Rationality of Sports Fanship?

I love watching the Olympics and cheering for team Canada. If you hadn't guessed, I'm pretty big with being a fan of Canada. But ever since I read one of Chuck Klosterman's books, I have one of his essays hanging in the back of my head. It was about how he feels no real emotions for the Olympics since he sees no point in cheering for the American team. And I can see his point. I do not know any of these athletes personally. I have not helped any of them succeed. I'm only cheering for them by virtue of the fact that they happened to be born within the same borders I did. It doesn't matter if they are actually any good, I want (and think they deserve to) win just by virtue of the fact we are both Canadian. It doesn't really make a whole lot of sense.

And this has made me wonder a lot about how people become fans of their favourite sports team. I mean, it seems illogical to cheer for the same team year after year since the players themselves change and the teams can be completely different each year. You don't want to cheer for whatever team is technically or statisically the best, you want to cheer for your team. From what I can tell, this is mostly developed by geography. You cheer for whatever team is closest to your hometown. Or from your parents. You either cheer for the same team they do or for whatever team they hate, depending on your relationship with your parents. And after you start cheering for a team, you are pretty much stuck with them no matter how they perform. It's the whole 'you gotta leave with the one who brung you' mentality.

So I will continue to cheer for Team Canada. I know it isn't really logical to cheer extra hard for people like Kristina Groves just because I once lived in her hometown but I will anyways. Go Team!