Chris Erskine in the LA Times:

A while back, I developed the concept of “sportsenfreude,” based on the German term “schadenfreude,” which means taking glee in the misfortune of others.

Sportsenfreude is a close cousin to the concept of rooting for the underdog. It means you’re not really rooting for one team — you’re rooting against the other.

When the Dallas Cowboys lose, that warm little glow you feel — it’s almost sexual — that’s sportsenfreude. When the Yankees lose, same thing, assuming you don’t like the Yankees — hardly anybody does, the pinstripers having come to represent every overfed frat boy or silver spoon who got the girl you didn’t. They are baseball’s trust-fund babies, the Yankees are. It’s a little like cheering for Comcast or General Mills.

Though it is my concept, I am not particularly proud of sportsenfreude. No one should take joy in another person’s failures. Of course, a certain ambivalence can be forgiven. I mean, I would never exactly feel sympathy if Bill Belichick were caught cheating again. Or if someone popped that smug Jim Harbaugh in the snout.

The secret to sportsenfreude is to base your selection on some perceived moral issue. For instance, I rooted against the Tampa Bay Rays last year based on my dislike for their moldy indoor park. I dislike Philly because of Sylvester Stallone’s spotty record on marriage. In real life, he never married Talia Shire, which just seemed wrong.

I generally root against the Indianapolis Colts on the basis of one lousy, overpriced turkey sandwich I had at the airport there. That’s all you need, really. What this does is soften sportsenfreude and makes it a more spiritual and life-affirming process.

The Raiders and Notre Dame always provide me a rooting interest — for their opponents.