I love sports, i love basketball, and i love the utah jazz. Maybe it is from being in a small market that can't attract free agents, that gave me an appreciation for loyalty. If the Jazz want to be a successful team they have to build through the draft and then hope that the players are willing to stay. That is why players who are loyal, players who are willing to even take pay cuts to play for one team throughout a career, are special. And yes being a jazz fan i have to bring up John Stockton. He is arguably one of the best point guards to ever play basketball, has 33% more assists than any player ever, more steals than any player ever, all star game MVP, yet most importantly never left utah despite never winning a title. Players of his talent are rare, players of his character and unassuming nature are unheard of, in fact once at the olympics he went around asking people if they knew where USA basketball was playing, and they would have no clue who he was. His loyalty is something that has forever endeared himself to sports fans all thoughout utah. In an era of Lebron, Bosh and other determining who wins a title by changing teams every year, it is nice to know that people exist who are willing to dance with those that brought them.
Loyalty is something I value highly, in fact is consumes many other issues, consistency, something that in my mind would solve all problems if adopted by all, is subsumed by loyalty. Loyalty to one's words guarantees integrity, loyalty to ourselves, ensures a consistent behavior base. Loyalty in many cases however is something that is only brought up when it hurts, nobody cares if you are loyal when things are good because things are good. Yet that hurt is why loyalty is important, because sometimes your best solution is just to suck it up, and keep trudging. Thus loyalty is something that forces us to, even when we disagree with a situation, stay true to both others and ourselves. If we get mad, cut and run, or otherwise abandon others, just when it strikes our fancy, then any commitment we make is worthless. It is only through a concerted effort to make any situation work within the frame work of the commitment, that commitments are worth anything. Loyalty is something that is important, yet it is something that requires us to deal with bad situations, and is the thing that gives any commitment be it work, personal, sports any meaning.
Also please note that i understand myself better than i understand anyone else, and so it is impractical and impossible to expect the same ideals to be valued as high as i do, if they are present at all. So my expectations for myself, including loyalty, are different than they must be for other people.