# Your favorite and most disliked teams in major sports

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-and-most-disliked-teams-in-major-sports/716649>\
**Category:** The Game Room\
**Created:** [April 2, 2015, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-and-most-disliked-teams-in-major-sports/716649 "2015-04-02T19:38:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 16\
**Page:** 3

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![russian\_heel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f05b48/32.png) [@russian\_heel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/russian_heel)\
**Post date:** [April 4, 2015, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-and-most-disliked-teams-in-major-sports/716649/41 "2015-04-04T09:58:16Z")

</div>

You can put “Philadelphia” in front of my favorite sports teams.

But assuming Philadelphia was wiped off the face of the earth (insert cheap joke here), my faves would be:

NFL—kinda have a soft spot for the hapless Browns and Raiders. Secret deep admiration for the Seahawks.  
MLB—Baltimore Orioles  
NBA—LA Clips; I also have a admiration for the Spurs.  
NHL—Winnepeg Jets. Slight crush on Canucks. Lets bring the Cup back to Canada.  
NCAAFB—Rutgers only because they are in the Big 10 and I fucking HATE Penn State!  
NCAACB—normally any Big 5 team in the Dance but since Philly was blown away in a nuclear blast, Lehigh.

I also have a soft spot for Chelsea as they were my team until Philly got as MLS team and I rooted against Chelsea during the 2014 MLS All-Statr Game.

HATED

NFL—Dallas Cowboys.  
MLB—Boston Red Sox.  
NBA—Tough one. Id say Cleveland because its so unfair they always get the #1 pick, but you know they’ll never deliver. Right now I hate the Knicks and Nets, but only because they are NY teams.  
NHL—Pittsburgh Penguins. Their fans are the biggest frauds in sports. They brag about all their Cups but the fact is if their teams didnt suck so bad in the late 80s, they would have never gotten Mario or Jagr; same with Crosby 10 years ago. PLUS, their team almost folded and moved to Portland because of such bad fan support 12 years ago.  
NCAAFB—Penn State. I won’t get into it here, my reasons for the hating the Penn State football program could fill 20 pages of another thread.  
NCAACB—Duke. Most Duke fans I know jumped on the bandwagon 1988-92 because they wanted a “white” team to root for.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\
**Post date:** [April 4, 2015, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-and-most-disliked-teams-in-major-sports/716649/42 "2015-04-04T15:41:31Z")

</div>

I’m a little surprised by all the Red Sox hate (from non-Yankees fans). The Sox were a punchline for decades until about 10 years ago, so I would have thought they’d get some sympathy points. Not judging the haters, just a little surprised. (I’m not really a baseball fan).

Patriots hate I expect since they’ve been dominating the NFL for 15 years + the cheating controversies.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\
**Post date:** [April 4, 2015, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-and-most-disliked-teams-in-major-sports/716649/43 "2015-04-04T19:19:12Z")

</div>

Favorites

NFL- Arizona Cardinals  
MLB-Chicago Cubs, Arizona Diamondbacks  
NHL- Chicago Blackhawks  
NBA- Chicago Bulls  
NCAA-Florida State

Most hated  
MLB- Yankees and Red Sox. Fuck ESPN, fuck all the transplants who lived in a Boston or New York suburb until they were 2 years old and then moved.

NHL-Boston Bruins, two winter classics already? Detroit Red Wings and your stupid octopus

NFL-Pittsburgh Steelers and their obnoxious fans. Guaranteed the first guy kicked out of the bar is wearing a Steelers jersey. Baltimore Ravens, you didn’t just employ a murderer, you erected a statue of him!

NBA-any team with LeBron James.

NCAA-Notre Dame and their holier than thou fans. Miami, because it truly is a thug school in athletics. Their student population is made up of wealthy Northeasterners with a C average in high school.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\
**Post date:** [April 4, 2015, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-and-most-disliked-teams-in-major-sports/716649/44 "2015-04-04T20:00:44Z")

</div>

Love: All Cleveland teams

Hate: Pittsburgh Steelers and Michigan Wolverines (NCAAF).

I have so much love for all my teams and so much hate for those two that there’s not really much room left for nuance and nitpicking.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![The\_Universe\_Lashes\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8797f3/32.png) [@The\_Universe\_Lashes\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Universe_Lashes_Out)\
**Post date:** [April 4, 2015, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-and-most-disliked-teams-in-major-sports/716649/45 "2015-04-04T21:33:57Z")

</div>

Favorites, in order of importance:

Florida Gators football and basketball  
US soccer  
San Antonio Spurs  
US hockey  
New Orleans Saints

Hated:

Georgia football  
Kentucky basketball  
Florida State football  
Mexico soccer  
Miami football  
Canada hockey

I don’t really “hate” any pro sports teams, but I do get a kick out of seeing unhappy Dallas Cowboys fans. Schadenfreude might be a better term.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\
**Post date:** [April 5, 2015, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-and-most-disliked-teams-in-major-sports/716649/46 "2015-04-05T00:49:28Z")

</div>

> [@ShadowFacts](#):
>
> I’m a little surprised by all the Red Sox hate (from non-Yankees fans). The Sox were a punchline for decades until about 10 years ago, so I would have thought they’d get some sympathy points. Not judging the haters, just a little surprised. (I’m not really a baseball fan).

Can only speak for myself–my distaste for the Red Sox goes back to my childhood in the early seventies. I used to look forward with great eagerness to NBC’s Game of the Week on Saturday afternoons. It seemed to my young self that the Red Sox were on about half the time, and that the play-by-play man, Curt Gowdy, openly rooted for the Red Sox to win. (I did not know at the time that Gowdy was the Red Sox broadcaster.) Both were highly irritating to me–there was a certain unfairness about it–and though it had nothing specific to do with Red Sox players or management, it made me dislike the team. I didn’t want them shoved down my throat week after week (here! root for these guys!), which NBC seemed intent on doing.

Then later in the decade I used to listen to the CBS radio late night wrapups of the major league games, and the broadcast almost always seemed to lead off with the Red Sox (and the Yankees). Again, it seemed unfair to subject the whole country to the exploits of one team (or two teams), night after night. That cemented my anti-Red Sox feelings. (And no, I don’t like the Yankees very much either.)

Of course, today we have the ESPN Red Sox…so the more things change the more they stay the same…

(It’s quite possible that the Red Sox weren’t on nearly as often as I remember, or that Gowdy was more evenhanded than I recall, or that CBS radio did in fact frequently lead off with the Twins, Reds, or Dodgers. But such was my definite impression at the time. Of these things are lifelong hostilities made…)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\
**Post date:** [April 5, 2015, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-and-most-disliked-teams-in-major-sports/716649/47 "2015-04-05T06:04:14Z")

</div>

I am a home town kind of guy, so my likes are very predictable. However, I do have a few favorite teams here and there that I will root for as long as there is no conflict with my absolute favorite team in any sport.

Top favorite in **bold**

**Favorite:**  
NFL: \*\*Pittsburgh Steelers \*\*, Indianapolis Colts (well, I liked the Baltimore Colts, and I’m a bit tepid in the Indy version, but I put them in for completeness.  
MLB: \*\*Pittsburgh Pirates \*\*, Baltimore Orioles, Kansas City Royals  
NHL: **Pittsburgh Penguins** , Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs  
College football: **Pitt Panthers** , Virginian Cavaliers, Oklahoma Sooners, Ole Miss, Boise State Broncos, Notre Dame, USC  
College basketball: **Pitt Panthers** , Virginia Cavaliers, UNC, Gonzaga, Wisconsin  
**Most disliked:**

NFL: **Baltimore Ravens, New England Patriots, Dallas Cowboys** , Seattle Seahawks.  
NBA: **All NBA teams suck. The league should be shut down. It is awful.**  
MLB: **Boston Red Sox** , **New York Mets** , Washington Nationals,  
NHL: **Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers** , New York Rangers, Detroit Red Wings  
College football: **Penn State** , Oregon, Syracuse, Nebraska  
College basketball: **Duke** , Syracuse, any team coached by Bruce Pearl

As to my hatred of the Boston Red Sox. I used to love them, and followed them closedly as a kid. My favorite Aunt lived in Boston and she was a huge baseball fan, so when she came into town, we always went to a game. Same with us visiting Boston. And then, they won the World Series.

It wasn’t the team that i disliked as much as the fans. The obnoxious, Red Sox nation, and their fanboy coverage through ESPN. every Yankees-Red Sox game is on TV now, and they all last 4 hours. The Red Sox have surpassed my Yankee hate, which I thought was impossible. I didn’t even put the Yankees on my list because I hate the Sox so much.

I would have never believed a fanbase could have turned me off of a franchise I followed for 30+ years, but it happened.

Actually, I think it ties into the exposure they get through ESPN, as a lot of their employees seem to be either NYC sports fans or Boston Fans. I rarely watch the World-Wide Leader any longer.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Thing\_Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@Thing\_Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing_Fish)\
**Post date:** [April 5, 2015, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-and-most-disliked-teams-in-major-sports/716649/48 "2015-04-05T18:33:26Z")

</div>

Good Guys: (in order of preference)

MLB Cubs, Giants, Pirates, Royals  
NFL Bears, 49ers, Steelers, Giants  
NBA Bulls, Blazers, Warriors  
NCAA Mighty Oregon, somewhat less than mighty Northwestern  
MLS Fire  
Euro soccer Tottenham Hotspur

Bad Guys

MLB Yankees, Dodgers, White Sux (somehow I just can’t work up much of a lather for the Cardinals)  
NFL Packers, Packers, Packers, Cowboys, Raiders, R\*\*\*\*\*\*s (really just for the racist name), Packers one more time to make sure, really most everyone other than the teams I like. Football brings out the hatey side of me.  
NBA Lakers  
NCAAF The entire SEC, Notre Dame, Wash11gton, USC, Oregon State Beavis  
NCAAB same as above but UCLA even more so  
MLS eh, I guess I’m supposed to hate the Crew. Those fuckers.  
Euro soccer Assenhole, Chelsea Megastore

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Thing\_Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@Thing\_Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing_Fish)\
**Post date:** [April 5, 2015, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-and-most-disliked-teams-in-major-sports/716649/49 "2015-04-05T19:19:41Z")

</div>

> [@Knorf](#):
>
> **Favorite:**
> 
> NFL: Don’t care  
> NBA: Seattle SuperSonics  
> MLB: Oakland A’s  
> NHL: LA Kings  
> Soccer (league): Arsenal  
> Soccer (international): USA (England after the home team.)  
> College football: University of Washington Huskies  
> College basketball: Oregon State Beavers  
> Hockey (international): USA (Sweden after the home team.)
> 
> **Most disliked:**
> 
> NFL: Don’t care  
> NBA: Oklahoma [del]Bombers[/del]Thunder\*  
> MLB: Yankees  
> NHL: Pittsburgh Penguins, Toronto Maple Leafs  
> Soccer (league): Manchester United, Chelsea  
> Soccer (international): Netherlands  
> College football: USC, Notre Dame, the entire, overrated SEC  
> College basketball: Duke, Kansas  
> Hockey (international): Canada  
> \*To be clear, it’s the new _franchise_ I hate, not the players.

You are Bizarro me.😛 At least we agree on hating the Yankees, SEC, and of course Spartak Chelsea. Just out of curiosity, how does someone come to hate the _Netherlands?_

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\
**Post date:** [April 5, 2015, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-and-most-disliked-teams-in-major-sports/716649/50 "2015-04-05T19:40:37Z")

</div>

Favorites:

NFL: Green Bay Packers (Seahawks as a secondary team)  
MLB: Milwaukee Brewers  
NHL: Chicago Blackhawks  
NCAA: Wisconsin Badgers

Most Disliked:

NFL: Dallas Cowboys, Minnesota Vikings (the Bears used to be on this list, but I’ve lived in Chicago for 26 years, and that’s mellowed me)  
MLB: New York Yankees  
NHL: Vancouver Canucks  
NCAA: Michigan Wolverines (though that’s not a particularly strong dislike)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\
**Post date:** [April 5, 2015, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-and-most-disliked-teams-in-major-sports/716649/51 "2015-04-05T22:09:05Z")

</div>

> [@Thing\_Fish](#):
>
> Just out of curiosity, how does someone come to hate the _Netherlands?_

Only in soccer, and because of all of their cheating diving bastards like Arjen Robben, Ruud Nistelrooy, etc. Also because Robin van [del]Pursestrings[/del]Persie is a traitorous, greedy arse-wiper.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Waterman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b2d939/32.png) [@Waterman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waterman)\
**Post date:** [April 6, 2015, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-and-most-disliked-teams-in-major-sports/716649/52 "2015-04-06T05:55:38Z")

</div>

Favorites:MLB: StL Cardinals  
NFL: Patriots  
NHL: Blues and Bruins

Dislike:MLB: Reds (mostly I just can’t stand Brandon Phillips)  
NFL: Broncos (or whatever team Payton Manning is playing for)  
No others, grew up in St. Louis and lived in Boston when the Patriots really sucked. Don’t dislike the Cubs and in fact Wrigley is a great place to see a ballgame.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\
**Post date:** [April 6, 2015, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-and-most-disliked-teams-in-major-sports/716649/53 "2015-04-06T15:28:56Z")

</div>

Favorites

MLB - Cleveland Indians  
NFL - Cleveland Browns  
NBA - Cleveland Cavaliers  
Hockey - Lake Erie Monsters (AHL team in Cleveland)  
NHL - Montreal Canadiens  
NCAA - Notre Dame

Least Favorite

MLB - NY Yankees  
NFL - Pittsburgh, New England, Dallas  
NBA - LA Lakers back when they were good and worth hating.  
NHL - None really  
NCAA - whoever is playing Notre Dame, but mostly Southern Cal & Michigan.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Doyle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doyle/32/439_2.png) [@Doyle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doyle)\
**Post date:** [April 6, 2015, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-and-most-disliked-teams-in-major-sports/716649/54 "2015-04-06T16:22:07Z")

</div>

Favorites:

NFL - New Orleans Saints  
NBA - New Orleans Pelicans  
MLB - Houston Astros  
NHL - Philadelphia Flyers  
NCAA - All things LSU

Most disliked:

NFL - Dallas Cowboys/Atlanta Falcons  
NBA - LA Lakers  
MLB - New York Yankees  
NHL - ???  
NCAA - All things Alabama

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![racepug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@racepug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racepug)\
**Post date:** [April 6, 2015, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-and-most-disliked-teams-in-major-sports/716649/55 "2015-04-06T20:49:17Z")

</div>

> [@Knorf](#):
>
> Only in soccer, and because of all of their cheating diving bastards like Arjen Robben, Ruud Nistelrooy, etc. Also because Robin van [del]Pursestrings[/del]Persie is a traitorous, greedy arse-wiper.

Funny. I was a fan of the Dutch national men’s soccer team for the LONGEST time. Then the 2010 World Cup Final happened. I haven’t been nearly as much of a fan of its, since (but that does NOT mean that I’ve now become a huge fan of its BIGGEST rival, the German team. Maybe it SHOULD mean that. But it doesn’t. Not by a long shot).

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\
**Post date:** [April 6, 2015, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-and-most-disliked-teams-in-major-sports/716649/56 "2015-04-06T21:27:38Z")

</div>

> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#):
>
> I know this is tangential, but I am intrigued at the number of people who say they have basically no interest in the NBA. Out of 27 posts, I count 20 that listed the NBA without expressing a preference for a team, left the NBA out altogether, included an NBA team “for the sake of completeness,” or (in many cases) expressed an active dislike for the league.
> 
> I’m sure the current commissioner is not exactly quaking in his boots over the anti-NBA sentiments of some yahoos on some message board somewhere, but I wonder if this is part of a trend.

A few reasons for me. As a kid I did like going to NBA games more than watching on TV. Officially had allegiance with the Nets but they moved and they sucked for years anyway.

I enjoyed the Magic/Bird years. There were some exciting games then.

Now it is basically like what **Rick Kitchen** said. No strategy. No defense. Too many meaningless games. Too much of the game is meaningless. And how many times can you yell at the TV “How is that not charging!” before you turn off the TV.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-and-most-disliked-teams-in-major-sports/716649.md?page=2)
