Your favorite and most disliked teams in major sports

The Game Room
41

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.

42

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.

43

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.

44

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.

45

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.

46

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…)

47

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.

48

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

49

You are Bizarro me.:stuck_out_tongue: 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?

50

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)

51

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.

52

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.

53

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.

54

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

55

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).

56

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.