Kean students cheering for Red Sox and Patriots?

It was his yearly summer trips to visit family that got sophomore Harold Carias hooked on the Boston Red Sox.

“Every summer since I was six years old, I would always visit my Godparents in Boston,” said Carias. “They always used to take me to Fenway (Park). Whenever I would go to Boston, I would see the Red Sox, and I never had a connection with the Yankees.”

Carias’ uncle, Freddy Perez, introduced him to Boston’s NFL team, the New England Patriots, during Super Bowl XLII in 2008. The Patriots were undefeated going into that game, making Carias’ choice easy.

“I was like, I’m gonna go with the team that hasn’t lost,’” said Carias. “I can admit I’m a bandwagon fan.”

Carias gives credit to Perez, who got him into American sports. “Thanks to my uncle, little by little I got into football along with hockey,” said Carias.

For hockey and basketball, Carias said he went with the teams that played their games near his Elizabeth home. The Devils play at Prudential Center in Newark, roughly ten minutes from his house. The Nets played there until 2012, and now they play in Brooklyn.

His godmother still sends him clothes from all Boston sports teams, but Carias only wears the Red Sox and Patriots apparel though. He was already a Devils fan by the time the Bruins gear started coming in, he said.

Carias admits he does get some slack for wearing Red Sox and Patriots clothes, but it is all in good fun.

“There’s always the Yankees or Giants fan who will say something,” said Carias. “When I worked at a warehouse during the summer they would say, ‘What’s going on with the Red Sox? They lost last night!’ I would respond that the season is 162 games long.”

Carias takes it lightly because he enjoyed exchanging banter with his co-workers. Carias said he can’t wait to go visit the crew at the warehouse because he hasn’t seen them since the Red Sox won the World Series back in October.

Although he doesn’t pay as close attention to his favorite local teams, Carias makes sure to keep up with them often. However, he easily prefers his Boston teams first.

“If I had to pick a favorite team it would be the Patriots,” said Carias.

Bobby Suydam may live in Edison but his fandom happens to spread across the United States, extending over two time zones.

The 22-year-old student has a deep passion for sports and has been watching since his early childhood days. The only quirk is he has a favorite sports team in six different cities.

When Suydam was eight, his favorite NFL team became the Green Bay Packers simply out of spite because his uncle was a fan of their division rival, the Minnesota Vikings.

Suydam is one of 361,169 part owners for the Packers because he has stock invested in them, as the franchise is publicly owned, according to the team’s official website.

Suydam’s other influences for some of other favorite sports teams come from his older brother and father.

“My brother was a Yankees fan and I always watched them with him,” said Suydam. “My father was an Orioles fan and he wanted me to be anything but a Yankees fan.”

Boston Celtics playing against the Washington Wizards on April 11, 2011. Photo Courtesy of Keith Allison.

“I came in with a Nets jersey, but they were getting blown out,” said Suydam. “So my dad took me to get another jersey, and somehow they were selling Celtics jerseys at the team store, and I got one.”

Suydam is still waiting to see Oklahoma and Butler win a college national championship. He also wouldn’t mind seeing his four favorite professional sports teams win again.

“Anytime your team wins a title, it’s a glorious thing,” said Suydam.