Who do ya love, who do ya hate?

[gopherfan]

Great topic.

I was born in MN in 1970. I have always loved all of the MN teams, except for the North Stars and the Wild. (I played basketball through college and didn't have time for hockey)

The Vikings were the first team I really loved. I remember playing as a young kid and pretending that I was Fran Tarkenton, Chuck Foreman or my favorite, Ahmad Rashad. I faintly remember my heart being broken losing to the Dolphins in the Super Bowl. Then when those damn cheating Cowboys got away with "The Push", and beating them in the NFC Championship. I have hated the Cowboys ever since. The Herschel Walker trade only cemented that hate.

The Twins came next. I went to a game at the old Metropolitan Stadium when I was 7 with the Park and Rec. A friend and I snuck away from the group and tried to get some autographs after the game. We got lost, and couldn't find the group. Back then, they just left you even though we were 7. We found someone that called my mom to come and get us. She had to leave work an hour early, and drive an hour to come get us. She wasn't really all that happy with us.

When I turned 21, I was invited to go have some drinks with a coworker and some "friends". Her husbands best friend was the equipment manager for the team and the other "friends that came out were Tim Laudner, Dan Gladden, Al Newman, Gary Gaetti, Kent Hrbek and best of all Kirby Puckett. I remember others buying rounds and after 4 or 5 drinks, I ordered a round from the server. When she brought them, I was trying to pay, and Kirby looked at me and asked what I was doing. I said that I was paying for the round, and he told me he just signed the biggest contract in the history of baseball and I should put my money away. I thought he was the greatest thing ever. I thought Hrbek was rude that night, but everyone I have ever talked to that knows the players since has always said Hrbek is a great guy and Puckett was not as great. First impressions I guess.

MN didn't have a pro basketball team when I was growing up, but I remember loving the Lakers, Celtics and Sixers. They were the teams always on TV, so I didn't have too much of a choice other than them. Andrew Toney was my favorite, since I was a shooting guard. He was silky smooth from the 3 point line.

And my first love. The Minnesota Golden Gophers. My dad graduated from the U and had season tickets for football on the 45 yard line about 20 rows up. And more importantly for basketball. 12 rows up on the free throw line behind the gopher bench. I can remember Jim Dutcher yelling at his players when they weren't playing well.

I went to every home football and basketball game from 1976-1989. I left the Twin Cities in 1989 and went to play basketball for MN-Crookston. I still record and watch every game even if I attend in person.

My daughter was born in 1997 and the Gophs were going to to Final Four. My (Now ex) wife and I didn't really have the money at the time, and it was tough for her to stay at home and take care of her by herself, but I was going to the Final Four. I told her the day we met that if they ever made it I was going. Of course all that was wiped away.

My dad's best friend said in 1976 that the next time the Gophers made it to the Rose Bowl, he would pay for all of us to go. 41 years later and he hasn't had to pay up. I still see him once in a while although my dad has passed, and I always remind him of that promise. Hopefully PJ Fleck can get us there eventually.


Now for some teams I hate.

NFL-
Packers-actually just their fans. The team is pretty fun to watch.

Cowboys-I outlined above why they need to be hated.

Seahawks-I watched them play in a half empty stadium for so many years. Then they become good and all of a sudden they have the 12th man, and they have been the best fans forever. I call BS

MLB-
Yankees-I just haven't ever found even a single player that I enjoyed watching.

Red Sox-I really started hating them when they called out the Yankees for their payroll and then within a few years had a payroll as high or higher.

NBA-
Knicks-People say the NBA is better when they are good. They haven't been good since the early 70's. They were okay for a few years with Bernard King and a couple years with Ewing, but they haven't been a serious title contender in forever. I think the NBA is still doing fine.

College sports

Any team from the SEC. If for no other reason than whenever a team in the SEC loses to another SEC team, it's because they are sooooo good that anyone can beat anyone at any time. But when it happens anywhere else, it because the team getting beat just isn't that good. And when bowl season rolls around, those SEC teams don't do so well overall. That's because they don't care unless it's for the National Championship. I call BS on this as well. Maybe they just aren't that good.

Wisconsin- they have dominated my beloved Gophers for too long. That needs to change.

USC- I spent a lot of time in LA growing up and the family I had there made it very clear that we are UCLA fans and we don't cheer for the damn Trojans.


Sorry for the long post.

Rob A.

[mikemb]

I like the Yankees, Mets, Jets, NY Rangers and Rutgers.

Hate - Dallas Cowboys, Notre Dame Football, Notre Dame Basketball. Notre Dame Glee Club, Notre Dame......you get the point and any Christmas song by the Jackson 5.

Mike

[familytoad]

Phillies- I have loved the Phillies all my life in my favorite sport. It will never stop. Thank you to WCAU radio in the early 70’s. Go Phillies even when you stink I love you guys.

Saints - I lived there in 1981-82 and developed a fondness for Dem Bums , I really liked having a hometown team with pages and pages of coverage in the Daily Times Picayune. You really felt like you knew the team better. I didn’t have that as a young fan of the Miami Dolphins while growing up in Vermont Even though I don’t like the NFL that much as a whole, the game action is good...Any Saints win is a good day!

Red Wings - I used to go to AHL games in Glens Falls NY and watched the young Adirondack Red Wings players prior to them becoming a dominant force with multiple Stanley Cups. The model of consistency since I really started watching them...they are on a downswing , looking like one of the worst teams.

Dolphins- my first favorite team, I still hope for them to do well. Jim Kiick is my favorite player of all time and I still bet #21 on the roulette wheel. When they lose, I don’t feel that bad...it’s the Saints who really matter in my house!

Seahawks- closest thing I have to a hometown team, I really want them to win.
I have been to a few games and it’s amazing to hear that hometown crowd. But if they lose , I still sleep fine!

Mariners - same as above. I am a bigger baseball fan than any other sport. So the Mariners get my hometown advantage. Very fun ballpark.

Teams I hate? Well all division rivals of the teams above of course! Especially Braves and Mets. Panthers and Falcons in the NFL. Patrick Roy I hate.
I don’t care for some players like Big Poopie or Chipper Jones but I respect most players for their abilities.

[JollyElm]

Born in Queens in the shadow of Shea Stadium, I was a frickin' diehard Mets fan from birth. Ugh. Grew up a Jets fan, but went to school in western NY and have been a Bills fan now forever (still root big time for the Jetties, but the 2 games a year they play against the Bills are an emotional nightmare ). Add to the mix the Islanders and Knicks and that's a huge bagful of yearly pain. The last championship won by any of my teams was the Mets in '86...thirty one years ago. Double ugh. I will tell you, though, being in a fantasy football league forever has allowed me to root for other teams/players (when they aren't playing Buff), so that's helped alleviate at least a tiny bit of the pain I feel each and every season rooting for the teams I do.