OT: Favorite Pro non-football team
So what OTHER teams do you live and die for, or at least root on? Basketball, baseball, soccer, hockey, obscure, arena league like sport....even Olympic Team, if it's someone outside the US. (Or you have some really close connection to one of the US teams, other than being an American. Ice Dancers, I'm looking at you). I'd say individual athletes too, but 40 posts saying "Tiger Woods" might not be all that exciting.
Me, I like the Detroit teams, but am more a playoff hockey guy, and a "Tigers have to be really playing for something before I'll sit through a baseball game outside of a park" fan. But I'm a big Pistons fan. The Bad Boys were perhaps the biggest part of my sports formative years outside of Bo. They'll always go down as the perfect team for the perfect town. But the Wallace-Billiups edition was a lot of fun too, defense, and sticking it to the Lakers once more. (Plus I worked for them during the teal jersey years....brrrrrr).
So that's my 1A after Michigan/Football. How about you?
August 3rd, 2011 at 12:49 PM ^
Tigers and Red Wings.
And Carl Edwards.
August 3rd, 2011 at 12:50 PM ^
Red Wings and FC Barcelona.
Red Wings. Manchester United, and Liverpool. How about the an MLS team? Its starting to really grow on me as the teams get better. I really enjoy watching the Seattle Sounders.
August 3rd, 2011 at 12:51 PM ^
Red Wings. Far and away. They're really the only team I care about outside of football. I'll root for the Tigers and Pistons, and I'm happy when they win, but the Red Wings, Lions, and Michigan are my real homiez.
Detroit Red Wings. Montreal Canadiens. Team USA Hockey.
Other teams/players I follow: Federer, Gasquet, Oakland A's, Olympique Lyonnais, France National Soccer team
August 3rd, 2011 at 12:51 PM ^
I'm a lifelong Yankees fan.
August 3rd, 2011 at 12:56 PM ^
ditto
Michigan football and the Yankees are always neck and neck for me favorite team wise.
August 3rd, 2011 at 12:53 PM ^
Damn i though it said Favorite non-pro football team,
and i would have answered Grand Rapids Rampage (RIP)
now ill go with the.....Lakers.
It's basketball on turf, babee! I'd go back a longer time and say Detroit Drive. But the Rampage did have Remy. (Better than that team out at the Palace).
August 3rd, 2011 at 12:54 PM ^
D3 football has to be my Linfield Wildcats - 55 consecutive winning seasons and counting
Pro baseball is the Seattle Mariners - It has been tough to watch the last few years but still a fan. I also keep tabs on the Detroit Tigers.
Trail Blazers
I don't follow hockey closely, but I cheer for the Red Wings and Maple Leafs
August 3rd, 2011 at 12:55 PM ^
Red Wings. Beware the Octopus.
August 3rd, 2011 at 12:56 PM ^
I too cheer for the Pistons, Tigers and Lions, but I'll go with the Wings. They've made the playoffs every year I've been alive and won in entertaining and consistent fashion that entire period, both before and after the lockout. Going to the Joe is always a treat and you definitely understand why they call it Hockeytown.
I can remember so many great teams and players on the four Stanley Cup winning teams in my lifetime, not counting the other great Wings, but I'd have to say the 2002 team was probably my favorite. Although they were basically their own All-Star team they still mixed it up with the Avs and other teams back then and it was the final cup for so many legends on that team (Hasek, Hull, Robitaille, Scotty Bowman, Larionov, list goes on...). Ken Holland has proven himself to be a great GM in consistently winning under the salary cap even after the lockout. The Wings are the model franchise of the NHL and I'm proud to cheer them on as my 1A favorite team.
August 3rd, 2011 at 12:57 PM ^
As much as I love hockey, I'm only a big fan during the playoffs. Red Wings games cost too much when I was young so my parents took us to more Tigers games, and a few Pistons games (nosebleeds, no less). I honestly have not cared about the NBA since LeBron started beating the Pistons. Still a huge Tigers fan. I was sitted just a few rows behind home plate for the 28 out perfect game...thats the first time I ever went to a game and sat lower deck/not left or right field...possibly one of the best games I've ever been to.
August 3rd, 2011 at 12:57 PM ^
White Sox and Red Wings. Oxymoron? I think so. But it's true.
Red Wings, Tigers, Pistons
In that order, because hockey is as important to me as football, baseball I've never been that into but it goes on almost every day in an otherwise dead summer, and I really don't care for pro basketball in the least but I'll pay attention if the Pistons are looking to close out a good year and make a playoff run.
NASCAR I have pretty much given up on because its become a sport of the most resources to get that little extra edge with the cookie-cutter cars. Its just not as interesting anymore (insert joke about NASCAR being interesting at all for the haters), and I think I'm just as tired as most guys of Johnson winning the stupid thing every year. When I do decide to watch a race though, Carl Edwards.
August 3rd, 2011 at 12:58 PM ^
Going to break the trend here and go with the Blackhawks.
Yankees, Sabres and Valentino Rossi from MotoGP. I thought GP would get more pub with the Indy race addition but it doesn't seem like it's catching on. I don't understand because the racing is awesome and the crashes are spectacular (for the Nascar fans) plus umbrella/podium girls.
Edit: I should have watched the whole video, some of these aren't GP crashes but still good, assuming everbody involved was ok.
Motocross and supercross are bigger in America among the casual motorcycle racing fans because there are more people racing dirtbikes, and MotoGP is popular among the more devoted. My dad is a fan of Ben Spies and won a really nice replica of his American flag helmet. Personally, I watched a lot of motocross as a kid but didn't keep up with it once I went to Michigan and didn't have a Cycle News subscription or SpeedTv. I always liked Ricky Carmichael because obvious and Chad Reed because he was racing for Yamaha, I had a Yamaha, and I like blue. It's so weird watching all the kids who were just starting out in the 125s when I followed motocross closely are now fighting for the 250 points championship. And they apparently changed the class names, now they're even more useless. My dad is taking me and the boyfriend up to Unadilla next weekend. It'll be my first time at that race in 3 years and my boyfriend's first ever. He's been calling me a redneck jokingly, but I think that'll change once he sees the full glory of the race fans in backwoods upstate New York.
Outside motorsports and football (NYG), I like the Redwings and Hungarian water polo. Seriously, look it up, it's up there with goulash and the Rubik's cube as a source of national pride. I believe Hungary has more gold medals in water polo than the rest of the field combined.
And if I must be dragged to a baseball game, I will tolerate the Tigers even though they have lost every game I have attended.
I didn't grow up riding dirtbikes, so I forget about the popularity of motocross/supercross and x-games style dirtbike competition. That's ironic because they race motocross and hare scrambles about 10 miles from my house.
Your comment about the class name changes really hits home with me. I used to follow AMA Superbike - Spies' old teammate Matt Mladin was my favorite rider - but it appears the AMA is intent on destroying fans ability to follow the racing by constantly changing rules and classes. I used to love watching the vintage racing at Mid-Ohio but the AMA basically forced AHRMA to withdraw from the event because of all the over-regulating.
I guess I'm proving your point about the "more devoted" being GP fans, and I don't really consider myself that hard core of a race fan. Congratulations to your dad on his Spies helmet. You should try to make it to Indy to get an autograph. Tickets aren't that expensive. He should look into becoming a corner worker. You get free training, passes to the races and pits and you can watch the races from the track.
There are close to zero legal riding sites left in New York... we had to go to CT, NJ, MA, RI or NH for enduros and hare scrambles. Go get yourself a KTM and enjoy while you can.
Honestly, that was part of the reason I never got into road racing: too many separate yet similiar classes for a kid to grasp. I do love watching the Isle of Man TT though, those guys are crazy.
I'll let my dad know about working corners (HALOL), but he still lives in New York. He visits me in Michigan a lot and goes riding up north, he's been to Indy, and he hits Daytona every year. An upside to MotoGP not being that popular: if he did get his helmet signed, he wouldn't have to worry about people trying to steal it off his bike any more than usual.
Sorry to hear about the riding situation in NY. I would love to get another bike, but I talked my wife into me getting an older DR350 last year. I trail ride with a friend on his friend's property from time to time but I don't have knobbies on it - too many ruts and big loose rocks/leaves. I need to get over to Wayne National Forest with him. I really want to get a sidecar for my BMW so we can take our daughter riding but she's only two!
I don't know where your dad is in NY, but my wife and I rode through Lake Placid and upstate on our way back from Vermont. Beautiful ride. I think I may be getting too OT for the site but it's good to know there are other riders on MGoBlog. Have fun at your race this weekend.
Ditto. You take the Red Wings away from me you might as well take oxygen out of this world.
I'm an Atlanta guy born and raised. The Braves have always been my favorite pro sports team, even through the 80's. Despite their extreme suckitude for much of the decade, how could you not love Dale Murphy, Phil Niekro, Bob Horner, Chris Chambliss, Claudell Washington, Glen Hubbard, Jerry Royster, Len Barker, Bruce Benedict, Stever "Bedrock" Bedrosian, Brett Butler, et al? Is it odd that I can name more guys on the '84 roster than the 2011 roster?
Ok, well, maybe many of those names are ones only a homer could love, but Dale Murphy was the MAN, and Bob Horner had a huge bat.
After the Braves, I'd have to go with the Hawks. Otherwise, no real pro sports loyalties. I was a fan of the Atlanta Chiefs WAY back in the day.
I did not love Bob Horner. He was a spooky looking character on some of his baseball cards. Must've been that puffy hair spilling out the sides of his cap.
But Glen "Mother" Hubbard? That's another story.
Miami Sharks. Jamie Foxx at QB, coach Al Pacino......how can you go wrong?
The Washington Sentinels. And not college The Mean Machine (the original one of course). (Of course college, you have Minnesota State...and does U-M in The Program count as fictional?)
Michigan football has always been my favorite but the Red Wings have been closing the gap in 2nd place. Another couple years of RR and Wings might have caught the Wolverines but I think that Brady Hoke will hold on to first place in my mind. Looking forward to manball, BT Championships and BCS Bowl games.
I love watching Red Wing hockey, and I root for all of the Detroit teams. I find myself rooting for the Pirates this year too because it gives me hope for the Lions
Ironically, ever since I watched The Admiral rip our beloved U for 50 in the NCAA tournament. I then waited patiently for 2 years through his naval service (made all the more noble when you consider how exactly a 7'1" man functioned within the confines of a naval submarine) and indentured Spurs suckitude for his arrival. Robinson shifted effortlessly into the Big Fundamental, they then added the blackest white man in the NBA in GINOBLI!!!!! and that was all she wrote. 4 championships. Just to rub it in Pistons fans (if there's any of you left), I have just one word for you...Horry. Horry. Horry. Smooth move, Rasheed.
Red Wings and Arsenal
Cleveland Indians
I would give anything to see the Indians win a title.
Da Bulls!
Orioles and Ravens- Baltimore guy, I can't help it. I grew up on Michigan football from my family, added the Ravens when they came to the city, and felt like getting kicked in the groin on a daily basis from April-October so I figured the Orioles were a good way to go.
Detroit Red Wings and everything else is a DISTANT 2nd to them.
The Detroit Tigers and Scuderia Ferrari (F1).
Cincinnati Reds- The only Ohio team that is my favorite in any sport
Love the Grind Line. Drapes was last one to play but they all live on forever in the hearts of all Red Wing fans.
Speaking of Detroit and hockey/baseball, Jim Rome called Detroit a football city first yesterday. I disagree -- completely a hockey city, IMO.
Red Wing fans are the most passionate, but the serious ones only make up a small percentage of the total population. They've been good for so long it seems that way, but they were "The Dead Things" for a long time too. Tigers would be bigger if they were ever consistently good too, because of their history in the town. But the Lions have sucked and still sell out and predominate talk in this town. And football rules when you can sell out the Lions, Michigan and sometimes even Muchigan State in the same weekend. If the Lions ever won it all they'd have to shut down the city for a week. They're that popular now, and they haven't had bandwagon jumpers for 50 years. Imagine when all those who have given up come back too.
Is this board nothing but chauvinist...what about the Swedish Bikini Team? Though I have to admit, I haven’t had the time to follow them since mgoblog.
Hands down. NBA is rigged, and I only cheer for the NFL team with the most Michigan players on it (usually).
wings.
The only other teams I live and die for other than UofM are my beloved Habs and Team Canada in hockey. Any sport really, but if we lose in hockey I feel sick. I love the NFL and my team is the Tampa Bay Bucs. In the CFL I cheer for the hometown Alouettes. I use to be an Expos fan. RIP. I also cheer for the Blackhawks because their goalie Corey Crawford grew up on my street.
I also love the Habs. But I think I despise Team Canada more than any other team in anything. I was completely devastated for quite a while after that gold medal game. Wasn't too happy back in 02 either. So now that you mentioned that I need to add Team USA to my favorite teams list!