Declare Yourself!

[1001001]

I thought it might be fun to start this forum off by finding out where everyone stands.

What are your favorite sports? What are your favorite teams? How long have you been a fan? Any good stories of your fandom over the years?

I was born and raised in Los Angeles, and my whole family was into sports. My mother was a crazy Dodgers fan. She always had a game on in her house.

I'm a big Lakers fan. I remember going to games at the Fabulous Forum in the glory days: Magic, Kareem, Worthy, Scott, and Hanson-Bro look-alike Kurt Rambis. Those years against Bird and the Celtics were the stuff of legend. I was living in Sacramento during the Shaq/Kobe years, which was quite amusing (and a little dangerous).

In baseball, I'm an Angels fan. When I was growing up they had some great stars: Nolan Ryan, Rod Carew, Reggie Jackson, Fred Lynn....I remember Hendu's HR off Donnie Moore in 1986. Cursed Red Sox!

I also remember the greatest baseball game ever: 2002 World Series, Game 6. You all know the story. I had a house full of Giants-loving friends shooting their mouths off for two hours, and then....BAM! It was a thing of beauty. It truly was.

I love college football. My family has had USC season tickets since before I was born. I've been to probably 100 games over the years, including 9 Rose Bowls (USC is 6-3 in those games). I was there when we lost to Texas. I was there this year when we trounced the hapless Illini.

My first love is Pro Football. The greatest thing ever. Thank God for the NFL Sunday Ticket. Alas, I am a Rams fan. Last year was painful. Very painful. Still, memories of 1999/2000 keep me warm at night. Mike Jones stopping Dyson on the one yard line...a thing of beauty. Sublime. I went to St. Louis for the first game of 2000 (a Monday Night affair against Denver). I saw the presentation of the Lombardi Trophy and the hoisting of the Super Bowl Championship banner. It brought a tear to my eye. I get misty just thinking about it....



The Rams shall rise again and wreak havoc and fear throughout the NFL, you mark my words.

That's pretty much it for me. I don't follow hockey or racing or golf or anything else.

 

[Michael Chris]

Basketball is my fav sport, especially NBA. And my team is the Phoenix Suns. They are awesome. Even when they're not. Been a fan since birth, I think.

 

[Ashu]

My favourite sport to watch has always been hockey. I am a Kings and Oilers fan, but primarily the Kings. I was born here in Edmonton, hence the soft spot for the oilers. However, I have been watching the Kings play since grade 3 or 4. I, unlike a lot of kings fans here in Edmonton, didn't switch over the Kings because of the big Gretzky trade. In fact, my initial exposure to the Kings was a result of a cousin of mine playing for them. Which, if you ask me, is slightly more important than the Gretzky trade.

I'll occasionally flip on another sport but if there's a hockey game on that takes priority.

 

[1001001]

Our next door neighbors had season tickets to the Kings for a long time. They had seats right up against the glass.

Hockey is a lot of fun in person.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Let's see. I could go on for awhile with my obsessions as a fan, but I'll try to make this reasonably brief. I was born and raised in the Philadelphia area, so I root for all Philadelphia teams. Occasionally I'll root for other teams, but only as long as it doesn't conflict with my main team.

Right now, my favorite sports are Football, Baseball, Hockey, and Basketball. Back in 2001, however, I became obsessed with the 76ers (In that year, I learned practically every player in the league, plus the complete history of the Sixers starting when they were the Nationals of the NBL). Since then, they've declined in success, so I've returned to placing the Flyers above them.

In college sports, I root for the University of Delaware football above any other team. In I-A football, I usually root for Penn State, but I don't have any firm allegiance there. In basketball, I usually root for Temple, Villanova, or St. Joe's. Occasionally, I'll root for Drexel, LaSalle, or Penn, but that's pretty rare.

Being a Philadelphia fan means painful losses. I'm bitter about 1996, 1999, 2001, and pretty much every Eagles season since 2000. I also expect to be bitter for many years to come

 

[BRG]

BRG, from Kilmarnock in southwest Scotland.

My favorite sports are-
Football I'm a season ticket holder with my local team Kilmarnock in the SPL, and also follow the fortunes of Liverpool down south.

Formula 1 (also other motorsports) My favorite currant drivers are Fernando Alonso, David Coulthard, and Jenson Button. All time hero was the great Ayrton Senna. And I can't stand Lewis Hamilton, the smug git!

American Football I've loved this sport since I was a boy. My team is the Washington Redskins, also follow the Miami Dolphins. the team I hate are the despised Cowboys!

Baseball I'm a recent convert to this sport, thanks to channel Five. I catch the tail end of games when I get up for work, and have become hooked in recent years. Favorite teams are the NY Mets and SF Giants.

Sports which I have no time for are cricket, tennis, golf, bowls, snooker, and horse racing.
BRG

 

[1001001]

Being a Philadelphia fan means painful losses. I'm bitter about 1996, 1999, 2001, and pretty much every Eagles season since 2000.

I'm glad the Rams could help out so much with those painful memories.



I also remember a great Rams win in the playoffs at Philly in 1989. Greg Bell had a monster day, and Randall Cunningham couldn't do squat.

I also expect to be bitter for many years to come

Good plan....

:thumbsup:

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Luckily, I was 2 in 1989, so, as cool as I think Randall Cunningham is, that one doesn't bother me quite as much.

Rams only beat the Eagles that one year and, luckily, I could take tremendous pleasure in watching them lose in the Super Bowl (making up for it). Of course, that was the first and last time I rooted for the Patriots.

 

[tomalak301]

Good idea for a thread. Look to see who I can build friendly rivalries and all that stuff.

Anyway, I'm a big sports fan. Heck, I even tried playing soccer (Football for our foreign friends ) which could have been better. I was better in Bowling as I was in leagues for about 6, 7 years. That was fun. Anyway, I like the Bay Area teams the most:

For football, I love the Niners more than the Raiders. I'll root for both teams, but I've always been a 49er fan and right now things could be a lot better. I remember watching the end of Montana's career and Steve Young growing into the Quarterback he became. I remember Super Bowl 29 very well and Young's hall of fame performance. Now things are not as good, but there are some bright shiny moments in our future. Patrick Willis is a stud, Nate Claments is a stud, and I was really impressed with Shaun Hill as Quarterback. I know it's still Alex Smith's team, but it is open competition in training camp.

For Baseball, it's the San Francisco Giants. These days it's hard to be a fan of the Giants with all the steroid stuff but it is my team and I stick by them. I just like Baseball in general (Also like the A's but if the Giants and A's played each other, I would root for the Giants) I wonder how this season is going to be. Bonds is gone, the team is young and I don't know what kind of season it's going to be. I'll still try to follow the Baseball season because I like the game.

Hockey is the Sharks. I love hockey, I find it fun and I actually went to my first game last year. It was a hell of an experience. I hope they do well in the trade deadline today. It should be interesting.

Finally, Basketball is the Golden State Warriors. I love this team and I love the passion that the Bay Area has for this team. We had 13 years of loss after loss and then last year came and it was one of the most memorable moments in the Bay Area sports world since Steve Young's in Super Bowl XXIX. The Warriors had a hell of a run, and that playoff series against Dallas was my personal NBA Championship. It was just really exciting.

In general, I think I would rank the sports like this from favorite to least favorite:

College Basketball - I love this time of year. March Madness in a few weeks and I'm looking forward to it.

NBA Basketball

Hockey

Football

NASCAR

College Football

Golf

Baseball

I said I like Baseball and I put it last on the list. Well, I still like the game but what has been going on off the field has been a complete joke. I'm tired of this stariod scandal, and I'm tired of players like Clemens and Bonds and the Media just blowing this thing up to make it just really embarrassing. It is time to move forward, yet I think this country won't rest until someone is in jail. That congress hearing the day before Valentines Day was an absolute mockery and I felt embarrassed to be an American that day.

 

[Cali]

I am a lifelong cricket fan, supporting Middlesex and England and I've met so many awesome people because of my Cricket fandomness!

I've been to some great matches, especially Twenty20 Finals Day at Edgbaston last year which was a great day of Cricket, and the first floodlit match at Lord's (which Middlesex won!) was pretty awesome too.

I'm also a Rugby fan, England and Saracens and I'll watch Tennis, Darts, Snooker... pretty much anything that's on, aside from Boxing and Football.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

I only devotedly follow two sports: Baseball and college basketball.

For baseball, because there are no MLB teams in my state (North Carolina). I grew up following several teams, primarily the Atlanta Braves because at the time their farm team was the Durham Bulls (no longer true since they got a bigger stadium...now they're in Triple-A and affiliated to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays...bleah). I also follow the Chicago Cubs, Oakland A's (because of Tony LaRussa), St. Louis Cardinals (again, for LaRussa), and Baltimore Orioles (not so much anymore, but because of Cal Ripken Jr.). And when it comes to the Red Sox/Yankees rivalry, I'm squarely on the Red Sox's side.

For college basketball, to say I'm a HUGE Duke Blue Devils fan is a major understatement. I'm far more devoted to them than any one baseball team (and I love baseball). It helped that I grew up in family full of Duke fans (one grandfather was a surgeon at Duke Medical Hospital and another taught at Duke University). I've been to many games at Cameron Indoor Stadium with my grandmother (widow of the surgeon) and those games are some of my highlights of my life. Great stuff.

After college basketball and baseball, I do have a lingering interest in the Olympics, especially Winter, but I'm not nearly as devoted to them as I am to college basketball and baseball.

 

[1001001]

The NCAA Basketball Tournament has to be one of the most awesome things in sports. How can you not get into it?

Great stuff.

:thumbsup:

 

[Ariadne]

I pretty much just watch hockey, and have been doing so since about 2003. (My first year of university.)

I cheer for the Ottawa Senators.

I cheer against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

 

[tomalak301]

I only devotedly follow two sports: Baseball and college basketball.

For baseball, because there are no MLB teams in my state (North Carolina). I grew up following several teams, primarily the Atlanta Braves because at the time their farm team was the Durham Bulls (no longer true since they got a bigger stadium...now they're in Triple-A and affiliated to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays...bleah). I also follow the Chicago Cubs, Oakland A's (because of Tony LaRussa), St. Louis Cardinals (again, for LaRussa), and Baltimore Orioles (not so much anymore, but because of Cal Ripken Jr.). And when it comes to the Red Sox/Yankees rivalry, I'm squarely on the Red Sox's side.

For college basketball, to say I'm a HUGE Duke Blue Devils fan is a major understatement. I'm far more devoted to them than any one baseball team (and I love baseball). It helped that I grew up in family full of Duke fans (one grandfather was a surgeon at Duke Medical Hospital and another taught at Duke University). I've been to many games at Cameron Indoor Stadium with my grandmother (widow of the surgeon) and those games are some of my highlights of my life. Great stuff.

After college basketball and baseball, I do have a lingering interest in the Olympics, especially Winter, but I'm not nearly as devoted to them as I am to college basketball and baseball.

EMH,

Just Curious but are you a Duke Alum?

The NCAA Basketball Tournament has to be one of the most awesome things in sports. How can you not get into it?

Great stuff.

:thumbsup:

Hell yeah it is. I can't wait to see how Stanford does in the Tournament. One of my favorite weekends in all of sports is the first weekend. I hope we have some more nice upsets like we always have.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

EMH,
Just Curious but are you a Duke Alum?

Nah, I couldn't afford a school like Duke. Besides, I wanted to get out of state (went to Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana instead). Although, on the flip side, I could have sat in the student section and that would have been tons of awesome.

And yes, the NCAA college basketball tournament is bloody fantastic.

 

[Pegaritaville]

I love most sports, but my favorites to watch are pro football, baseball and hockey.

I've been a huge Packers fan all of my life. My grandfather played for the Pack (back in the 1920's), so it was almost mandated that I be a Green Bay fan. I rarely got to see them on tv and didn't go to my first game until I was 19, but I became a rabid fan nonetheless.

For baseball, I'm a die-hard Twins fan. I used to go to a lot of games when they played at the Met, but I rarely go to see them at the Metrodome. For the past four years, some friends and I have been heading down to Kansas City for the first series the Twins play there. Outdoor baseball, a little gambling and some early rounds of golf- what more could you ask for? I'll be heading down there for the games on April 11th.

For hockey, I love the Wild, but I still miss the North Stars. I don't get to go to very many Wild games (tickets are hard to come by), but the Xcel is a great place to watch a game. I prefer college hockey (Gophers), though.

Outside of the NCAA tourney, I rarely watch basketball, but college basketball is head and shoulders above the NBA. I don't usually watch pro basketball, but I have had a kind of morbid fascination watching the Timberwolves sink this year.

 

[RAMA]

I can get into most sports at one time or another, and depending on my mood. I like American football, baseball, bodybuilding, strongman, track and field, volleyball, cycling the best and have enjoyed playing/doing some of those as well. My favorite teams are: New York Yankees, Dallas Cowboys.

RAMA

 

[TheMurph]

My favorite sport is American Football.

My favorite NFL team is the Miami Dolphins

My favorite college team is the Tennessee Volunteers

I don't particularly care to watch other sports on TV, but I can go to a baseball game. I'm not big on baseball but I do like going to the baseball park and enjoying the atmosphere. And just because they are close I like to go to Atlanta Braves games.

Hockey is awesome to watch live, it loses something on TV though. Same with basketball.

 

[Kolrad]

Great idea for a thread. I think it's awesome that we finally have a sports forum here!

I'm a Pittsburgher, through and through-- even though I live in Ohio now, my family has been fans of Pittsburgh teams going back two generations.

My absolute favorite sport is NFL football, so I am a huge Pittsburgh Steelers fan. I was born just after the Steelers' glory years in the 1970s, so my greatest experience with them was seeing them finally get Super Bowl #5 a few years ago. Jerome Bettis's fumble against the Indianapolis Colts was pretty close to being the opposite of the Immaculate Reception; I'm thankful I can look back and laugh about it now; at the time, my brain almost shut down. The Super Bowl itself was, I must admit, a pretty sloppy game where neither team played well, unlike this year's Patriots/Giants classic, but it will always be special to me because it was the first time I got to see my favorite team go all the way.

I also really enjoy watching hockey. My favorite team is the Pittsburgh Penguins, who have one of the most tumultuous histories in sports as a franchise. They've declared bankruptcy twice and seemed to be on the verge of leaving town a couple years ago. But they've also been incredibly lucky to have some of the most talented stars ever to play for them-- and own them, and sometimes do both at once.

Greatest memories: Watching the Penguins beat the Buffalo Sabres in OT of game 7 to advance to the Eastern Conference finals-- it was such a crazy series. Seeing the Penguins get the right to the first pick after the NHL lockout-- Sidney Crosby-- out of all 30 teams in the league, their number came up. I couldn't believe it! If that hadn't happened, they might be in some other city right now.

To prove that I am a true Pittsburgh fan and not some bandwagon jumper, I happen to be a Pittsburgh Pirates fan as well (haven't gotten around to making an avatar for them yet, though). I watch them with some grim fascination. I remember seeing them get within one inning of going to the World Series when I was 12. Since then, they have not had a winning season. I turn 28 this year. Each spring, Pirates fans don't dream about the chance that our team will reach the postseason. We dream about our team winning at least as many games as they lose.

Okay; I have to admit that even I had to resort to having a "backup" team under these circumstances. Unfortunately, since I now live near Cincinnati, my "backup" team for the Pirates is the Cincinnati Reds. I'm a big Ken Griffey Jr. fan. And if you pool both teams' wins together, you end up with a decent season!

Honestly, though, I am proud of the Pirates' history. They have won 5 World Series. And I get chills when I read about the 1960 World Series-- still the only World Series to end with a Game 7 walk-off home run. What could be better than beating the mighty Yankees that way?

In college football, I'm a fan of my alma mater, Texas Tech University. Their coach, Mike Leach, is a demented genius.
I also cheer for Penn State (my brother's school) and West Virginia (my parents' alma mater).


Let's see... what else? The only basketball I enjoy watching is the NCAA tournament. I think the athleticism in the sport is spectacular, but the game drives me nuts.

I wish I could develop an appreciation for soccer, and I cheer heartily for team USA in the World Cup until they get eliminated (which is usually very soon), but I find the game nearly as frustrating to watch as basketball.

I love the Winter Olympics! I think the hockey is better than the NHL, curling is awesome, and I even like all the new snowboarding sports they just made up. The Summer Olympics are usually more boring.


Okay, probably way longer a post than was needed, but now you know where I stand. It's almost baseball season-- let's go Bucs! Win more than you lose!

 

[archeryguy1701]

Sports to play, my favorites are long distance trail running, archery, ultimate frisbee, and bocce.

For watching, the only sport I can sit around and be interested in for hours on end is football. I've been a Bronco fan for years, and I look forward to the day when Denver is dominating the NFL again... preferably sometime next season