Why do you like the team you like?

I know many people like thier team because of geography. You were born or raised in an area that had a team and grew up liking them. There's nothing wrong with that, but is there anyone else that likes your team for other reasons?

I was born in the south (Arkansas) back in the late 60's. When I was around 8-10 years old, the Steelers were dominating. I remember seeing Terry Bradshaw, this big southern boy with blonde hair, like a freakin' god. I was a blonde kid from rural south and he became my hero. As time went on, I fell in love with the whole team. I still remember Franco, Rocky, Swannie, Stallworth, Lambert, Green, Hamm, Blount... And, well... I'm still on the bandwagon today. Even through the 5-11 season of Bubby Brister.

[SlickRick1382]

I can't say I'm represent any local teams. I was raised in New Jersey all my and with the exception of the Nets who I only became a fan of recently, I don't have any home teams i like. I don't like the mets & yankees, the jet & giants, and the knicks.

Anyway I'm a Miami Dolphin fan because i saw Marino play once when i was a kid and that was it. I mean to see him throw and play was so captivating for me that I instantly became a Dolphin fan and no one was able to sway me. In Basketball I'm a Laker and Suns fan. I'm not so much a laker fan no more because I feel they're the evil empire of basketball right now, but i still root for them. But My favorite teams in basketball has alwasy been the Suns. I still remember seeing Barkley, Kevin Johnson, Dan Marleje, A.C. Green, and company play.

Baseball i lost interest in but i'm more of a player fan. Like i love Ken Griffey Jr. and Mark McGwire even though he's retired so I went from a Seattle and Oakland fan to a St Louis fan

[cashpath]

Being a Cowboys fan is a Family Tradition... I remember a time my mother was in the hospital and the cowboys game was on.. she was screaming and yelling at the TV and the nurses kept coming in to make sure whe was ok and telling her to calm down or she was going to kill herself...

I was raised loving the cowboys...

I was raised my whole life as a Seattle sports fan even though I grew up in San Diego since my whole family's from up here. My dad had me as a Hawks, M's and Sonics fan from birth, so I'm hard core

[titansrule]

basically i bought a jersey (the alternate one) of eddie george and took it from there.

[ItalianStallion]

Well, I was born in Kansas City but moved to Indiana shortly after. My dad lived in Kansas his whole life, so I grew up watching the Jayhawks and Chiefs. He was never a fan of baseball, so I never got around to liking the Royals until I was about 10, spending time with my cousins from Kansas that love baseball. Since Kansas City doesn't have an NBA team, I just went with the hometown team.

[ULEN]

The reason y I'm a Raider fan is because I was raised in the Bay Area and in my neighboorhood there was nothin besides Niner Fans and I didn't like the Niners because of their colors (I was 7). I didn't have a team, I just liked Tim Brown and Barry Sanders. Then one day on my way to school my brother comes running and he was like " Your coming with me to school today" and picks me up and runs with me to his High School. Later that day there was this big guy that walks into the school and I was like "Whoah that's one big Mexican." I was in my brothers P.E. class and I had a football in my hand. So starts walking up to me and I'm starting to get hella scared. Then he tells me "You like football?" and I nodded my head. So he tells me to walk backwards and he starts playing catch with me for a few minutes. Then this huge crowd start getting around him and he starts signing a bunch of stuff and I see him sign a Raiders jersey and I figured he played for the Raiders. So I started liking them since that day cause I thought he played for the Raiders. A few years later I started High School and I was in freshmen orientation inside the gym. Then I see a bunch of banners up in the rafters of all the championships the school won in sports. I countinue to look at all of them and then I see a bunch of pictures and I says "Hall of Fame". So im looking at all the pictures and there was one that looked very familiar so I start reading it. Once I stopped reading it I was like "Oh ****ties!!! I caught passes from Jim Plunkett" I knew about Jim Plunkett cause my uncle would always tell me stories about him but I didn't knew what he looked like. Two years later I was watching ESPN Classics and there was a autobiography on Jim Plunkett and they show his childhood home and it was accross the street where I used to live and it was the house where one of my friends Bobby currently lived in and that hella pumped me up about football.

Great story, Orion.

Well, my story is not as good as Orion's but here goes. I was born and raised in Queens NY, and the only teams that matter in that area are the Giants and the Mets. But I can recall back to first Superbowl I ever remember watching, it was The superbowl where the Bears played the Patriots in 1985. Everyone was pulling for the Bears to win, except me. I liked the guy on the patriots helmet, it kinda reminded me of an action figure of some sort. So I became a Patriots fan from that moment on. Now for the good part. When it was time to go to college, I chose Chapel Hill, and of course I had to move here and live in the dorms. Over the course of time I went to few Panther games and I had a really good time. So I figured while I was here in Chapel Hill, I mind as well support my local team. Buts its hard because my sister is enrolled at Harvard, and she gets to see all the Patriot games, she even gets to attend a few here and there. Plus there is also the saying that its not where you are from, but where you currently live. So while I am here at Chapel Hill, I will remain faithful to the Panthers, but my heart still bleeds for the Patriots. Still to this day, the best game I ever saw in person was the 2001 AFC title game, Patriots vs Raiders. The snow, the fans, the yelling and screaming, the frozen beer, to the famous tuck rule..it was awsome. who would have ever thought they would play each other last year in the superbowl. I still don't think I have recovered.

[ULEN]

It was a fumble!!!!! :BoomSmili Die Brady, Die!!!!!

[titansrule]

lol...and that was a great story orion.

Sorry Orion, I didn't mean to upset you.

[qb8stunner]

I'm a Missouri product so I grew up hearing about the history of the Chiefs. As I got older I was able to witness the dominating defenses of Marty Schottenheimer and the special play of Derrick Thomas, Neil Smith, Dale Carter, James Hasty, and others. Although their offense was not as powerful as today, I still was able to see the likes of football greats Joe Montana and Marcus Allen don the red and yellow. So, needless to say, I stuck to the Chiefs all the way to Texas. I never once stopped keeping tabs on Kansas City, but in the meantime I slowly became intersted in the "Love yuh Blue" Oilers. Then they left. Houston was really not the same when they departed and being a football fan I could relate. When the Texans came to town I basically fell in love with the concepts and ideas of their creation. If it weren't for their owner and the people and players associated with the team, they would not have become my number one favorite. It should be noted though that I have never stopped cheering for the Chiefs.... except when they beat my Texans!

Go Texans and Chiefs!

In all honesty, I dont support any singular team. I love this sport and enjoy any match. I have teams I am partial to, the Steelers rising above all others. But really I can never think of a reason to passionately support any of them.

Perfect example is the current UEFA Euro 2004 (soccer championships). I get great pleasure out of watching teams I'm neutral to (I always pick one I want to win, but you know what I mean), but when Bulgaria (my home country) played, man thats a whole different thing. Then you actually FEEL everything, there's passion and emotion at the dumbest things.. you grow so biased, you start to hate people you previously admired.

Now that, that sort of experience, is what sport is all about. But I just cant come up with a reason as to why I should invest myself emotionally into any particular team.

But then, in answer to the question of the thread, maybe there is no good reason to support a team. I mean even being born in a country is kind of a drab excuse for supporting their team.

History? Geography? All these things change.. The Bucs aint a joke anymore, the Oilers moved. I guess we need a reason like cash's -- support the 'Boys or find a new family

[rams fan]

Because Kurt Warner was on it but now I am glad that he Left

Must of been a weird Super Bowl for you.

Liking soccer=born in Europe