WHy is such and such your favorite team.

[Ekirh]

I just ask this because it's not always the local or the nearest team that is your favorite and sometimes it's something else that influence your decision.

I live in VA. . . but my favorite team has never been the Orioles or recently the Nationals it has always been the Atlanta Braves. . . and I have my neighbor to thank for that.

My next door Neighbor (Who went by the name Wigg) was an old man... worked on the water all his life. . . and was kind and got long with just about everyone in the area. He particularly liked me for some reason and I started hanging around his house and helping about. . . doing vaccumings dusting the furniture, helping him lift stuff, just doing things for him in general. . . just helping an old man out who was usually worn out from working all day. One day he was watching baseball and I sat down next to him and asked him who was playing and he said the Atlanta Braves. . . his team.

Well I watched that game and came back for the next and the next and the next. . . until it became ritual that every other day (Provided I got my school work done in time). . . I would go over and watch the Braves game with him. Offense would be his job. . . and Defense my job. If Defense screwed up the loss was my fault and so on and so on. We could talk stats. . . compare weaknesses and strenghs. . . both drink one coke each (Drinking more than one for some reason was bad luck)

I guess the best moment with him. . . was the 95 world series when with one coke each in hand we watched the Braves defeat the Cleveland Indians four games to two. It was a good moment between neighbors, friends, and fellow baseball fans.

Sadly he moved away a few years ago and the baseball game watching with him no longer exist. . . but I am still a Braves fans. Regardless of how many times they screw up in the post season.. regardless of how many times they made it to the W.S and did not win. . . I am a Braves fan. I enjoy the pitching rotations of Maddox, Glavine, Smoltz and Avery. I shook my head and just kept on grimacing at every stupid thing Rocker had to say. I cheered for Chipper's bat and I appluaded Andrew Jone's Glove. I watched Jermaine Dye hit his first home run as a brave. . . and I always hold sick sadistic glee over Game Seven of the Playoff series against the Pirates.

Atlanta is definitely not near VA. . . but I am a Braves fan. 13 winning seasons and only one world series??? It's all good. . . It's been good times all the way. . . and even if the bad times do come. . . and the winning does end... I'll still be there as a Braves fan. . . drinking my one coke and blaming myself when the defense screws up. . . They are my responsibility after all.


I know that's a tad long of a post. . . but I felt like posting something :).

[mduffy31]

1. ND

Well my favorite teams are the Green Bay Packers and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. I grew up in WI and my grandfather was a huge fan. We would go to his house after church on Sundays and watch the game with him. As far as Notre Dame, I went to Catholic School, and to play at Notre Dame was a dream of mine because one of the people that went to my school went there and played when I was young, so I wanted to go also. As I grew older I was just brought in by the tradition of the school, I loved to watch the old Lou Holtz teams run the option the way that it should be.

[SaveElmer]

2. Alot of times it's where you grew up and rooted for as a kid...

I grew up in Minnesota and became a die-hard Twins, Vikings fan...so even though I now live near DC, and do like the Nats...the Twins will always be my #1 team (I hate the Redskins).

And, even though I already lived here when the Timberwolves came into being, I root for them like they are my home team.

I think these things are formed when you are a kid, and never really leave you!

[flowomo]

3. I tried to answer that question in my newspaper column once...

here it is:
www.cumberlink.com/articles/2003/10/09/editorial/rich_lewis/lewis01.txt

[jedicord]

4. Green Bay Packers

Being from Texas and embarrassed for the pimps playing with the Cowboys, Brett is such a breath of fresh air. He's a good guy, and looks like a Little League player just out there having fun.

I went to the game they played against the Texans last year and it's even more fun to watch him live and in person. I'm a Texan fan by location, and wore my Texan jersey. By halftime I was 100% cheering for the Packers. Couldn't help myself.

[JuniperLea]

5. dodgers

because i'm los angeles born and raised and i've been attending dodger games ever since i can remember. i'm loyal through the ups and downs... and even the stupid current management! argh! i miss tommy lasorda! we need to stop trading our players and start trading the brass, fcol! jim tracy is a loon.

the dodgers are notorious for trading players who have their best seasons ever with their new team! this is a trend i noticed beginning in the 70's with Bill Buckner.

[jedr]

6. That's a great story;

it's random acts of kindness that make the human experience worth living....as for favorite teams, it's hard to watch a sporting event and not favor one team or the other, most affiliations come from good experiences such as yours....mine are the steelers and penn state, however Barry Bonds' short stay in Pittsburgh turned me away from pro baseball and have yet to return....a sand-lot softball game in the dead of summer and a few cold ones is what I enjoy most.

[getmeouttahere]

7. Because I grew up 6 hours drive from the nearest...

major league teams, it was the ones were able to watch on cable tv the most that became my favorites. Growing up in Southern Oregon, my Dad would take us to see the Oakland A's once or twice a summer, starting in the mid 70's. They have been my fave ever since. I am a life-long Oakland Raiders fan, for much the same reason. And because my ancestry is French-Canadian, and I once traveled to Montreal on business regularly, the Canadiens became my favorite hockey team. When I followed basketball, Golden State was my team. I even had a Robert Parish poster, when he wore the Warriors togs. Does anyone even remember that Parish played for Golden State before the Celtics???

[HuckleB]

8. Brewers, Cubs, Packers, Mariners, for various reasons.

I grew up with the Brewers, and I had my first tastes of joy and heartbreak at their hands, most notably in 1982, with a seventh game loss in the World Series. They suck. I haven't lived in Wisconsin in decades, and yet I can't let 'em go, especially now that Selig is out of the picture.

My dad hated the AL, so pointed me toward the Cubs as a kid. I rooted for them, but not with the same heart as I did for the Brewers. In time, I've come to be wonderful friends with a number of diehard Cubs fans, and this has solidified my love of the team, umm, especially since I married one of them.

As for the Packers, again, I grew up with them, and they are the only one of my teams to ever offer up a championship, despite my relative boredom with the sport of American football. Besides, in this age of sport, one does have to enjoy the community owned thing a little bit, despite the public welfare that Wisconsinites gave the team for the refurbished stadium.

The Mariners are the local MLB franchise of my chosen home, the great northwest. I just learn more about the players than anywhere else, and I see many of them when they're still in the minors when they stop by to play the Beavers, so it's hard not to become attached.

I love basketball, but I have no great affiliation, though I've gone through bouts with the Bucks, Suns and Blazers over the years. And I await the day when the northwest will finally be home to the NHL and MLS.

But the truth is I haven't yet to choose between River and Boca, if that tells you anything.

;)

[Lefty48197]

17. The '82 Brewers...

:cry: ...so close, yet so far...

[GOPisEvil]

9. My dad's hometown is E. St. Louis. He passed on his fandom of the Cards to

me.

Later in life, I spent 20 years in San Antonio and became a Spurs fan. Actually even before that I was an ABA and George Gervin fan. It's the finger roll, ya know.

When I saw Earl Campbell play for the first time, and then saw Billy "White Shoes" Johnson dance, I became an Oilers fan. NOw that they don't exist, I am a Ronin NFL fan.

[Jersey Devil]

10. Yankees - converted from a Mets fan by a 5 year old

When I was a little kid just starting to learn about baseball I was a big Giants fan (New York Giants). When they moved from NY in 1958 I had no one to root for and refused to even consider the Yankees.

I began following the Mets in 1962 when they started and became a Met fan and continued to be a pretty rabid fan until 1976 when I decided it was time to take my 5 year old son to his first big league game.

I approached him and asked (he was interested in baseball and at 5 even read stat books and could tell you who was leading the leagues in what) and he said he absolutely, positively would NOT go to a Mets game and wanted to see the Yankees. So I gave in and took him to Yankee Stadium. As we walked in through one of the corridors to the stands his eyes opened wider than I had ever seen. Then he walked upto the blue concrete wall and kissed it, announcing, "I will never go anyplace else."

So, for the next 15 years or so I took him to 10-15 Yankee games a year and soon wound up, no choice really, a Yankee fan, truly converted, to the point where I wonder how I ever even considered the Mets.

We don't get to go to many games together anymore since he has his own life and responsibilities, but those were some of the best times that I have ever experienced.

[Telly Savalas]

12. Even as a card carrying Yankees hater, I gotta say...

that's a great story. Thanks, man.

[DaveinMD]

15. that is a great story too

Can't wait to take my daughter to a game one day.

[DaveinMD]

11. I root for

the Yankees, Giants and Knicks because I grew up in NY and my dad took me to games. These loyalties remain for life.

[KitchenWitch]

13. I went to Twins games with my dad as a child

Lost touch with the team until the mid-1980s, but have been a diehard (nearly cry when they lose) fan ever since. I remember going to games at the old Metropolitan Stadium (where the Mall of America is now) eating hot dogs and popcorn, and listening to my dad talk about Rod Carew, Harmon Killebrew, Jim Kaat, Mudcat Grant and Tony Oliva. Good times.

My son has a baseball that was autographed by the American League umpires before game 7 of the 1965 Series. The Twins lost the series to the Dodgers, but it is a very cool souvenir of the game!

[JohnKleeb]

14. Well the Orioles were the only team

in the area when I grew up and I really liked Ripken as a kid, hence I am an Orioles fan, I like the Nats but its hard to adjust honest but I am gonna see the Nats finally this weekend. I love the team's history too.

[Ron Mexico]

16. Rams, Blues and Cards because

I was born on a bus in St. Louis. First class from my first breath.

[paulk]

18. I still root for the teams I grew up with

in upstate NY - the Yankees and the Giants (football) - even though I've now spent more than half of my life somewhere else. Those first loyalties die hard.

[THUNDER HANDS]

19. well

I'm a Mets, Jets, Nets and Islanders fan.

I'm a Mets fan because that's the team that my dad first took me to see when I was about 10 years old. My favorite player was Doc Gooden. My dad's favorite player was Keith Hernandez.

I'm a Jets fan because my dad liked the Giants and the first football game I ever watched was the Superbowl between the Giants and the Bills where Scott Norwood missed the field goal and my dad was so happy. I thought it was unfair that they won like that, so I became a fan of the Jets. My favorite player at the time was Ken O'Brien.

I'm a Nets fan because we didn't have MSG in my house growing up. You either had MSG or Sports Channel. The Mets, Nets and Islanders were on Sports Channel and the Yankees, Knicks and Rangers were on MSG. Thus, I became a fan of both the Nets and Islanders. My favorite player on the Nets - and still my favorite all-time athlete is the late, great Drazen Petrovic, the greatest shooter who ever lived.

I'm an Islanders fan because they play about 10 minutes from my house and because my dad took me to games while I my mom was pregnant with me. So I was born an Islanders fan. Plus the Rangers suck. (1940)

[Reverend_Smitty]

20. hmmm interesting question

I'm a Mets fan because my uncle is a big Mets fan. If my dad had his way I would be a Yankee but my uncle won me over with a Mets jersey (number 16) for my 5th birthday. I've been a die-hard fan ever since.

I'm a Giants fan because my mom is a Giants fan. Again if my dad had his way I would root for the Jets but she was able to win me over. I'm not really sure how it started but I've always just rooted for them.

I'm a Duke basketball fan because of my aunt and uncle. They got me started during the 1990 Final Four, I was a young at the time and I really didn't grasp what was going on but it was exciting. Then they had the back to back championships which carved a soft spot out in my heart for Bobby Hurley and Grant Hill.

[dr.zoidberg]

21. LSU, NO Saints, Man City, and The Cubs.

LSU and the New Orleans Saints are obvious: I live in La. so I support them.

I support Manchester City because I have a thing for hard luck teams that might be able to get out of a hole.

I support the cubs mainly because my grandparents were big fans of them and it rubbed off on me.

[NeoTraitors]

22. I am a 'party line' kind of a guy.

I like the Chicago Cubs, Bears, Bulls, Blackhawks, and the Iowa Hawkeyes. I remember asking my dad, 'How does the Easter Bunny know I'm a Cub fan?' 'nuff said.

[crimson333]

23. The Raiders and Braves

When I was a kid and first started liking football. I was living in Alaska in 1976(military Brat)and the Raiders were always on. Ken Stabler was the QB at the time and he was from Alabama like me...thats were the connection started and I liked the uniforms. To make it better my Fathers commanding officer was a Vikings fan when they played in the SB

Braves same reason. My dad was stationed in Atlanta in 81/82 when I started liking Baseball....Dale Murphy will always be my favorite Brave