"However much grumping you might do at the water cooler-about the stupid idiot coach and his refusal to trust the rookie, or about the big brick-handed lummox mucking up the offensive spacing, or about the sleazy executive with his hands on the purse strings-when it comes to games and scores and outcomes, you have to root for your guys. That's your end of the deal."
"But rooting for your guys is more complicated than it might seem. Take, for instance, the case of the Dallas Mavericks. In many ways, the Mavericks should be easy to root for. They have good players, some of those good players are also cool players, and they are well-coached. They've been one of the sharper operations of the 21st century, posting 19 playoff appearances over the last 25 seasons, with three Finals trips and a championship in there."
"Cooper Flagg is good, cool, and exciting, and is going to be all of those things for a long time. Sure, it's nauseating that three of their top five or six players played college ball at Duke, but neither Flagg nor Dereck Lively II played under Mike Krzyzewski. Anthony Davis is blandly inoffensive; Max Christie seems well-meaning and harmless enough; Klay Thompson gives off the vibes of a good dude."
A staff Slack uses the slogan Root For Your Guys (RFYG) as an ethic and exhortation. Fans are expected to support their team's players during games and outcomes despite private complaints about coaches, executives, or performers. Celebrating a victory feels wrong if a fan spent the contest sour and toxic, wishing ill on their own players. Coworkers sometimes scold each other for miserablism, including pessimism about teams relying on specific stars like Russell Westbrook. Rooting loyalty becomes complex with teams like the Dallas Mavericks, whose strong, well-coached roster and sustained success coexist with polarizing roster ties and personalities.
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