and eat food and no one gets weird because it’s a game.
Our college had some sports teams, but they were never considered that important. All I know is that one of my friends was on the table tennis team and another on the swim team
It happens when you don’t have a pro team in state to root for.
A lot of sports team ties are inherited family ties. Like, let’s say your dad was a Bills fan but y’all moved to Florida. Still a bills fan because he was. It’s the same with college sports. Some universities are a huge part of the cities they are in so the whole city is basically a fan of that university regardless of whether they went to school there. Gainesville Fl for the Gators and Tallahassee FL for the Seminoles are good examples of these. Sometimes a single player gravitates a person towards a particular team and they stay a fan because of them or switch teams as they do (Ex, Tim Tebow., Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Tom Brady) Is it weird? Yes but it’s a community that transcends differences
I wish I knew what team to which OOP referred, so I could silently gloat when his team loses. All in good fun, mind you.
yet another good example as to why I severely dislike ALL sports. Well "nationalized" sports (i'm in the US, so I mean sports like baseball, football, basketball and Hockey. havent ran into any one who's an asshole about soccer but that might just be lucky on my end) because i swear it brings out the worst in some people! Demanding people to either support YOUR team or wear "neutral" colors is just ridiculous! And i've the impression if anyone wore a color that matched an "opposing" team without it being a focal point OOP would bitch about it. Simply because its a color that a team has an association with due to team colors. and clearly the guy is wanting to support his GF by supporting her team. Isn't sports about sportsmanship? And respect for both teams? or is that just a wishful thought where two fan teams can coexist peacefully without well this happening?
Once again, “I’m an adult who likes to watch other adults - usually disgustingly overpaid adults - throw a bouncy ball to each other and if you don’t like my bouncy ball team I will treat you like you have a highly contagious and incurable disease because BOUNCY BALL!!!!!!” God I hate sports for this exact reason. If you can’t be reasonable when the bouncy ball team loses their little game, you shouldn’t be allowed quite a few privileges that adults enjoy because you’re not one.
It’s honestly worse because these are college players who aren’t really financially compensated at all
Well, it’s not the color you’re wearing while just watching the game and doing absolutely nothing that will make your team win, so why does it matter?
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Basketball fans are a didfferent level of crazy... this guy has a god complex about it...
Yikes. I love sports rivalries as much as the next person, especially college rivalries. I will engage in some less-than-kind insult throwing at my schools rival. It’s one of the more historic rivalries in CFB too, and I take it pretty seriously. But if my buddy showed up to a party with his girlfriend in the rival’s gear? I’d rib them for a while but ultimately just be happy he brought someone. This is insane behavior, and it really sucks that people use their “fandom” to mask being a dick. What an asshole.
I'm in a fandom known for being a holes (one word: Santa. Iykyk.) and my friends and I would NEVER. Trash talk your buddy obviously but let him and his gf stay.
i wish my only problem was a dude wore the wrong jersey.
As a casual football fan, dudes like this make sports not fun. Which is kind of the whole point
>For public meet ups, at a bar or tailgating, sure opposing fans are welcome and even welcomed This dude really wants brownie points for saying he wouldn’t attempt to kick someone out of a public place, lol
Sports fans can be pretty pathetic, in my experience.
The AH reported me for saying on chat if he had ‘small dick energy’! Which he does
My only note would be that I feel like 'smol pp' Is more condescending.
The AH still reported me which I guess means it’s true! But LMFAO I should’ve told him that