I’m going to try to stay vague, intentionally, while still making this point clearly:
I’ve noticed a disturbing trend for people to put their respective teams above their objective judgement of right or wrong/ acceptable or unacceptable behaviors. If the opposing team does something they find reprehensible, they decry it. If their team does the exact same thing, they justify it, because it’s their team, and it’s a means to an end – the “end” being their team ultimately winning.
Try to pull yourself out of the obsessive team mentality long enough to observe a behavior independently of its performer. Do you feel that this behavior is right or wrong? Do you support this behavior, generally? Once that’s established, decide whether or not the performer of said behavior is someone you otherwise support or not. If not, great – you have more evidence to support your opposition to them. If so, then maybe you need to have a talk with them, or others on your team, about the behaviors you will and won’t support. If your team is consistently behaving in a way you don’t agree with, maybe you’re not on the right team.
You’re thinking, “My team HAS to win, no matter what it takes – even if they have to occasionally do some things I don’t support.” I guarantee you, all the people on the other team are telling themselves the exact same thing, and THAT is what perpetuates these behaviors.
Remember, ultimately, that we’re all on Team People.