Why I still (kind of) root for New York sports teams

   I recently watched an NFL football game on television between the San Francisco 49ers and the New York Giants, and the matchup gave me pause to think about my relation to the two cities where I have lived my life. As a person that spent their first forty two in New York City, I pretty much always find myself rooting for New York sports teams when I do happen to see them play on television, and always like to see the San Francisco teams lose, even though I have chosen to live here for the past nine and a half years.
   It bothers me as I think about it here that I have not fully adopted the city I live in as I thought I wanted to. If I had truly given myself over to this beautiful place, I wouldn't take such delight in seeing their sports teams lose, but as I think about it here further (and give myself a fair shake), I realize that this is a small city compared to where I come from, and when the sports teams here are champions, it feels like a small town, complete with small town pride in their teams. Everywhere I go, everyone seems to be talking about it for a long time afterwards. In New York, when one of the teams achieve championship status, many celebrate, but it is soon forgotten, and many just don't give a shit at all. That large bloc that cares nothing about it adds a kind of buffer, whereas here, everybody seems to care.
   I recall asking one of the social workers at my job why she, who I'd never really heard talk about sports, seemed so excited when the San Francisco Giants baseball team had won the world series, and she said that she didn't care so much about baseball, but that her excitement was about San Francisco pride. That statement made me feel bad about my own feelings in relation to the team and the whole city that seemed to be celebrating, but I realize now that I do have San Francisco pride, but in regards to sports, I need that buffer that there was in New York.
   I no longer consider myself a New Yorker, as I chose to leave that city close to ten years ago, but as a young boy that grew up loving baseball and my local New York Yankees, I guess that I will probably always root for the team tied to those years when I cared about sports, no matter how long I have been absent and how far removed I am from that place.