OT- Your Favorite Teams, All Sports, In Order
OK. Here's where you post your favorite teams in any sport in any level of professionalism, in order of the most important to you. One rule: No Ties. They must be broken somehow.
For me, as you'll see, I break the ties by answering the question "Which team would I rather see win a championship?" This may be useful to you or it may not. Regardless, figure out a way to break them or don't post here.
Without further ado:
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#1) San Francisco Giants- As much as I love college football, baseball has a way of floating with the ebb and flow of one's day-to-day life that no other sport can match. I was born in Detroit, but grew up in the Bay Area, and in that time grew to become the staunchest of staunch fans of the Black-and-Orange. As much as the Colorado hail Mary, or The Game 2006 or App State hurts, nothing will ever top the sheer skin-peeling agonizing pain of the 2002 World Series, Game Six, and Dusty goddamned Baker giving the (WAY TOO EFFING EARLY) hook to Russ Ortiz. Drives me crazy just to think about it. We were Six outs away. Six.
#2) University of Michigan Football- Never went there, but most of my extended family did and that's the team I grew up cheering for with my old man every Saturday, in person or on TV. It's the only team I schedule my life around, and the only reason I don't have this entry as #1 is because of misters Woodson, Griese and the rest of the 1997 team that delivered the sweet, sweet goods. Alumni or not, show me the Big House and have the band play The Victors and I'm teary-eyed as hell, I guarantee it.
#3) Detroit Red Wings- Stevie Yzerman. My favorite all-time athlete, bar none. I've never cried as hard for a sports team as I did for the 1997 Wings. The Wings are obviously the most rewarding team I've had to root for over the years. Thankfully. Everyone needs one team that wins all the time.
#4) Detroit Lions- Other than the Giants, they're the only team on this list who I haven't seen tasting championship glory. Most likely, they'll be the last to taste it again. But they're also MY pro team, through thick or thin (i.e. through thin). Like the Giants, they get the nod over the next team because I've never seen them win it all. Which leads me to the...
#5) San Francisco 49ers- Growing up a Lions fan in the Bay Area in the 80's meant one thing: finding another team to pull for once the playoffs rolled around. And oh did the Niners deliver. Montana. Lott. Rice. Young... endless glory.
#6) Detroit Tigers- My first team. Some of my earliest memories involve the '84 Series, Alan Trammel, Kirk Gibson and Tiger Stadium. Bless You Boys, indeed.
#7) University of Michigan (Mens) Basketball- The first college basketball game I ever watched was the Final Four game vs. Illinois in '89. I still have a completely destroyed Glen Rice replica t-shirt around here somewhere. I admit that they probably wouldn't have been this high except for Coach Beilein, Manny and the rest of the boys on this year's team.
#8) Detroit Pistons- The first pro basketball game I ever remember watching was the "And there's a steal by Bird!" game. Broke my little 10 year old heart. I've been a fan ever since, though basketball definitely takes a back seat to the other major team sports for me. Still, the 1989 and 2004 titles vs. the Lakers easily rank among the greatest sports moments of my life. If nothing else because: Screw the Lakers.
#9) University of Michigan Hockey- I'm a new fan (if at all) mainly due to the coverage here. However, I can't wait to check out my first game at Yost. I'll just have to get a tutorial on all the chants that the kids do beforehand.
And you, MGoCitizens? What are your squads?
I figured the best way to sort my top 10 would be to rank them by how closely I follow their seasons. The more attention I pay, the more I must like the team, right? The U of M teams should be obvious, but some of my other teams are a bit more eclectic.
1) University of Michigan Wolverines (Football)
2) University of Michigan Wolverines (Hockey)
3) Northern Michigan University Wildcats (Hockey) - I grew up in Marquette and went to countless Wildcats games as a kid. I still try to get to at least a game or to when I'm home on breaks.
4) Green Bay Packers (NFL) - Green Bay is a 3 hour drive from where I live, Detroit is 7 or 8. You do the math.
5) Chicago Cubs (MLB) - My grandpa is a huge cubs fan, so there really was no choice growing up. It was the Cubs or nothing.
6) University of Michigan Wolverines (M-Basketball)
7) Buffalo Sabres (NHL) - Pro hockey didn't interest me much as a kid until my cousins (who live in Buffalo) finally got me interested.
8) Detroit Red Wings (NHL) - I have nothing against the Red Wings (in fact, they're the only Michigan Pro team that I care for) but they have to take a back seat to the Wings.
9) Clemson University Tigers (College Football) - This one is pretty weird. I played a pretty long NCAA 09 dynasty with them, so I started following them in real life. Now I have some weird fondness for the perpetual underachievers of the ACC.
10) University of Michigan Wolverines (Softball) - A friend of mine from high school played on the 05 National Championship team, so I started following them when she was on the team. Now I pay cursory attention if there's nothing else to watch.
1. Michigan Football
2. US Soccer
3. Busan (Korea) Lotte Giants Baseball
1. Michigan Football
2. Green Bay Packers
3. Michigan Basketball
4. Red Wings
5. Atlanta Braves
6. Detroit Pistons
1. Michigan Football - Easily #1. Aside from the two month the Stanley Cup Playoffs are going on, UM football is my #1 obsession.
2. Detroit Red Wings - There is perhaps no greater high than seeing the Wings win the Cup. Honestly, the only thing I can envision beating it would be to see RR hoist a crystal football in January one day. And aside from the 2006 OSU game, no game has hollowed me out and broken my heart more than Game 7 10 days ago. I don't know if I'll ever be able to watch the Wings without thinking of that, again.
3. Michigan Basketball - This one actually surprises me, because I was too young to remember the 89 title or the Fab Five. For almost all of my conscious and aware life, UM hoops have been either just plain bad or shamed by cheating. But last season, I found myself living and dying with every game down the stretch. I celebrated the win over Clemson like a championship victory.
4. Detroit Pistons - Honestly, the only reason this isn't #2 is because I'm pretty disgusted with the NBA as a whole nowadays and can't muster up much passion. But I loved the Pistons in 2004 and 2005 like I love UM football and the Wings. And now looking back on the 2002-2009 Pistons, it devastates me that they only won one title. I will hate Flip Saunders until I die, with Rasheed Wallace not far behind.
5. Detroit Tigers - For most of my life, these guys had been Lions-level laughable. Not worth going to the park, not worth watching on TV because they were just so bad it wasn't even worth it. And then 2006. For all the plays and championships involving Michigan, the Wings and Pistons, I think Magglio's homerun to win the ALCS against Oakland might be the most magical moment I've ever seen from one of my teams, ever. I was almost in tears as he rounded the bases and joined the mob scene at home plate. That run was so special, I'm not as bothered as their loss in the World Series as I should be. But since then I've become angrier and angrier with them. Folded completely down the stretch in 07, and finished in last place with baseball's 3rd highest payroll in 08. They seem to be halfway decent this year, but I'm still waiting for the roof to cave in.
6. Detroit Lions. Not even worth the time. Haven't been since Edinger's FG on the last play of the season in 2000. Worst franchise in sports, and until they prove otherwise, not a single suit, coach or player involved with that "organization" deserves the benefit of the doubt.
Losing game seven was rough, but those wounds were salved a bit by last year and the 3 Cups under Yzerman. When the playoffs started, I think we all knew that the team wasn't quite as good from top to bottom as they were the year before and the Pens were able to (finally) expose that in the end. Don't get me wrong, I hated it, but I didn't have a problem picking up and moving on like I did for the 2002 World Series.
It was tough but the Pens put in the effort needed and the wings weren't quite as good... that and they were pretty banged up from what I've read/heard. We'll be back, to be sure.
When that homerun was it I was (inexplicably) in a corn field, and a huge roar of applause/yelling went up throughout the whole field. It was pretty cool
EDIT: In a cornfield in a corn maze
(1) Michigan Wolverines Football - not even close.
(2) Detroit Red Wings - I'm not as bummed as the Game 7 as The Other Brian. Maybe it's because I'm old (32), maybe it's because I remember Osgood against San Jose, maybe it's because I remember Tim Cheveldae and the Dead Wings. But, you can't win it every year, and our players were the walking wounded (Lidstrom almost lost a testicle for crying out loud). I'm proud of them. We've won 4 in 12 years. That is a remarkable record.
(3) FC Barcelona football - the team, the style, the culture, the history.
(4) Detroit Lions
(5) Pittsburgh Steelers - just love the team, the style, the excellence. And LaMarr Woodley.
(6) Ajax Amsterdam football
(7) Minnesota football - my alma mater.
(8) Minnesota hockey.
(9) USC women's volleyball.
(10) Eastern Michigan football.
1) Mich Football
1. UM football
2. Tigers
3. Wings
4. Lions
5. UM basketball
1. UM Basketball
2. UM Football
3. Tigers
4. Pistons
5. Red Wings
6. Lions (only because I have to...)
1-Michigan football
2-Colorado Football
3-Whoever plays Notre Dame (football)
4-Whoever plays Southern Cal (football)
5-Whoever plays Nebraska (football)
6-1-AA teams who play OSU (football)
7-Avs(not football)
8-Rockies(not football)
9-Tigers(not football)
10-Whoever plays the AZ Cardinals when they (the de-testicled Cards staff in charge of it) keep the roof closed at Pink Taco Stadium (not football except by the loosest of definitions,2008 excepted)
1) UM Football
2) Detroit Red Wings
3) Detroit Tigers
4) UM Mens Hockey
5) UM Mens Basketball
6) Detroit Lions
7) Detroit Pistons
8) USA Soccer
1. UM Football/Red Wings: Depends on what the season is
2. New England Patriots: I was a fan before Brady got there.
3. Detroit Lions: I'm a lions fan and proud of it, but I don't expect much from them as long as Ford is the owner.
4. Detroit Tigers: I can't stay too interested in baseball if football or hockey is on but I do try to stay up to date on how the team is doing.
5. UM Basketball: I was never a big fan of basketball but I was fortunate to go to a few games last year and I'm starting to get hooked.
And finally whoever beats MSU, USC, Florida, the Packers, the Steelers, the Titans, the Chargers, the Avalanche, the Penguins, the Yankees, and most of all OSU
1. Michigan Basketball - My first year buying season tickets I drove 90 minutes one-way to watch the Maize and Blue. This year will be my fifth as a season ticket holder, fourth as a Maize Rager.
2. Detroit Tigers - Baseball is my favorite sport and until 2006 I had not experienced a professional winning ball club in my life (22 years old). I can't really express how awesome that year was and how excited I am for the rest of this summer.
3. Michigan Football - No explanation needed.
4. Red Wings Love the Wings, always have. They were probably the first sports team I really ever followed.
5. Detroit Pistons - They sure have dropped off.
6. Detroit Lions - Could be higher if they were any good, but I still loved tailgating at the Dome and enjoying a Sunday/Thanksgiving watching the Lions with the fam
7. Michigan Baseball - Brutal year.
8. Michigan Softball - Gotta love the current best team in Michigan sports!
9. Barcelona - I've followed European soccer on and off for the last 5 years and was a Man U fan for a while (crybaby or not, I love watching Ronaldo play). Started learning more about Barca and they overtook Man U. Got to go to a game at Camp Nou a month ago and it was amazing. (Much louder than Michigan Stadium, by the way).
10. Michigan Hockey - For some reason never really got into the hockey scene here. Have yet to go to a game. That'll change soon.
1) Michigan Football
2) Michigan Swimming
3) Michigan Basketball
4) Rutgers Football
5) NY Mets
6) NY Giants
7) Michigan Hockey
8) Miami (Not that Miami) University Sports
1. Washington Redskins
2. Michigan Football
3. Michigan Hockey
4. Michigan Basketball
5. Georgetown Basketball
6. Washington Nationals
7. Washington Capitals
1) Michigan Football
2) Detroit Red Wings
3) Michigan Hockey
4) Detroit Tigers
5) Michigan Basketball
6) Detroit Pistons
7) Denver Nuggets
1. Michigan Football. My first game in Michigan Stadium was in 1990 against Michigan State at the age of 3. I've been going for the past 19 years and haven't missed a home game in my three years as a student here. I've gone to East Lansing, State College, Madison, and Columbus. I brought my best friend from high school, also a diehard Michigan fan, up to Ann Arbor last season for his Michigan Stadium baptism. It was November 15th and the opponent was Northwestern. We stayed.
2. Michigan Hockey
3. Michigan Basketball
4. Washington Capitals
5. Washington Wizards
6. Detroit Tigers. Although I'll happily watch any team play. I like baseball.
7. Detroit Red Wings
8. Navy Football
9. FC Barcelona
10. Gli Azzurri
11. Hrvatski Vatreni
I hate the NFL.
1. U-M football -- not even close. Went to all the games while in school and treat it like a religion. Once the Wings/Pistons seasons end, my cousins and I begin the summer-long "is it football season yet?" joke. I invest the most time following this team: every game, spring game, recruiting, etc.
2. U-M basketball -- sort of half-jumping on the bandwagon here. I didn't watch all the games in the Amaker era and just looked at their record now and again to see how they were doing. I'd watch the BT Tourney and a few games a year. With BTN I can see every game now, so I was able to pay more attention to them last year. I watched bits and pieces of most games last year and was really happy when they beat Clemson.
3. Detroit Lions. I actually do still watch every game, no matter how pointless it may be. This team is #1 on the "team I most want to see win a championship" scale for me. Really, it would be amazing. Everybody says Detroit is a hockey town, but really, I see it as a football town. It's just that the football team sucks currently. When they went to the NFC Championship in the 91-92 season it was literally the only thing people talked about. Kind of like the Wings in '97. So I think if this team could ever get it together, it would be quite an experience.
4. Detroit Tigers. I follow them pretty decently and look at the box scores every morning if I didn't watch the game the night before. Go to a few games every year. It was a lot of fun in '06 and I hope it wasn't a flash-in-pan type season.
5. Detroit Red Wings. I used to be crazy about this team from 1990 to around 1998 (they would be #2 after U-M football at that time), after which they just got boring for me. Too much success and it's too easy to be a fan. Now I usually don't watch a game until the conference championship.
6. Detroit Pistons. Similar to the Red Wings where I jump on the bandwagon around the conference finals. Now that they're going down the crapper, I doubt I'll watch a single game next year.
1. Detroit Tigers - It's really close, but I fell in love with Rob Deer, Tettleton, Cecil, Fryman, etc. when I was real tiny and I loved Tiger Stadium. Picking between the Tigers and the Wolverines is tough, but I go with the Tigers since I watch them play almost every night from the beginning of April till the end of September.
2. Michigan football - duh
3. Lions
4. Brock Lesnar
5. Tiger Woods
6. Pistons .. quite the dropoff down to here from 5 though ...
7. Michigan basketball ... and a bigger one ... not a fan of college hoops really
does not compute.
how does one choose a professional sports team over alma matter?
Seems kind of obvious to me.
are you going to steal my likeness and try to profit off me with some poorly designed half ass idea for a web site now?
you mean like wolverineliberationarmy.com?
Regardless of whether it's a piece of shit website or not, how is the WLA website at all analagous to stealing Desmond's likeness, Keith Jackson's, catchphrase, and trying to sell a t-shirt from a pastiche of the two?
Do you even understand what he wrote?
Is #4 a joke, or are you really a big Lesnar fan? Are you talking pro wrestling Lesnar or MMA Lesnar (I assume not Minnesota NCAA wrestling Lesnar)?
I'm a big fan of MMA Lesnar.
But he's only had three or four MMA fights in his life. You really like a guy who has only participated in a sport three or four times that much? Have you been an MMA fan for a long time...longing to see how a 280 pound beast of a man would fair against all the rest?
he's my dream heavyweight, like some sort of movie character. it's awesome.
i've been watching MMA for only like 3 years, so that's part of it to.
My favorite Tiger was Rusty Kuntz.
1) UM Football
2) Detroit Lions
3t) Detroit Tigers tied with Chicago Cubs
5) Michigan B-ball
6) Detroit Red Wings
7) Michigan Hockey
8) Detoit Pistons
Tigers are in first, Cubs are 2.5 back and hot... they play at Comerica this week. I am completely torn. I know I want a series split, but have no idea for who. this is the first Cubs/Tigers series where it matters for both teams (2006 Tigers were hot, Cubs were struggling -- defer to the team that it matters most)
I won't know who is my true #3 until the bases are loaded in the ninth of a tie game... and I have a get reaction to the play at the plate (like Higginson's squize at Wrigley in @'99)
He said no ties!
1. UM Football
2. Pistons
3. UM Basketball
4. Tigers
5. Lions
6. UM Hockey
The first tie is Between Michigan Football and the New York Mets. The tiebreaker is a twofold question. Who would I rather see win a championship? Both! Question #2 though, Who have I followed longer? NY Mets
1. New York Metropolitans
2. Michigan Football
3. FC Barcelona (Studied abroad in Barcelona, wound up seeing them a few times at Camp Nou, and at Giants Stadium vs. Red Bull.)
4. Michigan Basketball
5. Michigan Baseball
And just to add...Teams I just can't stand (not hate):
1. Buckeyes (well yes, hate)
2. Phillies
3. Braves
4. Florida Gators
5. USC Trojans
Easy enough:
1) Michigan football - 21 year season ticket holder. Been going to games since middle school. It truly is the only game that I refuse to miss. I see I'm not alone.
2) Detroit Lions - Although it's painful. Very painful.
3) Detroit Red Wings - Would be two but had to break the tie with the fact that I don't watch many games in the regular season because there's little point. I catch parts of many games during the regular season, but watch maybe 10 full games.
4) Arsenal - Became a soccer fan during the 1994 World Cup. Someone gave me "Fever Pitch" as a gift when it came out. Hornby's story reminded me of my love for Michigan football and how I could have written a similar book about it with my 1989 Anfield taking place at the 1998 Rose Bowl. I started following the team from that point on. Loved the Invincibles. It's been a tough couple seasons but I am intrigued by the signing of Thomas Vermaelen. Hopefully he can stay healthy for the whole season as back line depth will continue to be a problem next season.
Beyond that, I follow the rest passively. I got into the basketball team this season, but I find college basketball to be frustrating to watch because it is completely over-officiated. I'm not convinced that pro basketball isn't somewhat fixed. I can tell that I don't like baseball that much because I lose interest when NFL training camps start. (To paraphrase Iverson, not the games, but practice.)
5)
1. Michigan Football
2. Detroit Red Wings
3. Detroit Tigers
4. Michigan Basketball
5. Detroit Pistons
6. Liverpool FC
7. Detroit Lions- I pray that they climb this list
8. Netherlands national football team
9. Carolina Panthers
10. Chicago Cubs
1) UM Football
2) Green Bay Packers
3) UM Basketball
4) Pittsburgh Penguins
5) San Francisco Giants
1. Michigan Football
2. Wales Rugby
3. Llanelli RFC
4. Neath RFC
5. USA Soccer
6. New York Rangers
7. Detroit Red Wings
I think this is about the 14th list to look like this, but what the hell:
1) Mich Football
2) Mich Football
3) Mich Football
4) Red Wings
5) Mich Basketball
6) Pistons
7-89) Mich Football
90) Fantasy NFL Football
1. Michigan Football
2. Minnesota Twins
3. Minnesota Vikings
4. Michigan Basketball
5. Michigan Softball
5. Western Illinois football
These are like children, I cant say I like one more than the other, but since no ties are the rules, here goes:
1.) UM Football. It gets the top spot because 1.) I've been going to home games since 1979 and, of all these teams, Michigan is the only team whose games I can regularily attend and have season tickets for and 2.) my passions have only been raised thanks the websites like MGo, WLA and VB and I am not active in the on line communities of my other fan passions.
2.) Pittsburgh Steelers. I became a fan as a real young kid during the 1970s while all the jerkwads in my class seemed to like Dallas. Fuck them. I stuck with them all the way and they are every bit a passion of mine as UM football. Really, these two share the top spot.
3.) Detroit Red Wings. This is the only other pro team that I am a fan of. Grew up playing hockey and was in the seventh grade with Yzerman burst on the scene. Been a fan ever since.
4.) Indiana Univeristy Athletics. Indiana is my alma mater. Not a supporter on ONE TEAM but of WHOLE PROGRAM.
5.) Univeristy of Michigan Athletics. I could highlight hoops and hockey, but like IU, I am a booster of all sports. Do I live and die with, say, baseball and softball. No? But, the only time any of us really invest energy in a lot of those non revenue sports, its when they're championship worthy, like UM in the softball world series, and then we hang on every pitch. So, while IU hoops and UM hoops and hockey probably deserve their own spot, I've combined them
6.) My fantasy baseball team. I dont have a passion rooting interest in any one team, but my fantasy team--this year dubbbed Quemar Los Barcos (hey, I'm trying to break a 2-year playoff drought, so we're burning the boats all summer long!)--I follow as if its a real team. Halfway through the season, I am in second place!
7.) Whoever I have gambled on. Who am I kidding? This should probably be #1 on the list. For now, that means I'm pulling for the Dodgers to win the West, the Rangers to go over 74 wins and the Cards to go over 83 wins. I took portions of my hoop winnings from March Madness and rolled it over into some baseball futures. So far, so good with those three, but its a long season. I also need Miggy Cabrera to hit more than 33 home runs. Thats looking dicey.
That's serious right there.
J-Mac doesn't F around
Taking the over on ±74 Rangers wins is looking pretty good right now.
1)Michigan Football- I've gone to a couple every year since I was about 7 or 8 and my favorite was '05 Penn State. Even been to Happy Valley last year. Even though I don't go to all the games, I still follow it religiously which includes recruiting and other team updates, so not even close with anything else.
2)Michigan Basketball- I'm a Michigan fan more than anything else so b-ball gets the 2 slot here. I've followed it more closely than ever this year and I've been to a few games before, but none special. Can't wait to see them in the Dance next year.
3)Detroit Tigers- I try to watch them every night they're on(which is every night in the summer). There's not a ton to follow in the summer, so I watched them and started to like them more and more. The '06 campaign was welcome after many years of futility. Also, for some reason I get pissed off when the Tigers lose one game even though there are 161 other games in the season.
4)Denver Broncos- I don't know why on this one. I just loved their uni's and I started to like them when Griese was there because he won the NC in '97. I still follow them closely and was pissed when stupid McDaniel comes in there and the first thing he does is try and trade his stud QB!
5)Pistons- Followed them in championship year and was the biggest fan of the 5 that started every game for the longest time. (Wallace, Wallace, Prince, Hamilton, and Billups)
6)Lions- Too painful to talk about.
7)Red Wings- Greatest sport franchise ever!
Michigan football and Tigers are pretty equal. Red Wings, Lions and Pistons follow after that. Then, Michigan basketball and hockey.
1. Chicago Bulls - Hence the moniker...growing up during the Jordan years, did I really have a choice? I follow UM football the most, but the bulls with always be #1. Watching 11 years of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNA6hvta8w0 night in and night out can never be topped. I still get chills watching the championship DVDs.
2. UM Football
3. Chicago Bears - They really sucked for most of my life, but nothing's better than watching a stifling D with Urlacher and Briggs destroying the other team.
4. UM Basketball - I'm on the bandwagon
5. Cubbies - It's hard to follow baseball and care too much with 162 games, but come late August you gotta start hoping that the curse ends.
6. Blackhawks - Now that the owner is gone and it isn't the worst franchise is sports, they are young, talented, and fun to watch.
7. other UM Sports (mostly hockey)
1. UM Football
2. UM Hockey
3. UM Basketball
4. Detroit Lions
5. Detroit Tigers
6. Detroit Red Wings
7. Detroit Pistons
8. US Soccer
Great topic!!
1. Michigan Football
2. San Francisco 49ers- A very close second.
3. Michigan Basketball
4. San Francisco Giants- They're going to win the NL wildcard!
5. Sacramento Kings- They're so far down the list cause NBA is not to exciting.
6. USA Soccer
7. I wasn't much of a hockey fan til last year. Thanks to everyone on this blog for making me a Redwings/Michigan hockey fan!!!!