How did you decide on your favorite franchises? • Page 2

When it was all going down I always said that the Chargers should trade Rivers to the Texans so he could go get his SB.

I also had the ridiculous idea that the Chargers should trade Rivers, Gates, Woodhead, Allen to the Cowboys in exchange for a stadium in San Diego.

 

I moved around a lot of when I was younger, but my allegences were basically formed in two cities: Chicago and Denver. Lived in Chicago during the Jordan era so Bulls are obvious. Then moved to Denver right when the Broncos went back to back and the Avs were good, which helped me get into NFL and hockey. Never been to into baseball much but I chose the White Sox just because I didn't like the Cubs. In the soccer I like Fulham because they had a lot of American players back in the day. Of course now they've been relegated for a few years.

 

Cavs, Indians, Browns: Born and raised in Cleveland, so their games were televised and easy to attend. They all had various highs and lows through my younger years in the '90s so there was always a decent buzz.

Blue Jackets: Mostly proximity for CLE to Columbus. We felt the buzz for the team up north, and I did not like the Wings or Penguins growing up. I actually liked watching the Hasek Sabers teams more. Now Cleveland has the Columbus AHL affiliate and I am invested in the team, so it makes sense.

NCAAF: Born and raised on Notre Dame. A good amount of my family went there so it's pretty personal. I have been making trips to that campus and to games for many years.

NCAAB: I went to the University of Dayton so they are number one. I grew up going to a lot of Butler games at Hinkle. My mom is from Indy, so they have been my number one for hoops until I went to UD. ND is up there too because of family. And IU is my fourth team because of their presence in Indy. I grew up watching IU games with my dad and we really enjoyed Bob Knight as a coach.

Arsenal: they are my EPL club due to my college friends and brother-in-law. After college and as the NFL got more and more annoying, I decided to divest time spent on that sport and allocate it to soccer. My brother-in-law was a good resource as someone who lived in England for a bit. I already knew the history some and the players from college, and got to cheer with my brother-in-law. I know Arsenal is an "easy" club to pick, but for me it's personal.

 

Arsenal - My mum lived near highbury stadium for a while. she's been a supporter since the 70s

really the only club i follow haha

 

NYG - Dad
Red Sox/Celtics - Geography + Dad
Everton - I was inexplicably drawn to them watching the PL for the first year
UConn - Geography + Family (Mom attended, her parents taught, dad big fan)

 

49ers- I guess I was a big frontrunner when I was 4 years old. But to my credit I stuck with them through a decade of despair. And I will through the next upcoming decade of despair

Yankees/Devils- Local

 

Also, Colorado because they're my alma mater. We're really good at skiing and cross country you guys!

 

NFL: LA Rams - in 2001 I was 9 and getting into football and decided since they were the only undefeated team in week 4 that I would choose them to be my favorite. if only I had known they would rarely win again
EPL: Everton - first year completely paying attention to EPL, and basically a friend said "choose Everton or West Ham" and I chose Everton.
MLS: Toronto - similar to Everton

I have minor ties to the Royals, Tigers, and Pistons due to current or past geography, but more of a neutral fan for those sports.

 

I follow USWNT because they're fucking beasts and I love the way they treat each other and how the women's soccer league in the US is blossoming. They seem very supportive of each other and other national teams and it's incredible to watch.
I'm a Yankee fan because my parents both grew up as Yankee fans and it kind of has become a family thing. My family went through a really rough chunk of time and some of our only escapes and moments of relief from everything was watching the games together.

 

It funny to me since I grew up with most major sports in my area, so I had specific teams to easily follow, watch, and read up on daily. In reality, that's just not the norm. Most people grow up in areas with one major sports team if their lucky. It's really more common to pick different cities for each sport, generally taking a more successful team at the time they get into the sport. No way is better, but it's just interesting to me seeing those differences.

 

St. Louis Cardinals/Blues: Grew up here so there you go.

Seattle Mariners: Two reasons. First one being that I used to play Ken Griffey Jr.'s Winning Run on SNES all the time as a kid and I was drawn to playing with them since you know, that was the team he played for. Second being that I have family in Seattle and I root for the teams there.

Seattle Seahawks: Same as reason two above.

Newcastle United: Also have family who lives in that area, so I figured why not because I wanted to follow the Premier League. Plus, a friend of mine follows them too so it helps to talk about them with him.

Chicago Bulls: Been a fan since the MJ days, used to watch them play in the Finals with my grandmother for three summers back in the 90's. Since then, I still follow them because I refuse to switch teams at this point.

 

Falcons: Strictly because of my dad being the biggest fan I ever knew. RIP.

Predators: Incredibly well-run organization who cares about its fans. Fell in love with them when the Thrashers relocated and my love affair will never end. My favorite team of the ones I cheer for.

Braves: Dad+Uncle raised me on the Braves. Used to literally go to my uncle's house every night as a kid and we'd watch them together.

Hawks: eh...I keep up with them but for the most part I forget about them. Still root for them and keep loose tabs on the NBA because of my dad being such a big fan later in his life.

Tennessee: I bounced around programs and finally settled on Tennessee. I didn't have an actual connection to any major school and all of my friends now days are UT fans/alum and I just started to develop a connection with it. Been to Neyland and it's by far the best overall experience I've gotten in a live environment.

 

everything for me is local, other than the detroit lions. my family are huge redskins fans, and i was one too, but i was sick of dan snyder making everything about the team so damn unenjoyable. went to a 7-6 redskins victory over the rams in like 2008 or 2009, and it was so painful i needed a new team. chose the lions because they were in the middle of a 20 game losing streak, but i still thought they were a better organization than the skins. i soon find out they play the skins next week, beat them and snap the streak, and i've been a big fan ever since then

 

MLB:
Boston Red Sox - I was 10 in '99 when they hosted the All-Star Game and Nomar participated in the Home Run Derby. I remember being entranced by it and the Green Monster and asking my Dad who the team was and stuff. Had just started playing little league and stuff the year prior too. Getting to see Nomar and Tek and Pedro in those early days got me full-fledged in on the team.

NCAA:
Wisconsin Badgers - Geography + Family

NHL:
Chicago Blackhawks - Geography + Family

NBA:
Milwaukee Bucks - Geography NOT FAMILY (they are all Bulls fans haha)

Soccer:
Tottenham - Not ashamed to admit, it came down to color of the kit and a few exciting players back in 2013 when I didn't know enough to pick for any other reason.

 

Canucks fan because the farm team was home to me (manitoba moose).
now that the jets are back I'm a jets fan.

 

Arsenal - in the late 90s my favourite player was Dennis Bergkamp, I looked up his team and it was Arsenal.

Orlando Magic - Penny Hardaway.

 

Steelers - never had a chance with my family. It was ingrained in me before I realized I had a choice. Always felt kinda guilty about it living in Ohio with all the bengals/Browns fans...lol

Dayton Flyers (ncaa basketball) -grew up going to games because I lived really close to the arena. UD is a fine school but it's private and no way could I afford it

Cincinnati Reds - location

Cleveland Cavs - I used to consider myself a Cavs fan because of location but over the years abandoned a favorite NBA team after the Lebron-Miami thing. It's kind of peaceful being able to enjoy a sport without a rooting interest and I don't really pay attention until towards the end of the NBA season/playoffs anyway

 

Bengals: First NFL game I watched was them winning on a fake spike play against the Steelers. Terrible decision in hindsight but I've stuck with them.

Blue Jays: They were my little league team through most of middle school.

Capitals: Watched a lot of hockey after the lockout and their games were always on TV. Don't really have a "favorite" team in hockey since I like watching everyone but they were the first team I latched onto.

Hornets: Used to be a Bulls fan when I was a kid but stopped following them when Jordan retired and they got rid of everyone else. Started watching more NBA games the past couple of years and chose the Hornets because my family's from North Carolina.

 

Red Bulls: Went to a few MetroStars games back in the day at Giants Stadium. First game at RBA was in 2010 when the stadium opened and it was such a great experience. I've had season tickets since 2013.

Arsenal: A few years ago, I wanted to start following the EPL. My friend is an Arsenal supporter, so I figured the easiest thing to do was follow Arsenal as well so he could take me under his wing and teach me about the team.

Indians: My dad's second cousin (somehow related, still don't know 100%) used to pitch for them, Charles Nagy.

Rangers: Growing up in NJ, I still to this day don't remember how exactly I started following the Rangers

Jets: Even though my mom and sister are Giants fans, I never watched football until my oldest sister started working for the Jets in ~2002. She was able to get tickets to a few games for us and the rest is history...

Nets: Not too big into basketball these days, but I've been a Nets fan since the NJ days playing at Continental Airlines Arena.

 

Yankees - Geography, friends were fans

Eagles - Watching the 2002 NFC Championship game. They got blown out, but I gravitated towards them

Knicks - Geography

 

Geography (Magic, Lions, Jags, Rays, Lightning)
Family (Nebraska, Gladbach)
I started watching the Devils, Suns, and LSU when I was younger and they've just kind of stuck.
Marseille, Barcelona and Genoa because I adore the cities.
And then the Spurs just cause.

 

Panthers/Hornets/Hurricanes - hometown teams that I have always followed. But each have their own moments that drew me closer. I was at the Panthers first home playoff game when we beat Dallas. I was just a kid but I'll never forget that game. It's what made me a football fan. Hornets because of Muggsy, LJ, Dell and Alonzo. Canes because of Roddy and Francis.

UNC - my dad was a NC State alumni and for some reason I wanted to root against him as a kid. Vince Carter years made me a die hard and I've never stopped since.

Tottenham - not sure how they became my team other than playing with them in FIFA in high school. But they've become my second favorite sports team behind the Panthers.

 

Bruins, Patriots, Red Sox and Celtics simply from growing up in Massachusetts. I've been a St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Blackhawks fan for a long time and not exactly sure how that came about other than my aunt works in sports journalism and has lived out in the midwest for a long time. I'm also a Gonzaga fan for College Basketball and Boise St for College football, then they became underdog darlings and always got called a bandwagoner, oh well.

 

Rasheed Wallace

 

New Jersey Devils - being a European, for me it was playing NHL 2000 demo with the choice of playing as either the Dallas Stars or the Devils. Despite the previous few years, I still stick by my decision.

Otherwise it's pretty much very loosely following the teams wherever I'm living currently.