My Sports Teams...

[jzuena]

So, if anyone is a fan of winning teams, what does it feel like?

Well, being from New England I have seen both ends. As Jaffa Cake states, it is better to keep following one set of teams all the way from the lows to the highs rather than keep chasing after different teams just because they are good.

I remember the Patriots getting crushed in SuperBowl XX by the Bears then a string of bad teams putting up 2-14 and 1-15 seasons. When they won SB XXXVI I couldn't believe a Boston team not named the Celtics had just won a championship. (I was 3 and 5 when the Bruins won their last two Stanley Cups, so I don't remember them.)

I remember Red Sox teams as far back as '78 when they lost a one game playoff to the Yankees and also remember them losing the World Series in '86 to the Mets (the same year as the @#$%!@# SuperBowl XX loss) after jumping out to a 2-0 lead. When they won in '04, especially after handing the Yankees the only playoff collapse in Major League history after leading a series 3-0, I was even more in disbelief.

I remember the Bruins losing in the Stanley Cup finals in '88 and '90... well this one is still ongoing.

Over the last ten years or so things have looked good: three SuperBowl wins, two World Series wins, one NBA championship and four teams playing well enough to at least have a shot in the near future. But it certainly wasn't always like that here.

 

[iJohnHenry]

How anyone could call hockey boring is beyond me. It's the most exciting sport out there.

Disinformation.

They are all vying for a finite amount of discretionary sports dollars.

 

[einmusiker]

You obviously never been to an NHL playoff game. Its the most exciting sport to witness live. Its also really starting to pick up in the States, evident by the massive ratings they received last season.

I admit I've never been to a live NHL game. I just can't seem to get into it on tv. I used to be a fan when I was a very little kid and Gretzky was still on the Oilers. My brother was a Flames fan and those old Edmonton-Calgary rivalries were massive.

Baseball is anything but watching grass grow to me. I think it's the most intellectual team sport. There is sooo much strategy and game-planning involved. I just love it. To each his own....

on another note, why on earth are the "Keltics" basketball team STILL mispronounced as "seltics" is beyond fathomable to me.

 

[leekohler]

I admit I've never been to a live NHL game. I just can't seem to get into it on tv. I used to be a fan when I was a very little kid and Gretzky was still on the Oilers. My brother was a Flames fan and those old Edmonton-Calgary rivalries were massive.

Baseball is anything but watching grass grow to me. I think it's the most intellectual team sport. There is sooo much strategy and game-planning involved. I just love it. To each his own....

on another note, why on earth are the "Keltics" basketball team STILL mispronounced as "seltics" is beyond fathomable to me.

You absolutely have to go to a pro hockey game. It's awesome.

 

[zioxide]

I admit I've never been to a live NHL game. I just can't seem to get into it on tv. I used to be a fan when I was a very little kid and Gretzky was still on the Oilers. My brother was a Flames fan and those old Edmonton-Calgary rivalries were massive.

try watching a Bruins-Canadiens game. now thats a rivalry. the oldest canadien team vs the oldest american team.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xof3ILVb6XI <- line brawl. awesome. you can just feel the hate these teams have for each other.

Baseball is anything but watching grass grow to me. I think it's the most intellectual team sport. There is sooo much strategy and game-planning involved. I just love it. To each his own....

no way. football has by far the most strategy and game planning. they spend days just breaking down film. baseball doesn't have time for that, they play every day.

on another note, why on earth are the "Keltics" basketball team STILL mispronounced as "seltics" is beyond fathomable to me.

It's not mispronounced. This is America, not Ireland. We call them the Boston Celtics. That's how its been since they started back in 1946.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

I'm from Cleveland, so that should tell you all you need to know....since I was born, we have won exactly zero championships. In fact, since my parents were born, all three of our big sports teams (Browns, Cavaliers, Indians) have combined to win exactly one championship.

Cleveland's Championship Haul since 1920:

Indians: 1920, 1948 World Series (My Grandpa watched the win in '48)
Browns: 4 NFL Championships between 1950-64, no Super Bowl appearances
Cavaliers: Nothing at all

Being a fan is not about winning, unles you're a Yankees or Manchester United fan. Being a Cleveland fan is definitely not about winning.

 

[The.316]

You absolutely have to go to a pro hockey game. It's awesome.

Let him go to Heinz Field for the Winter Classic, Pittsburgh versus Washington. I think he might have a different feeling about hockey afterwards.

 

[OllyW]

I'm from Cleveland, so that should tell you all you need to know....since I was born, we have won exactly zero championships. In fact, since my parents were born, all three of our big sports teams (Browns, Cavaliers, Indians) have combined to win exactly one championship.

Cleveland's Championship Haul since 1920:

Indians: 1920, 1948 World Series (My Grandpa watched the win in '48)
Browns: 4 NFL Championships between 1950-64, no Super Bowl appearances
Cavaliers: Nothing at all

Being a fan is not about winning, unles you're a Yankees or Manchester United fan. Being a Cleveland fan is definitely not about winning.

Yet your English football team won just about everything going in the seventies and eighties.

I guess you are just unlucky.

 

[renewed]

Texans lose in a new and heartbreaking way every week.

This. If we turn it off at the end of the 3rd quarter we could feel like winners; until the secondary screws everything up once more.

We have enough people from Louisiana here in Houston after the hurricane that maybe we should integrate with the Saints so we can win a game.

 

[zioxide]

Let him go to Heinz Field for the Winter Classic, Pittsburgh versus Washington. I think he might have a different feeling about hockey afterwards.

Ew. isn't it supposed to be in the 50s and raining? it was much better last year, when it snowed for it at Fenway in Boston. oh, and the whole Marco Sturm OT winner was pretty awesome too

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Yet your English football team won just about everything going in the seventies and eighties.

I guess you are just unlucky.

I bring that bad luck with me.

It's silly to moan about Liverpool winning nothing now, because they used to win everything. If I was English I'd probably be a supporter of a smaller, lower division side with no chance of winning the Premier League - kind of like the English version of being a Cleveland fan.

 

[Jaffa Cake]

If I was English I'd probably be a supporter of a smaller, lower division side with no chance of winning the Premier League - kind of like the English version of being a Cleveland fan.

Well, if you're looking to switch allegiances...

 

[OllyW]

I bring that bad luck with me.

It's silly to moan about Liverpool winning nothing now, because they used to win everything. If I was English I'd probably be a supporter of a smaller, lower division side with no chance of winning the Premier League - kind of like the English version of being a Cleveland fan.

My dad took me to my first Wolves match in 1969 and it's been up and down ever since.

 

[LumberJackNAU]

Aight, Most of my teams are college football. But whatever.

NCAA:
Northern Arizona Lumberjacks- Dad is football coach.
Stanford Cardinal- Been to countless games.
Miami Hurricanes- Love the swagger of the team.
Montana Grizzlies- Dad coached there for 15 years.

NFL:
Cleveland Browns- No reason in particular.

NHL:
Calgary Flames- Lived in Montana, probably closest team to me, also favorite player is Inigla

NBA:
Utah Jazz- Lived about an hour away from Salt Lake when my dad coached at Utah State University

And thats it.

 

[rhett7660]

Aight, Most of my teams are college football. But whatever.

NCAA:
Northern Arizona Lumberjacks- Dad is football coach.
Stanford Cardinal- Been to countless games.
Miami Hurricanes- Love the swagger of the team.
Montana Grizzlies- Dad coached there for 15 years.

NFL:
Cleveland Browns- No reason in particular.

NHL:
Calgary Flames- Lived in Montana, probably closest team to me, also favorite player is Inigla

NBA:
Utah Jazz- Lived about an hour away from Salt Lake when my dad coached at Utah State University

And thats it.

Not to jump to far off subject. Lived in Kalispell for a good portion of my childhood. Love the place hate the cold!

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Well, if you're looking to switch allegiances...

Accrington Stanley? Who are they?

My dad took me to my first Wolves match in 1969 and it's been up and down ever since.

Same for me with my local teams, though the 'ups and downs' have been mostly down.

 

[LumberJackNAU]

Not to jump to far off subject. Lived in Kalispell for a good portion of my childhood. Love the place hate the cold!

Yeah, I was born in Missoula but raised in Billings. The cold in Missoula is insane.

 

[einmusiker]

try watching a Bruins-Canadiens game. now thats a rivalry. the oldest canadien team vs the oldest american team.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xof3ILVb6XI <- line brawl. awesome. you can just feel the hate these teams have for each other.



no way. football has by far the most strategy and game planning. they spend days just breaking down film. baseball doesn't have time for that, they play every day.



It's not mispronounced. This is America, not Ireland. We call them the Boston Celtics. That's how its been since they started back in 1946.

But thats what I love about baseball, it's on-the-spot strategy

But that doesn't make any sense? what's a seltic? I know what a keltic is but whats a seltic?

 

[puckhead193]

try watching a Bruins-Canadiens game. now thats a rivalry. the oldest canadien team vs the oldest american team.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xof3ILVb6XI <- line brawl. awesome. you can just feel the hate these teams have for each other.

I went to school in boston and I loved going to B's/habs games. So intense. I wish that was the winter classic. much better rivalry.
Also not to be out done red sox/yankees in boston... o the hate that is felt in the stadium
Having gone to yankee's games my whole life, seeing a ball game at fenway is something special and very fun
When the yanks are home eh its intense but not so much.

PS - Jack Edwards is my hero... awesome and nice guy...he's loves the bruins and is a great announcer with a lot of character.

 

[leomac08]

LA LAKERS 3 TIME WORLD CHAMPS! (I mean 2 time)

LA Galaxy (soccer)

LA Dodgers (baseball)

LA Angels of Anaheim (baseball)

New England Patriots (NFL)

Chelsea FC (football)

US National Soccer Team

 

[Abstract]

Let him go to Heinz Field for the Winter Classic, Pittsburgh versus Washington. I think he might have a different feeling about hockey afterwards.

I have an Aussie friend who went to the US for a conference last year. He's impartial to US sports or teams, yet saw an NBA, NHL, and NFL gagame last year. He said hockey was definitely the most exciting to watch, and the crowd and atmosphere was the best.


Oh, and I follow the Toronto Maple Laffs, and the Toronto Craptors. I also follow the Sydney Swans of the AFL, but only because it drives Melburnians crazy.

 

[Jaffa Cake]

For my part, Hull City AFC have spent much of their 106-year history scrabbling around the lower reaches of England's Football League, fighting off financial problems, the threat of liquidation and a gnawing sense that we were never going to win anything. Which proved right, as we've only ever won the old Third Division title (in 1932-33, 1948-49 – when it was a regionalised division – and 1965-66), and the second tier's play-off final in 2007-08 – so our trophy cabinet isn't exactly bursting at the seams. Furthermore, up until a few years ago Hull was famously the biggest city in England (and one of the biggest in Europe) never to have had a top flight football club.

In the past ten years or so, we've faced relegation into non-League football, been locked out of our ground by bailiffs, been a matter of hours away from liquidation, faced relegation scraps – and in latterly we were finally promoted to the top flight for the first time in our history. So we've gone from this...



...to winning a Wembley play-off to reach the Premier League...



...in about ten years.

Our stay in the top flight only lasted two seasons, but despite being treated with derision and in some instances outright contempt (the 'best League in the World' isn't for the likes of us, you see) we pulled off some memorable wins against the likes of glamorous Arsenal – a result that left their shell-shocked manager saying he felt 'physically sick'.

As I say, to truly appreciate the highs I feel you have to experience the lows too – and we've certainly had our fill of the latter over the years. We might not be contesting finals or embarking on European campaigns, but being a City supporter certainly isn't dull.

 

[st8fan19]

NCAA football : Michigan State
NCAA basketball: Michigan State
NFL: Cincinnati Bengals
MLB: Detroit Tigers

Michigan State: Born a Spartan, will always be a Spartan. Dad went there, I went there and I have always loved the team/school. Happy that they are finally making something of their football program. Basketball has always been great to watch

Bengals: Ugh, don't even get me started on this one. Such a talented team on paper, but due to poor management, terrible coaching, players who don't seem to care, and injuries this season has turned out to be absolutely horrible.

Tigers: My only Michigan professional sports team. I love my tigers. Absolutely nothing I love more than sitting in the CoPa on a nice summer day. Just wish they would freaking do something in the offseason, next year isn't looking good already.

 

[eawmp1]

Duke basketball (football, not so much)
Orlando Magic - because I live there

 

[robo]

You absolutely have to go to a pro hockey game. It's awesome.

If you can get tickets to a Blackhawks game GO... You will love it
Peace