Share a few words about the teams you have despised

The Game Room
1

Riffing off post #87 from this thread, please express any thoughts, feelings or observations worth sharing about the teams you’ve always hated.

As a lifelong Lakers fan – started for me in 1979 when my best friend got me turned on to basketball and a Lakers rookie named Earvin Johnson – I grew to hate the Boston Celtics in the springtime of 1984 when the Celtics beat the Lakers in seven games. The series pained me so much I vowed that I would back away from my love for basketball. (I’ll hold off on conspiracy theories… for now… but it was interesting how the team trailing in the series got every whistle in games 2, 4 & 6 during this very pivotal time in NBA history). That vow lasted until the until training camp the following season, but I was still passed about '84 even after the Lakers wrestled the title away from Boston in '85.

For the most part, I hate the sight of green and white, but interestingly enough, over time, it’s not a stretch a to say I’ve grown to love those 80’s Celtics teams to a certain extent. They were the perfect yin the Lakers’ yang. And when I see Larry Bird now, I don’t see a trash-talking white guy who made my stomach churn; I see a revered member of the NBA’s Mount Rushmore. When I see Kevin McHale, I don’t see the Frankenstein-sans-bolts who clotheslined Kurt Rambis and was unstoppable in the '85 Finals; I see the NBA big with the best footwork ever and coach for the Houston Rockets. When I see Danny Ainge… okay, I still pretty much see the whiner who was thankfully punched out by Sedale Threatt (go to 3:10 mark!) and had his fingers gnawed off by Tree Rollins. But I was pissed off that the Basketball Hall of Fame had to wait until after Dennis Johnson died before inducting him. And I consider Robert Parish one of the most underrated players of all time. (And he’s not nearly as ugly as that punk Kevin Garnett).

Now, if the Lakers hadn’t beaten the Celts three out of the five times they have met in the Finals since I started following them, I might have an entirely different outlook. (Okay, I surely would.)

So if you wanna spew vile stuff about the teams you openly “hate,” feel free to vent. I imagine somebody out there might even have a negative word or two to say about my beloved Lakers.

Worth mentioning: “hate” in sports terms isn’t – or shouldn’t be – real hate. It’s sports, a pastime. Take note, football hooligans and Raider fans. Hopefully we can differentiate the two terms.

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The Dodgers suck.

That’s all…the less said about them, the better.

3

The Detroit Pistons of the Bulls Michael Jordan era were nothing but a gang of street brawlers.
Bill Laimbeer is one of the biggest pricks to ever play a professional sport.

4

I have always hated the Yankees. Getting A-Rod on the team just added to the flames. Over time, I realized it the the fans I hated more than the players. Angel fans are pretty bad too.

5

The Yankees ARE the Evil Empire!

6

I had a pretty good feeling you were referring to me. :slight_smile:

Re: Kevin Garnett - I have never seen an uglier player in the NBA than Greg Oden. You know the term “babyface”? Yeah - Greg Oden is the EXACT opposite of that. I bet that S.o.B. looked like he had a 10-pack a day habit and had been swillin’ whisky for 20 years by the time he hit puberty. Probably still gets plenty of you-know-what, though, given how much $$$ he has for doing basically NOTHING.

There actually aren’t too many teams that I “hate” anymore these days, but you’re absolutely right about one: the professional basketball team based in southern California that has LSU’s colors. Cannot STAND that team - never have been able to and I doubt I ever will. To them you can add: the football team playing for the school based in Eugene, Ore-Y-Gone - paid for by Papa Nike, it is. The team that just got SMOKED in the (not so) Super Bowl this last February. The team based in Arlington, TX that I like to refer to as the Cowpies. And any European soccer team with enough money to hoard as many great players as it can (I’m talkin’ 'bout YOU Man. U., “Chelski,” Bayern München, Real Madrid). Oh, and how could I forget: ANY team representing the University of Miss-again, especially its football team. From that horrid, eye-searing yellow they wear to the almost endless arrogance I have a visceral reaction every time I see anything that reminds of that school. Just the worst (along with all the others I mentioned).

7

As a matter of principle I hate pretty much any team from L.A. (although I gave “props” to the L.A. Kings a couple of years ago when they went almost the entire Stanley Cup playoffs without losing a road game. That was amazing and deserved some kudos)

8

Laimbeer was a bastard but A) I liked the Pistons because they pretty much ended the Fakers’ reign back when they had “Magic” and Kareem, and B) as much of a pr1ck as Laimbeer was I thought his teammate Rick Mahorn was even worse. I thought it funny as hell that the Pistons waived Mahorn right after (and I mean RIGHT after as in: practically during the post-game celebration of the game that won them the championship) they won either their first or second NBA title.

9

My hate seems to be mostly directed at owners, though there are exceptions.

It was more fun to hate the Yankees when Steinbrenner was still alive. Either he’d buy a championship, or he’d try his damnedest and fail, and either way, you hated his guts.

I went from being an Orioles fan to hating the team on account of Peter Angelos (a) firing Davey Johnson after the 1997 season, which had been the O’s best season since 1983, and then (b) trying to (poorly) turn himself into a mini-Steinbrenner by buying exactly the wrong free agents, like Albert Belle.

I went from merely sports-disliking the Dallas Cowboys to hating them, at the end of the last game of the 1979 regular season. (I wish there was a place you could go to buy a tape of any NFL game, because I still feel this game in my bones.) Redskins at Dallas, and if the Redskins won, they’d be 11-5 and division champs, and if they lost, they’d be 10-6 and go home for the winter. That game swung back and forth like crazy - Redskins up 17-0 early, then Cowboys 21-17, then Redskins 34-21, then with about 30 seconds left, Cowboys 35-34.

Then Theismann completed a pass to midfield, then another completion to somewhere between the 40 and 42 with about 2 seconds left. He calls for timeout with a ref right there in front of him, and the ref turns his back and lets those last two seconds tick off the clock. AFAIAC, the 1979 season never finished; it’s still hanging there with 2 seconds left, waiting for Mark Moseley to try a FG from 57-59 yards out (and he had the leg for it, at that point in his career, as well as a habit of kicking clutch FGs from ~50 yards out).

The way even the refs were playing for the Cowboys (plus one of the Cowboys players (Harvey Martin, perhaps? can’t remember) tossing a funeral wreath into the Redskins’ locker room after the game (like you really beat us, rather than the refs, asshole)) pretty much turned the Cowboys from respected rivals into the enemy, as far as I was concerned. And it stayed that way, until I gave up football fandom altogether due to all that CTE stuff: hard to derive entertainment anymore from watching men slowly turn each other’s brains into mush.

And then of course there’s Rapelisberger. Sure, we don’t know what happened in that restroom, just her word against his. But we do know that his henchmen kept the girl’s friend at a distance so that no one else could know, could they? The Cossacks work for the Czar. It may not be enough to incriminate in court, but I’m not a court, and I can’t deprive the asshole of his liberty. So I can abide by the logic of common sense: this guy’s a rapist who has friends who help him rape.

So I hate the Steelers for having continued to employ his sorry ass after that business.

10

Well if we’re talking owners then Bill Wirtz is in purgatory being constantly high sticked and cross checked into the boards.
Outside of hockey there are reports he wasn’t a bad guy so I’ll concede he probably escaped the eternal fiery pit.

11

I hate the Cowboys. And the Maple Leafs. Sorry Leaffan

12

Fucking Giants.

I just moved from LA to Sacramento area, which is Giants territory it seems. I mean, the A’s are closer and less evil but…

Shame, because the Giants have cool colors. I would like to wear them but whenever I try, I sweat, shake uncontrollably and shout “Death First!!!”.

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Re: the 'pies: I don’t know much about that game in 1979 (or at least I didn’t until I read your post - :)) but my intense dislike of that team comes from the way that it’s been referred to as “America’s Team” for so long. “America’s Team” in who’s eyes, exactly, is what I’d like to know. My understanding is that the 'pies didn’t come up with that nickname (some damn sportswriter did, I think) but they haven’t exactly shied away from it, either. So no - no Cowpies for me either, thank you.

Re: “Rapelisberger”: I’ve never been a fan of the “Stealers,” either. That was cemented in 2006 when the referees pretty much gave them the Super Bowl title over “my” Seahawks but I was never a fan of them to begin with. As noted in that other thread I was a Raiders fan before the Seahawks even existed and if you know anything about NFL history you know that the Raiders and the Steelers weren’t exactly pals back in the '70s and that that whole “Immaculate Reception” business was @#@#@ LUCK. The whole “Rapelisberger” episode just made it that much easier for me to “hate” the Steelers - not that I needed much help in that regard.

14

The Phillies are the lamest team in baseball. Every time they lose a game they break their own MLB record for team losses. Even when they have talent and everything works their way it won’t last, they’ll return to sucking at the earliest opportunity. I hate that team with a burning passion.

The Redskins are the worst team in the history of the NFL. No matter how much effort they put into improving the team they still suck. Good players lose their will live by playing on that team. Even when they look like they’re getting somewhere it’s just a set up for a major foul up. They disgust me.

Phillies fan for 45 years, Redskins fan for 58.

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You think the Phillies are the lamest team in baseball? Have you ever taken a gander at the Seattle Muh-REE-nurrs? I mean, at least the Phillies have made it to (and possibly even won - I don’t remember off the top of my head) a World Series. The Muh-REE-nurrs are one of two MLB teams that have still never even made it to the World Series. The Muh-REE-nurrs tied an MLB record in 2001 for wins in a season with 116. With just about any other team in the majors that would’ve been followed by an appearance, and very possibly a win, in the World Series. But not with Seattle’s team!! Oh, no!

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The Mariners are 38 years old. It took the Phillies almost 100 years to win their first World Series. Granted there was no World Series for the first 20 years, but that’s a lame excuse, lame like everything else about the Phillies.

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I’ll grant you that, as far as I know, the Phillies have THE worst record of any MLB team. EVER. (That’s as far as I know - I’m not a baseball fan). That’s pretty bad. Granted. I would submit, however, that the Muh-REE-nurrs are doing their best to emulate your team even if they are 70 years (or whatever) newer than them.

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I stand corrected. The Phillies are only the 6th worst team in MLB history when it comes to overall record. The Muh-REE-nurrs are 3rd worst: List of all the Major League Baseball Teams | Baseball-Reference.com

I’m just surprised that there are ANY MLB teams that have a worse existence record than the Muh-REE-nurrs do although I do remember that the Padres were roundly ridiculed for a long time, as well.

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Wow, leave it a Philadelphia fan to talk about their own team in a thread titled, “Share a few words about the teams you have despised.”

What’s next, booing the Liberty Bell? :smiley:

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Quick hijack: that’s a pretty amazing page. Who would guess the Cubs have a an all-time record above .500? I would never have guessed the Baltimore Orioles (.475) would have a worse record (damaged by the St. Louis Browns, clearly).