Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Who Do You Root For?






Or, if you want to get all grammatical about it, For Whom Do You Root?

The question concerns sports, so some of you are tuning me out even as you read this sentence. That's OK. Your lives are not as rich as mine, so I won't berate you in a way that will make you even more miserable than you already are. When you totally dismiss sports, you've made a conscious choice to not enjoy some of the most thrilling theater available. If you prefer less excitement in your life - perhaps you have a heart condition that precludes such adrenalin rushes? - then I won't be the one to suggest that you might enjoy what would kill you, you pansy.

Really, why anyone wouldn't enjoy sports is beyond me. It usually conforms to many of the same strictures as classical theater, in that it consists of predetermined segments (acts) with well-known rules (for theater, the major one is that the audience shouldn't usually talk to the actors, unless an actor specifically asks an audience member to speak, but, in sports, you can yell out anything you want to the paid participants, although it's best to remember that the other ticket holders can always yell at you, too.) It's even better than theater since the ending is unknown and improvised, which you certainly can't say about a performance of Romeo & Juliet.

Anyway, you either like sports or you're calling me an idiot, so let's move on.

Integral to much of the enjoyment of sports is the cheering of one side or the other, or - if not a team sport - cheering an individual performer. Games or matches can be enjoyed on a purely aesthetic level, but true happiness or despair only surfaces when you're willing to invest passion on the outcome.

(Or money, of course, but let's not get sidetracked into discussions concerning gambling. That's a whole 'nother subject.)

The fan who has cheered for his or her team for forty years, without seeing them win a championship, has an emotional investment that pales beside all else. Maybe marriage means more, perhaps kids, but maybe not. When the Red Sox finally won The World Series in 2004, after 86 years of NOT winning it, there were fans who declared, "Now I can die in peace!" And, surprisingly, whole bunches of them did just that, too. Their survivors might even have engraved something about it onto their headstones, and there would be few here in New England who would think it strange enough to laugh about, believe me.

I've written, at length, concerning some of my own allegiances. Chief among them are the Boston Celtics, the Boston Red Sox, and the New England Patriots (in that order, too, if you're wondering.) I've also found great joy in cheering on some individual performers, such as Doug Flutie or Steve DeBerg, no matter what team they may have been playing for at any given time.

(For my friends who love hockey, let me say that I enjoy it. Of the four major North American sports, I've played it more than any other outside of baseball. And I do follow the Boston Bruins. At one time, I was a fervent fan. Hockey lost any chance of my remaining a fanatic when there was the lockout in 2004 resulting in the season not being played at all. Combined with the general recent futility of the Bruins franchise, and my love for the Celtics, who play during more-or-less the same times during the year, I found that I did not greatly miss hockey, and it has never regained my allegiance in any way approaching what it was during my younger years. And I don't expect it ever will. Great sport, fast and exciting, but my heart is no longer broken when the B's lose.)

So, if you wanted to read about those whom I like, I gave you references above, and links, and I'll assume you've either done so or have no intention of doing so. What I want to know, though, is what teams or individuals YOU root for? Who are your faves, and why? What influenced your choices? Tell me anything that you want to get off of your chest. I'll listen, even if you're (*shudder*) a Lakers fan. And then, later this week, I'll be back to muse upon your musings, if you don't mind.

Soon, with your better stuff.

[Pic at the top from The Situationist.]


41 comments:

Daryl said...

Gotta admit not having football on the TV all weekend was a bit odd .. and I am thankful that when he is home and watching he only watches playoff games ... for every sport except soccer and hockey

Anonymous said...

If you don't like watching sports on TV, chances are you're a woman. But having you guys watch sports gets you out of our hair for a while so it's all good... ;-)

Pat - Arkansas said...

"Anyway, you either like sports or you're calling me an idiot, so let's move on."

All devoted sports fans have a bit of idiot in them, but that doesn't (necessarily) mean that they have no other redeeming attributes. You must have (redeeming attributes)because I just keep coming back here, even when you're ranting and raving about sports stuff. Or, perhaps, I'm an idiot with a different passion. :)

Shrinky said...

I cheer for Scotland when they play against England in the footie (soccer to you), but only to annoy my (English) husband and kids.. they always hammer us, anyway, the Scots are rubbish at the game!

My whole family is sports mad - which is fine by me, gives me some peace to read my books..

Jenn Flynn-Shon said...

Nevermind the LA fans, you also know you'll be getting at least 1 (hopefully just one) Yankee over here...but the fun in the banter never ends there either so I truly look forward to his comment.

I will always be a NE sports fan, though like you are with hockey I'm the same with B-ball. As a middle schooler when McHale, Bird, Ainge, etc were playing I loved it but lost my taste somewhere along the way. BUT where football is concerned, though I will always love the Pats I became a Packers fan years ago (late 80's early 90's when I first started watching NFL with regularity). Don't really know why, I guess I always feel that any team who can sell out a stadium despite multiple losing seasons in a row (many multiple) has no chance of fairweather fan bail syndrome. The Packers sure qualify and of course during the Favre years (hey, did you hear he retired!) they were a force. I hope Rodgers can keep that spirit alive...

OK enough rambling, I could go on for days...

Chris said...

I was exactly the same with the NHL strike. Prior to that, I was a big Kings fan, but ever since I've kind of half paid attention (which is good because they normally suck).

Anyway, not that you don't know this already, but my teams in order are:

New York Yankees
New York Jets
L.A. Kings
L.A. Lakers (sorry)

I moved from NJ to So. Cal in the 80's which explains my geographical inconsistency.

Craig said...

Yeesh, Sully, you know I'll have a lot to say here. . .

You could probably guess most of 'em. . .

Having grown up in a Northern Michigan Baseball Town, I have been a Tiger fan for as long as I can remember. And of course, being 12 when they won the Series in '68 just kinda sealed the deal forever, y'know?

All the Detroit pro teams, really. I'm really not that big a hockey fan, but the Red Wings have been on a pretty incredible roll for a decade-and-a-half. The Pistons (who were terrible when I was growing up) have had two 'periods of excellence', from which they won three championships (and some of those late-80s Celtics-Pistons games were classic). What can I say about the Snoil ('Lions' spelled backwards)? They've been pretty hard to love these last several years, but you just wait and see what happens if they ever get really good. . .

I've also had a thing for the Michigan State teams, even as a kid, before I went there. Fall Saturdays meant Bubba Smith and the Spartans on the radio (or, if we were lucky that weekend, on TV). Magic Johnson was at MSU the same time I was (and thus, I have to confess that I was probably inordinately fond of the 'Showtime' Lakers; but it was more of a 'Magic' thing than the Lakers, per se). And aside from the success he's had, Tom Izzo graduated from HS (way Up North) the same year I did. . .

Most of my family lives in Chicago now, and there was a period of time when the local minor-league team (the Lansing Lugnuts) was a Cubs affiliate, so I've sort-of adopted the Cubs as my 'National League team'. And I've not been above rooting for the Bears or Packers, when they've been good and the Lions have been terrible (which has been distressingly often). . .

On an individual level, mostly guys who've played for the Detroit teams - Al Kaline, Kirk Gibson (who was also an MSU guy), Lem Barney, Barry Sanders, Joe Dumars (who seemed like less of a jerk than some of the other 'Bad Boy' Pistons), Steve Yzerman, Gordie Howe. But back in the 60s, I also loved to watch Sandy Koufax and Wilt Chamberlain and Johnny Unitas. Don't ask me why them and not somebody else; they just caught my imagination. And they were really, really good. . .

Bicyclist that I am, I've always admired Greg LeMond; his victory in the '86 Tour de France is one of the most stunning things I think I've ever seen. Lance Armstrong lost me when he dumped his wife for Sheryl Crow. . .

I'm sure, if I give it a little thought, I could fill your comment-space with even more stuff, but this will do for now. . . ;)

Chris said...

Okay, just re-read the post and saw the "muse on your musings" bit so I should probably elaborate on my choices. Especially since the Yankees have won the series more recently than the BoSox (a statement which has been true for about 85 of the last 90 years).

It's nice to be a Yankee fan. When you speak of Sox fans saying "Now I can die in peace," I can't help but chuckle to think of this tidbit. There has NEVER been a Yankee fan older than 17 who hasn't seen the Bombers win a championship, and those would only be fans born in November, 1978. They (shudder) had to wait all the way till 1996. I myself didn't experience my first Yankee championship until the ripe old age of 12. Of course, they also won it when I was 13. And 31. And 33. And 34. And 35. And 44.

Thought you'd be interested in knowing that.

Brian Miller said...

i have held my allegiances for 30 years...Pittsburgh Steelers, Carolina Tarheels, Chicago Bulls, Chicago Blackhawks

Chris said...

And hey, the Jets won the Super Bowl when I was 3. Let's hear it for Broadway Joe!

Sueann said...

I love sports and rooting for them on TV is a fun pastime here at our house.
The Cleveland teams are high on our list; since we are from the Cleveland area! The Browns and the Indians of course! Sad but true!! Ha!
A local baseball team, the Isotopes. The Red Sox too!
And the Colts, Giants, Bears and sometimes I even cheer on the Cowboys.
Also I was born in Michigan to so I root for their teams as well!
Hugs
SueAnn

Buck said...

RED WINGS!
RED WINGS!
RED WINGS!
Notre Dame, Big Blue, and Air Force on Saturdays.
Football should NOT be played on Sundays.
Baseball: the playoffs.
Roundball: Hardly ever.

The lockout broke my heart and I blame asshat Butt... er, Bettman. But, that said... hockey players are prolly the best modern-day role models for kids; they're what baseball players USED to be. Which is to say modest, hard-working, highly skilled people. The game itself is the most wonderful mixture of speed, grace, and violence. The playoff handshake line is one of sport's greatest traditions, and NOTHING is tougher than winning the Stanley Cup. NOTHING.

YMMV, but I think the NFL is staffed with criminals and thugs; you see a better class of people in crack houses. Less bling there, too.

No opinion on roundball, other than it's just not my cuppa.

My ADHD precludes me from enjoying baseball all that much, unless I'm actually at the park. I have great memories of games at Tiger Stadium... except for one opening day when I froze my ass off.

You asked.

Craig said...

OK, Chris went and scratched my not-quite-fully-healed sore. . . ;)

It's probably worth putting on the table, anyway, that Yankee-hating is a tradition not exclusively confined to those in Red Sox Nation. . .

The '61 Tigers were one of the better Tiger teams ever, winners of 101 games. . . and finished 9 games out of first. Frank Lary was the Tigers best pitcher that year; over the course of his career, he became known as The Yankee Killer. He was 28-13, 3.06 lifetime against the Yankees, 100-103, 3.56 against everyone else. . .

Another of my heroes is Al Lopez, who managed both the '54 Indians and the '59 White Sox, who saved the world from the horror of 16 consecutive Yankee pennants from '49-'64 (which, if I'm doing my math right, ended just before you were born). . .

And, just for the sake of sayin' so, the championship of '68 was just a smidgen sweeter, for the Yankees finishing 9th. . .

But hey, Derek Jeter grew up in Kalamazoo. . . ;)

Ananda girl said...

I'm a fanatic and I admit it. I love college football more than NFL, but will watch any game I can. My Ducks lost in the last 2 seconds of the National Playoff last night. I must now drown my sorrow in a vat of theater popcorn.

Oh... and Red Sox! In fact I love that out west here I know of at least 3 Red Sox sports bars. What could possibly be more devoted than to cross to the opposite side of the country and open a bar dedicate to a team on the other coast. And the "blind faithful" flock there to support and enjoy.
:-)

CiCi said...

Yes please, keep it grammatically correct. Since moving to Nebraska, we are surrounded with Huskers fans, everywhere. It is truly fun to see the enthusiasm here.

Suldog said...

A quick note to everybody:

I am LOVING the responses thus far, please keep them coming. Make them as lengthy as you wish. I'll be going on at length, myself, in response, come Thursday or Friday.

Thanks!

Anonymous said...

I must confess I'm a chick who doesn't give a fig about sports. I am always clueless as to where the ball is on the court, field, base, etc. I wear team colors based on whether or not the colors are flattering to my skin tones.

I'll leave the sports musings to the rest of you, but let me know when you're interested in musing on the best brand of makeup. :-)

Jeni said...

Well, I'm not exactly a fanatic about sports (especially not where Philadelphia is concerned but that's a different spelling too, isn't it?)
I enjoy sports -a lot! But I don't always pay all that much attention to them either. At times. I don't get all that hepped up any more about watching sports on tv as I would much rather see games in person. (Who wouldn't?) But my finances would never allow that to happen except may on a once every 10, probably 20 years basis. But I do have my favorite teams that I do root for year after year -many of them extreme losers too -like the good old Pirates! (I, like my grandfather and his one sister, have been a Pirates fan for as long as I can remember and when they won the championship back in 1960(I think that was the year?) our h.s. principal allowed the game to be broadcast over the PA system in our high school as the interest in the Series that year was way over the top around these old hills! I enjoy watching football too from time to time -college ball, of course, my favorite is Penn State's Nittany Lions and JOEPA is high on my idolized list for sure. Pro-football, my favorite team is the good old Washington Redskins who I've loved since the mid-60s when they were often referred to around D.C. as Otto Graham's Deadskins. But I switch my loyalties at times to a degree in football as I do like the Black and Gold, those Steelers, ya know! I don't follow basketball at all -never learned the game, don't grasp ALL the concepts, no interest, whatever. Hockey I like too but never watch it. I don't know why but I just don't but if I did, I'd like the Penguins, of course, because after all I am a Pennsylvania girl and Pittsburgh is closer than Philly to me.
I loathe, abhor and despise though the COWBOYS and the YANKEES! Because I tend to veer towards underdogs, I have also been known to root for the Cubbies from time to time too. My Grandpa, who was my hero ya know, also loved the Athletics way back when they were in Philly but his loyalty to them never rubbed of on me for some reason or other. My granddaughter now, has already developed a love for those Steelers -mainly from associating with her Mom's best friends who are true blue, loyal followers of that team. Maya has a Steelers heavy winter jacket (of course) as well as several other clothing items bearing the name "Steelers" on it too. She took her pink and white (why those colors when the true colors should be black and gold?) Steelers shirt to school for a show and tell day early on this year -1st grade love, ya know! Favorite players though - Billy Kilmer, former qb for the 'Skins and Roberto Clemente! Oh, and I also have been known to harbor a bit of love too for good old Joe Namath too! Remember the Jets were the underdog in that Super Bowl way back when, weren't they and I picked them to win in a bet at the local pub I used to frequent back in the day to a lot of harassment from other friends at that time. I just knew Joe could pull the win off then! Yeah,I know my choices are kind of in the "dark ages" and I guess I'm living in the past but them's the ones I really like or liked, anyway!

(not necessarily your) Uncle Skip said...

The first team I can remember cheering on were the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League. It wasn't much later that I became aware of football and the 49ers, who are now at the top of my list of favorites. I still have vivid memories of major disappointment in the early years. Cal football and basketball are near the top of the list, right alongside the San Francisco Giants, who finally ended the drought last year. Their World Series Trophy was in town yesterday. The Sharks (San Jose) and Warriors (Golden State) fall into the mix somewhere, but their seasons are so long I don't pay much attention until after the NFL finishes. Worse, I get bored about the time baseball starts.
I also root for the local high school team, who used to be a perennial powerhouse, but have fallen on hard times now that district boundaries no longer determine where the kids go to school.

Because it is against my nature to be negative, I also root for anyone playing against the Dodgers, Dallas Cowboys, and USC.

Anonymous said...

Long time reader (lurker) first time commenter - love your stuff. I grew up in Buffalo. As a resultt, I am a lifelong Bills fan. It seems to me its a little like family. You root for the local team even though there is no real tie to the organization. I have only been to two Buffalo Bills games and one of those was in Indianapolis. I am old enough (barely) to remember their AFL championship in 1965 (led by the young. spry Jack Kemp and Albert "Goldenweels" Dubenion) and then their loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFL championship game of 1966 for the dubious honor of losing the first AFL-NFL championship game to the Packers (long before pro sports were arrogant enough to name the final game the "Super"bowl). It does amaze me how passionate a love for a sporting franchise can become. I moved away from Buffalo long ago. Have married - had a bunch of kids - but, not only do I still follow the Bills closely - my boys have chosen to be Bills fans even though for the entirety of their lives (none of which has been lived anywhere near Buffalo) the Bills have been dreadful. It turns out that watching sports together with my boys (and my wife - althought our daughters don't much cotton to it) is great fun. My boys are still young enough to get REALLY excited and old enough to understand the rules.
I take it as a real compliment that the boys have chosen to root for the team that Dad likes. And rooting for the Buffalo teams (The Bills, the Sabres and remember that the Clippers were once the Buffalo Braves) is an experience in character building and enduring disappointment. It does help to keep some things in perspective...

Anonymous said...

Long time reader (lurker) first time commenter - love your stuff. I grew up in Buffalo. As a resultt, I am a lifelong Bills fan. It seems to me its a little like family. You root for the local team even though there is no real tie to the organization. I have only been to two Buffalo Bills games and one of those was in Indianapolis. I am old enough (barely) to remember their AFL championship in 1965 (led by the young. spry Jack Kemp and Albert "Goldenweels" Dubenion) and then their loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFL championship game of 1966 for the dubious honor of losing the first AFL-NFL championship game to the Packers (long before pro sports were arrogant enough to name the final game the "Super"bowl). It does amaze me how passionate a love for a sporting franchise can become. I moved away from Buffalo long ago. Have married - had a bunch of kids - but, not only do I still follow the Bills closely - my boys have chosen to be Bills fans even though for the entirety of their lives (none of which has been lived anywhere near Buffalo) the Bills have been dreadful. It turns out that watching sports together with my boys (and my wife - althought our daughters don't much cotton to it) is great fun. My boys are still young enough to get REALLY excited and old enough to understand the rules.
I take it as a real compliment that the boys have chosen to root for the team that Dad likes. And rooting for the Buffalo teams (The Bills, the Sabres and remember that the Clippers were once the Buffalo Braves) is an experience in character building and enduring disappointment. It does help to keep some things in perspective...

IT (aka Ivan Toblog) said...

See it here. Thanks for the topic.

Karen said...

I only got to the second sentence, but I still loves ya ;)

messymimi said...

Fan of local university teams, and the Saints/Aints. I understand the futility and drama. Around here, the season tickets to the games become a huge deal in the divorces, even.

i beati said...

This is my 9th year doing sports sat Sebring High School - greeter tickets etc. Love it all . In the miodst of bopys wrestling, basket ball and girls basketball. start baseball in 2 weeks. At home I love all sports and watch ocontinuously. I have loved Celtics since Cousy days ..I played 3 football pools

Hilary said...

Well you know by now that I root for whatever else is on TV on a sports night. But, I was once a Bruins fan back when I was in my teens. I used to attend all of their games when they played at the Montreal Forum and was even given tickets to see game one of the first Canada/Russia series. Later we sat at the same table with most of Team Canada while attending a Paul Anka (from whom we got the hockey and show tickets) performance at Man and His World. So that's for whom I rooted back then. :)

Urbie said...

I gave up fandom (with the exception of watching the 9th inning of Game 4 in 2004 from my grandfather's rocking chair -- he died in 1979 -- just so the old guy could finally rest) about 20 years ago. I still watch sports, but only stuff like golf, soccer, or other events where I just like the sport itself and don't care who wins. Rooting for a team? Why invest your emotions in something so utterly beyond your control? Might as well root for good weather (whatever that might mean, depending on your taste for sun, rain, snow, clouds, etc.)....

Michelle H. said...

Long time hockey fan from my childhood when all I was interested in was watching the fights. Now, I appreciate the sport more for its prowess. I used to go to Pirates games during my childhood, even have a small souvenir Pirates bat that they don't give out to fans at the ticket stands anymore. With that baseball franchise blown to hell (as if the 18-year losing streak along with piss-poor management issues didn't help matters), I've stuck to being a hockey fan, as of my beloved Penguins.

Recently, I've gotten into football, more so the college version, when meeting a certain someone whose interests are in line with that. Since we live in Pittsburgh, He (which also means I) root for Pitt. For NFL, it-of course-has to be the Steelers. I'm not into much basketball anymore, not since the early nineties when I was a huge Chicago Bulls fan. My certain someone does like basketball, especially the college version. He's also into that pot-smoking green leprechaun twirling the basketball that you seem to like :)

(not necessarily your) Uncle Skip said...

I was a tad bit remiss in that I forgot to mention that I'm rooting for those folks in Queensland who are currently suffering from a major hydrological anomaly.

Maggie May said...

Well as you know, I don't normally do sport..... but.... if England is playing any other country, then I am waving my flag and cheering them on! (No matter what the sport!)
Maggie X

Nuts in May

Craig said...

@ Michelle -

So, you were a huge Chicago Bulls fan in the early 90s, huh? Gee, how con-VEEEEEE-nient. That was around the time that I started rooting heavily for whoever they were playing against. But you know, since Mikey retired (for good; how come he didn't get the grief that Brett Favre has for the on-and-off retirements?) the Bulls' opponents just don't seem to interest me like they used to. . .

And listen - I am as grieved as anyone not in Greater Pittsburgh by what's become of the Pirates. I'm really not old enough to remember it (I was 4.5 at the time), but the '60 Series has got to be near the top of Greatest World Series of All Time (just below '75)

And hey - good luck with your 'Certain Someone'. . . ;)

Mariann Simms said...

I like when they play football in the snow (I have no idea how they keep score in football)...and I LOVE the Olympics.

Yes, I watch Curling. :) Have no idea what they are doing - but hey, it's the friggen OLYMPICS!

Lori said...

I enjoy sports watching...love playing them too back in my younger years...nothing like a good game of football out in the snow or broomball on the ice...since I am from Minnesota I am pretty loyal to my Minnesota teams..Vikings even though they didn't show up to play this year..Twins...like the college sports too..and boxing..pro and amuture/golden gloves...my husband would say I like sports more than he does...if one of my Minnesota teams is not playing I will most likely root for the underdog team...I enjoy getting into the games and the rivalry between the fans...the only sports I don't really enjoy are golf and ballet...rooting for a team is a lot of fun and teaching my little's to cheer and get excited about a game is good fun!

eileen said...

Boston Celtics all the way, mostly because I grew up during their 80s dominance and my father is a huge basketball fan. I think one thing that makes basketball so fun and exciting to watch is that the best players actually match up and guard each other, unlike in baseball, where you have to settle for a "pitcher's duel" or in football where Tom Brady never gets the chance to sack Peyton Manning. Because he totally would, you know.

Carolina said...

Read the whole piece, even though it is about sports. Generally I can't understand why people get so excited about grown up people chasing a ball from one side of a field to another side. It is about as exciting to me as watching grass grow. Actually that is a lie. Since I have horses, I get really excited about grass growing. But that is totally off-topic. I really have to think hard if I want to come up with a sport that I find exciting to watch on tv. Curling perhaps? I discovered that during the last Winter Olympics and thought it was fascinating to watch. Oh, and those guys and girls who went downhill on snowboards. Four of them at the same time, doing spectacular jumps etc. That was rather exciting.

Robyn Ryle said...

Hey, came across your blog on Blogs of Note. I'm a "chick" and I love sports (specifically the NFL and MLB, and a little college basketball before it became a second rate minor league for the NBA). I feel pretty strongly that you should have some kind of justifiable reason for the teams you root for...usually geography or heredity. You either root for the team your mom/dad/grandfather/grandmother rooted for, or you root for the team that's geographically close. So, having said that, I grew up in Northern Kentucky, and yes, it's sad to say, my teams are the Reds (not so horrible) and the Bengals (yeh, really horrible). But being a fan means you have to be a fan even when your team is just repeatedley and unrelentingly abysmal. And it means you must hate the Steelers with a deep and abiding passion. In fact, I try to use the word "hate" as sparingly as possible in my life, but I feel if you're going to hate something, it should probably be the Steelers.

Right now, the two teams I hate most in the NFL are the Steelers and the Jets (Rex Ryan needs a takedown, and I was so hoping the Patriots would give him one), so I'm really hoping that there's some way neither of them will win the AFC championship.

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to do some venting!

Big T said...

I was with you until you said you preferred basketball to hockey. And you have the best goalie in the league right now. How can you stand watching that stop-every-minute-for-a-foul-shot nonsense. How is it exciting to watch them score when they do it 50 times every game? They really need to raise the nets.

Suldog said...

Well, to each his own, of course. I find the athleticism in the NBA magnificent. Those guys put more miles on their legs than any other athletes outside of track participants. There's a reason a basketball player is considered ancient by 37 or 38, and there have been few who competed into their 40's. By contrast, hockey (and baseball, and certain positions in football) can have players playing into their 40's and - on rare occasion - 50's. Not taking anything away from hockey players, by any means, as they are tough bastards, but...

Hey, I'm something of a goalie groupie, so what Thomas is doing now is a thrill, for sure. As for raising the baskets, I'm with Red Auerbach. He said the solution, if you really want to even the playing field for smaller players, was to LOWER the baskets and then everybody can dunk :-)

Jeshka said...

I know this late...getting caught up with your posts.

In short, I've grown up a fan of the following teams purely based on geography; however, I believe my matured fanatic state has acquired some justification based on the past few years.

In no particular order...

San Jose Sharks (NHL). What's not to love? Their games are always sold out and I've never been to an un-entertaining game. Can't say I'm too pleased with this past season's player rotation, but oh well.

San Francisco 49er's (NFL). Say what you like about them (say all you want about Singletary, though...), but I will ALWAYS be a fan. I grew up with my grandfather being a diehard fan and somehow that's been passed along to me. And about their proposed and recently approved move to Santa Clara?...as long as the name doesn't change, it's all good with me.

San Francisco GIANTS!!! (MLB). This goes without saying!!! DUH! I was in a plane on my way back to Japan when they won the World Series, but you better believe that plane erupted with joy somewhere over the Pacific when we got the news from the cockpit. WOO HOO!

University of San Francisco DONS! (NCAAB). Graduated from there and went to every home game, quite a few away games, and every WCC Championship Tournament all 4 years I was there. That mostly had to do with the fact that I was on the cheer team, but I love them with all of my heart. And last I checked, they're #1 in the Conference!! This is the year baby!!!

Suldog said...

Jeshka - The San Francisco Dons will always have a special place in MY heart, as Bill Russell went there. Without Mr. Russell, no Celtics dynasty! So, go Dons!

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