Why ya like...

[Vern Gagne 0]

Player or teams?

 

What makes you like the teams you like, and the players you like? Is it hs simple as geography or is it something else.

 

Gophers, and Twins because they're local teams.

 

Houston Astros. I started has Jeff Bagwell fan, it grew from there.

 

San Antonio. Liked Tim Duncan since his day at WF, plus he has the same last name.

 

Florida St. Like them for has long as I remember. Huge Bowden fan, and liked that such a talented team performed up to it's abilities.

 

Boise St. This one's new. Honestly it's because the old QB's name is Bart Hendricks.

 

Tampa Bay. Derrick Brooks fan sine FSU. He goes to Tampa Bay,and become a fan of that team.

[the max 0]

Red Sox, Bruins: Lived in Massachusetts for 18 years and love baseball and hockey.

Marlins: Get most of their games on FSN, they've become my national league team.

Panthers: Roberto Luongo, they're the team I get the most of their games on FSN.

[sfaJack 0]

Chicago Cubs: grew up watching them and Harry Caray on WGN. They were on TV more than the Astros were and, because most of their games were in the afternoon, it was easy for me to watch them. this is also how Ryne Sandberg came to be my hero and why my trip to Wrigley in 2002 is my favorite vacation trip.

 

Dallas Cowboys: my dad has loved them since their beginning in 1960 and it definitely rubbed off on me.

[DerangedHermit 0]

NY Mets and NY Jets: geography, been fan as long as I can remember

 

NY Rangers: geography, started watching hockey in 1993, coincided poifectly

 

LI Ducks (minor league independent team): fun, very inexpensive (usually <$10) and you can see many ex-major leaguers in that league (Rickey Henderson (Newark Bears), Dante Bichette (Nashua Pride), Bill Pulsipher (Ducks), Carlos Baerga was on the Ducks before he made it back to the majors and Ruben Sierra was on the Atlantic City Surf before he made it back to the majors)

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

76ers, Flyers, Phillies - lived near Philly for all but 2 years of my life.

 

Dolphins - rooted for them in SB XIX, Eagles sucked at the time, so I switched my allegiances, and stuck w/ them ever since.

 

Penn State - alum of the school

 

U. of Miami (FL) - liked the Dolphins, so I also decided to root for the college in the same city. This was before I attended PSU, so that's why I'm allowed to root for both.

[C Dubya 04 0]

76ers, Flyers (whoops, forgot that hockey's gone), Phillies and Eagles.

 

Not to hard to figure out the pattern there. It's been passed down to me from 3 generations of fans, and I got stuck with the heartbreak.

 

Which also, I've got to say is why I take offense to "bandwagon" Eagles fans right now. I don't feel that you can really know what it's like to root for this team unless you sat through the early 80's, the Buddy resurrection and the awful 90s. That's where you earned your wings, so to speak.

[Guest Flyboy]

Saints -- started watching football religiously about 2 years ago and I just saw something in the the team that I liked

 

Lions -- drafted my two favorite college players in Roy Williams and Kevin Jones last year, enough said.

 

University of Texas -- always been my favorite college hence me liking the Longhorns

[therealworldschampion 0]

Like C Dubya, being an Eagles/Phillies/Flyers/Sixers fan is passed down through generations with most people in the Philadelphia area.

 

And the bandwagon fans right now have no idea what its truly like to be an Eagles fan. Try sitting through the Kotite years or the last 2 years of the Rhodes era to find out what I'm talking about.

[the pinjockey 0]

Good lord, the Philly contingent got out early on this thread.

 

Anyway, live in South Jersey so I get the Eagles/Flyers/Phillies/Sixers (only if they have someone I like watching as I am not that big of a basketball fan).

[Alro 0]

University of Kentucky - I grew up in a family that bleeds blue and that tradition was passed on to me.

 

Colorado Avalanche - Back when I started paying attention to hockey highlights on Sportscenter, I saw that Patrick Roy was the greatest goalie ever so I became a fan. That might be a weak reason, but I was only 15 or 16, so what do you want from me?

 

Nashville Predators - When Nashville got a team, I adopted them as my home team since Nashville is (or was, I'm not sure now) the closest city with an NHL team to me.

 

Louisville Bats - They are the hometown minor leage baseball team and thus I cheer for them.

 

Georgetown Tigers - That is where I went to college, so I cheer for them.

[Guest Smues]

Braves - Growing up my grandma who lives 2 hours from Atlanta would visit for about a month a year and she got me into Braves and baseball in general. Having lots of games on TBS helped.

 

Washington Huskies - Growing up on the east side of the state and being a Husky fan isn't too fun. I've always liked the Huskies and hated the cougars, not sure how it started. Probably as a kid thought a Husky was a lot cooler looking then a cougar.

 

Oakland Raiders/Any St. Louis Team - My dad is from St. Louis, and loves the Raiders, so he raised me to like all St. Louis teams and the Raiders. (also tried to raise me a Laker fan but that failed miserably)

[CanadianChris 0]

Denver Broncos - I was a HUGE Elway fan as a kid.

 

Minnesota Vikings - My dad was a fan, and got me to like them too. Damn you, Dad.

 

Toronto Blue Jays - I grew up watching them. We lived about two hours down the road.

 

L.A. Lakers - LOVED Magic Johnson as a kid.

 

Ottawa Senators - Moved to Ottawa in 1996 (the Sens' first year in the playoffs). I was a Leafs fan up to that point, but the club had pissed me off so much in the previous two years that I cheered for the hometown team as well. Then Pat Quinn came in as coach and it was sayonara, Buds.

 

Syracuse - Closest college to home (Kingston, Ontario) as a kid.

[Special K 0]

Baseball:

Mariners: Local team

Ichiro: see above, he's a badass in every way.

Red Sox: Liked Wade Boggs and hated the Yankees since I was a wee lad.

McGwire: my favorite player since I started watching baseball.

Randy Johnson: fun to watch, used to be a Mariner. Crap, now I have to like a Yankee.

 

Basketball: The 'Zags. That's about it. Don't watch much basketball.

 

Football:

Seahawks: hometown boys.

Green Bay and Pittsburgh: have an association as tough old school teams in my mind. Always root for them unless they're against the hawks.

Curtis Martin: basically won me my fantasy season. Tough old bastard.

Priest: It's Priest, what's not to like?

 

Hockey: Seattle T-Birds. Their games are great fun.

[2GOLD 0]

Cubs: Grew up watching WGN on C-Band, Harry made me laugh and the Cubs were on every day before that stupid MLB television rule.

 

Orioles: Cal Ripken Jr, that's about it

 

Patriots: They were in the celler, they had cool uniforms and my only local teams were the Eagles and Redskins. I decided I'd rather be a fan of the worst team in the league than an Eagles or Redskins fan.

 

Mavericks: My local choices were either the 76ers or the Bullets. Plus I could always watch the Mavs on the local Dallas station. I briefly liked the Bulls but only cause they were on WGN and had my favorite player B.J Armstrong. Screw Jordan, I liked the Bulls for Armstrong.

[HarleyQuinn 0]

Boston Red Sox, New England Patriots, Boston Bruins, Boston Celtics: Local teams and I've been following them since the late 80's.

 

NHL: Defunct Hartford Whalers, watched them in the early 90's on NESN before NBA Action would come on.

 

NFL: Dallas Cowboys, been a huge fan since Aikman, Emmitt, and Irvin first came together in 1991.

[Fuzzy Dunlop 0]

I was kind of an unhappy child growing up, and could identify with underdogs. A lifelong fan of Spider-Man (the original underdog if there ever was one) comic books, and some time in the mid-90s I overheard some kid bragging to some other kid about how much better the White Sox were than The Cubs, so I just immediately decided I was a Cubs fan. I didn't really get into sports until 1998, with the Sosa/McGwire HR chase, when I was like 12 years old, and since the Red Sox were pretty good that year too I found out that they're kinda like the Cubs with that long World Series drought, so that's why I cheer for the Red Sox, and I despise the Yankees. I guess this whole underdog thing also explains why whenever there are two teams I don't have a reason to care about playing on TV, I cheer for the underdogs, and why I said last year that when the Cubs win World Series Game 7, I want Rusch to get the W and The Bako to get the game-winning hit.

 

The Bulls and Bears are just because they're local teams.

[Guest Smell the ratings!!!]

White Sox due to geography and long time-ness. Plus I'm very anti-Cub.

 

I like the Bulls but I'm eh on the Bears since they've sucked all my life. Well they won a championship when I was like 2 but that doesn't count.

 

some times a particular guy will rub me the right way and I'll root for him. I'll always follow Shaq regardless of where he plays.

[nl5xsk1 0]

Most of the teams I root for are due to geography:

 

I'm a Masshole, so obviously root for the Pats & Bruins. And, to a lesser extent, the Celts and Red Sox (basically, I like it better when those teams do well, but I really don't care ... if I cared enough about basketball or baseball to really root for a team, it'd be them).

 

If you include college, it'd be BU or Harvard for hockey (again, due to where I've lived in the city) and Colorado State for football (went to school there).

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I live two hours north of Philly, about have way between there and New York. I can't stand New York teams, so my geographical preferences fall to the Philly teams, the Flyers, Phillies, Eagles, and 76ers. I follow the Phils and Sixers more than the other two teams.

[The Man in Blak 0]

St. Louis Cardinals - Comes from my dad being a huge Cardinals fan all as I was growing up, even when I'd cheer for the Royals or wear a Dale Murphy jersey to Cardinals games. It doesn't hurt that they're the local baseball team and that I've lived /went to college in St. Louis for the last five years.

 

Carolina Panthers - John Fox is a phenomenal coach and I dig the young and underrated defense.

 

Detroit Lions - Not so much anymore, but I was a huge fan when Barry Sanders played for them. To this day, the only football jerseys I own are two Barry Sanders jerseys. Just a class act.

 

 

And that's really about it. I actively despise more teams than I like.

[geniusMoment 0]

Cincinnati Reds- Born in "the nati", and have lived here ever since.

Chicago Cubs-- Some of my earliest memories are of being at my grandparents house listening to Steve Stone and Harry Carry call Cubs games in the afternoon. I remember going on vacation, with the ocean in the background, and the Cubs game on right in front of me. I then started following them, I liked how their announcers would name random people in their broadcasts, wishing them a happy birthday, or whatever. After reading Harry's book I learned that WGN officials tried to get them to stop that, now that the last link, steve stone, is gone an announcing style will die at the hands of pc corporate politics. I am not sure how much I will like the Cubs this year, its like a part of my childhood has died, and I still have bitter feelings about it.

 

 

Boston Red Sox-- Much less than the other two, but I love their park, and the atmosphere around the team, plus I hate the Yanks.

[Damaramu 0]

Boston Celtics and Red Sox: I've always had a thing for the Boston teams

 

Eagles: I liked Randall Cunningham when he played for them and I just kind of took to the team after that.

 

OU: I go to the school and have lived 10 minutes away from it my whole life.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Green Bay Packers- Growing up in LA, I always found Raiders fans to be obnoxious, Niners fans to be all bandwagoners, and the Rams just plain sucked. I didn't start watching football (although I called myself a Dolphins fan beforehand because I was born in Miami) until about `92, `93 which is when the Packers began their recent success, and I saw something in the team that I loved right away, and obviously it had a lot to do with #4. As it went on more and more and more, I got into the team's history, tradition, pride, and I truly became a fan probably around 94 or 95, as I learned the game and started playing it myself. Anyone I know will probably tell you I'm the biggest Packer fan they know outside of Wisconsin (and never been anywhere even close, either), but I just absolutely adore the green and gold.

 

LA Lakers- Ah, now these guys I grew up with. From Kareem and Magic to the darker ages of the early 90's and the Divac/Van Exel days, to the Shaq/Kobe/Jackson triangle threepeat, to the KOBE~ Lakers of today. I remember going with my friend's dad and watching the old Showtime Lakers at the Forum, and it was great. I don't think I could ever like any other team.

 

Colorado Avalanche- Forsberg, Sakic, and Roy. I liked em from when I first got into hockey, which was right when the Nordiques became the Avs. Never an intense fan of hockey, but I'm happy to see them or the LA Kings do well (another Forum/Staples favorite of mine).

[The Czech Republic 0]

Cubs: Grew up watching WGN on C-Band, Harry made me laugh and the Cubs were on every day before that stupid MLB television rule.

What exactly, in detail, is that rule, anyway? I think there might be a similar one in place with the NBA because the Bulls used to be on WGN a lot more.

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

Which also, I've got to say is why I take offense to "bandwagon" Eagles fans right now. I don't feel that you can really know what it's like to root for this team unless you sat through the early 80's, the Buddy resurrection and the awful 90s. That's where you earned your wings, so to speak.

I do my part to cancel that out by actively rooting *against* the Eagles.

[Guest Vitamin X]

I've hated Eagles fans since they cheered the neck injury that would end Michael Irvin's career on that horrible Veterans Field turf. Good thing they went 3-13 or 5-11 that season (I forget), but they've only become even more obnoxious during their recent success (and consequent annual choking). It's one, albeit one of many, reason as to why I'm cheering for a division rival to obliterate them this week.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

Bill Laimbeer -- because all my friends, who were Bulls fans in the late '80s/early '90s, hated him...

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

Bills - Might as well be the local team in Toronto, all their games are shown every week, barring a blackout when it's shown nowhere. Watched football since I was a toddler, so the local team stuck with me.

 

Jays, Raptors, Leafs - Obvious.

 

Packers - Always liked Brett Favre, so it sort of grew into a fandom for the Pack. But they'll always be a secondary team for me.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

The Cubs, Colts, and Bears are all local, everyone else I like is just based on certain players I arbitrarily liked, like the Dolphins during Marino's career, the Raiders with Bo Jackson, and the Giants 1990 superbowl team.

[Damaramu 0]

76ers, Flyers (whoops, forgot that hockey's gone), Phillies and Eagles.

 

Not to hard to figure out the pattern there. It's been passed down to me from 3 generations of fans, and I got stuck with the heartbreak.

 

Which also, I've got to say is why I take offense to "bandwagon" Eagles fans right now. I don't feel that you can really know what it's like to root for this team unless you sat through the early 80's, the Buddy resurrection and the awful 90s. That's where you earned your wings, so to speak.

Well some of us weren't around in the early 80's......but I was around in the 90's hence why I started watching Randall Cunningham and liking them after that.