Question About Central PA's Sports Allegiance and Identity (Pittsburgh, Scranton: transplants, live in)

[bluecountry]

Are there a lot of people who root for the Steelers in Central/H-I-L-Y PA and Orioles or do most people who root for Pittsburgh in one sport stay with Pittsburgh in the other and not flip flop?

Also do the Ravens have a good following in South Central PA seeing as how it is closer and in commuting range?

[pinetar10]

Originally Posted by CaptainObvious

I've lived in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Carlisle, and Lancaster and in my own personal experience....







Pittsburgh is a football city with a small amount of other people medaling about that only "sort-of" like the Steelers...nobody "doesn't like" the Steelers. It's really something to see.
Captain

thats not exactly true. i despise the steelers, and i know quite a few other people that do not like the steelers that live in western pa.

[bluecountry]

I'm sorry but I'm still having a hard time understanding.

Why is it South Central PA would root for the Orioles primairly in baseball but not the Ravens or Redskins in football?

IF the Orioles are number one due to proxmity...then why aren't the Ravens or Redskins since they are closest?

I don't understand why people would choose to root for the MLB team based on proximity but the NFL team would be 200 miles away.

Does this simply mean that Baltimore is much more of a MLB town than NFL or Pittsburgh much more of an NFL town than MLB?

[rubydi]

Originally Posted by bluecountry

I'm sorry but I'm still having a hard time understanding.

Why is it South Central PA would root for the Orioles primairly in baseball but not the Ravens or Redskins in football?

IF the Orioles are number one due to proxmity...then why aren't the Ravens or Redskins since they are closest?

I don't understand why people would choose to root for the MLB team based on proximity but the NFL team would be 200 miles away.

Does this simply mean that Baltimore is much more of a MLB town than NFL or Pittsburgh much more of an NFL town than MLB?

I find this to be quite true. Baltimore is fanatical about baseball and Pittsburgh lives for their football. Ever fly over Baltimore? There seems to be a baseball diamond for every two blocks of neighborhood. I think Baltimore is starting to thrive on soccer as well. I have a few friends in Baltimore and their children play baseball and soccer.

I was born in Huntingdon and my dad was born and raised in Mt Union. I have always been a Steeler and Pirate fan even though I now live in the Seattle area. I love the Steelers no matter if they win or loose. I guess it's in my blood just like the other Steeler fans.

[subwayfan]

Originally Posted by bluecountry

I had some questions about central PA.

I always thought PA was a northern state and aligned itself primarliy with either Philly, Pittsburgh, and to a much lesser degree, Buffalo, New York, and Cleveland.
I never would have thought people in a northern state like PA would root for, and consider a team in the south like Baltimore or DC as one of their own.

I wanted to know for PA

1) In the South Central region of Harrisburg, Carlie, Chambersburg, Gettysburg, Hanover, and even Lancaster, what does this area align to?
-Is it because part of the greater PIT or greater PHI region, getting the local TV stations from one or both of those areas, those newspapers, and rooting for those teams?
-Or is Baltimore and DC also mixed in?

2) How does the sports allegiance go?
-In the NFL is this considered Eagles, Steelers, Ravens, Skins, or a combo of all four teams, and in what order?
-Which games do you receive and teams are covered locally?
-Same question for MLB with the Phillies, Pirates, Orioles, and Nats.
-Same with the NHL in the Flyers, Pens, and Caps.

3) Is there a lot of criss crossing in this region?
-People rooting for the Steelers, Orioles, and Flyers, or do people generally pick one city and go with that?

4) Do the Pens and Buccos have a strong prescene?

5) What about the Ravens and Orioles or does PA teams rule over both clubs?

Thanks.

I know that York County, particulary Shrewsbury PA and outlying towns are actually part of Baltimore's extended metropolitan area. They even have a commuter bus which leads down to the Baltimore light rail.
http://wjz.com/local/rabbit.transit.2.929759.html (broken link)

The Baltimore County masterplan acknowledges York County, but Cecil County in Northeastern MD is not part of Baltimore (and I bet the highway tolls separating Harford and Cecil prevent that). There is no toll on I-83 between York Co. PA and Baltimore Co. MD, and taxes are lower in PA.

Further west, Chambersburg, PA is in proximity to Hagerstown, which is part of the DC market.

Lancaster Co. probably leans towards Philly. I think Philly TV stations still have cable coverage there. Even today, WPVI, KYW WCAU and WTXF generally include Lancaster on the weather map and its temps are always brought up (even though Lancaster has its own TV stations!...why do I in Jersey have to know the amount of rainfall in Lancaster today)

Also remember Orioles is on Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic and MASN, which is pervasive in those counties. NFL is on local broadcast and I don't know if they get all the Ravens games. Ravens are still a newer team too.

[Marodi]

Originally Posted by bluecountry

I had some questions about central PA.

I always thought PA was a northern state and aligned itself primarliy with either Philly, Pittsburgh, and to a much lesser degree, Buffalo, New York, and Cleveland.
I never would have thought people in a northern state like PA would root for, and consider a team in the south like Baltimore or DC as one of their own.

I wanted to know for PA

1) In the South Central region of Harrisburg, Carlie, Chambersburg, Gettysburg, Hanover, and even Lancaster, what does this area align to?
-Is it because part of the greater PIT or greater PHI region, getting the local TV stations from one or both of those areas, those newspapers, and rooting for those teams?
-Or is Baltimore and DC also mixed in?

2) How does the sports allegiance go?
-In the NFL is this considered Eagles, Steelers, Ravens, Skins, or a combo of all four teams, and in what order?
-Which games do you receive and teams are covered locally?
-Same question for MLB with the Phillies, Pirates, Orioles, and Nats.
-Same with the NHL in the Flyers, Pens, and Caps.

3) Is there a lot of criss crossing in this region?
-People rooting for the Steelers, Orioles, and Flyers, or do people generally pick one city and go with that?

4) Do the Pens and Buccos have a strong prescene?

5) What about the Ravens and Orioles or does PA teams rule over both clubs?

Thanks.

The south portion of frederick and york are baltimore aligned, while the western portion of the region seems to support pittsburgh than philly, and vice versa for the eastern portion (and harrisburg). But the whole region is laregely pittsburgh or phily supporters as far as I'm aware... but I'm not a uber fan

[CHIP72]

I largely answered most of the above questions in this thread (see the second post on the page). I will note that Lebanon is primarily a Philadelphia fan area in all sports though there are a decent number of Steelers fans running around (significantly fewer than Eagles fans but significantly more than either Ravens or Redskins fans).

A number of fans in south central PA do have mixed city allegiances, especially in cases where they root for the Steelers in pro football.

[CHIP72]

FWIW, the biggest reason why some Orioles fans in south central PA are not Ravens fans is because the Ravens have only been around since 1996. Those fans adopted a different football team when Baltimore didn't have an NFL team (or in some cases when the Colts were absolutely putrid from 1978-1983).

[bobsmith]

From Williamsport down to Selinsgrove, Steelers fans outnumber Eagles fans 2:1 (rough estimate)

[PeterRabbit]

It's nice to have a choice of teams to be a fan of. In football the Steelers are the obvious choice because they win all the time and make it to the playoffs nearly every year. For baseball, any team is better than the Pirates. They (the owners) don't deserve to have fans. If you expect them to have a winning season you'll be disappointed year after year after year. It's more fun to be a fan of and root for a team that's worthwhile.