being 'un-australian'
 

ok on the topic of the world cup, i got a question for you guys...

i know of heaps of south americans that went for australia in that game vs uraguay.
Now,..... being of lebanese origin, had australia played lebanon (in soccer or rugby or even chess) or any of the neighbouring countries for that matter, i would have gone for lebanon or syria, or jordan or any other arab nation.

does this make me unaustralian? or am i going for them just cos they are the underdogs? i mean i love australia..i was born and bred here..ive only ever been to lebanon on a holiday about 8 years ago for a few weeks..im more aussie than a lot of aussies, but i still love my heritage...

what do u guys think? am i un-australian? is it a pre-requisite to barrack for the country you live in to be part of it?

australia is about celebrating our cultural heritage, therefore you are not un-australian at all not go for your country of origin if they played each other in sport. You're a lot better than some "Australians" who never go for Australia at all in any sport.

I think un-australian is term used by politicians to slag off their opponents more than anything :) If you're a citizen here, you're Australian. Everything else is irrelevant.

That said, not supporting our sports teams could be taken as unpatriotic :P Loving the country and loving the sport are two different things, however.

as long as you drink beer and shout OI a lot... aren't you being Australian? I don't think it really matters who you cheer for after several beers.

Slim has it down to a tee. It's Australian to go against Australia sometimes...

well just to make it easier, i do have lebanese citizenship but that wasnt my choice.

as for supporting the aussies, of course i do..just depends on who we are playing etc.. mostly its for the aussies, but as some of you know from previous posts, ill barrack for the underdog sometimes.

ok after having analysed your posts, ive got some questions for you guys..

slim - ok, what about things other than sport? or is sport the only thing that is flexible. like for example not supporting a particular politicians views to sending our troops to a far off land with whom we have no qualm?

hulk - i dont think im being un-patriotic if i dont go for the aussies.. i love australia and all its given me... i wouldnt choose any other country to call home, largely cos i think this is the best place on earth. but is patriotism an innate part of cheering for the home team? cos being unpatriotic is a big call.

charlatan - lol..umm err... ok given that im also muslim, i dont drink alcohol (ive mentioned this in previous posts in other threads). so does this make me less of an australian than say an australian of irish heritage who may drink till they pass out? so in reality im cheering for australia knowingly while sober...the way i see it alcohol is my excuse for cheering for another side.

latch - i'd have to agree, but do other people think the same?

Some people do and some people don't... you won't get everyone thinking the same thing.. so you have to deal with people who don't share your views sometimes (as I'm sure you know)... I'm American (US American) and live in Aus (although I'm in the States atm), and I have to deal with the pro-war supporters, even though I don't agree with them.

You can love a country but still be patriotic for your homeland, I believe. Although I don't believe with what's going on in the middle east at the moment (which is largely, largely headed by the US), I am still proud of my heritage. I also love Australia, and if I'm not bagging Australia in a sports game (to piss off an Aussie mate :) ), I'm usually supporting them. If it comes down to US vs. Aus in sports or something though, I'm going for the US.

If Australia and US were at odds politcally, I'm not sure which direction I'd go.

I often go for the underdog.

I don't take fun in a higher ranking player/team winning. Especially if they have a huge support base or stronger economy.

For example... I was happy in many ways that Au lost the cricket recently. It was good for the game... them loosing.

I dont drink much and I dont normally follow 'football'(not AFL) but I did watch the game and support the aussies. Does that make me un-Austalian cos I jumped on the bandwagon? (I too, enjoyed watching Aus lose the cricket-made a fantastic series)

Going for the underdog is a proud aussie tradition

(that we inherited off the brits)... :rolleyes:

Drink beer, cheer, oi, whatever, just as long as you can take it when it gets dished out to you and be able to dish it back to them ;)

My rules of barracking:
1) always support your own team, be it club, state or country
2) once you've chosen which is your side never ever barrack for the other team
3) if your team is not playing support the underdog, especially if they have next to no chance of winning
4) be as loud as you want during the game, but accept the inevitable losses graciously
5) respect supporter of the other team.

I have met people who have emigrated here and then drop their original country like a sack of shit - that seems wrong to me (see point 2 above).