Reflecting on Rooting Tendancies

Recently, Stephen, my friend/fellow Union alum/former roommate/sports enthusiast wrote on his blog a very interesting post regarding his rooting tendancies (here's a link to that post). It got me to thinking about my rooting tendancies. Here's a kind of breakdown by sport of who and why I root for them and a brief history:

MLB: (who I root for now: AL-Boston Red Sox, Seattle Mariners, Kansas City Royals; NL-St. Louis Cardinals)

Growing up living in Tennessee, we did not have a MLB team. The closest we had was a Triple-A minor league team (Nashville Sounds). So I didn't have allegiences to any team because of region. The first team I rooted for was the Red Sox (and the first year ironically was 1986 when I was 6 years old....of course we know how that all ended). I've pretty much stuck with them ever since. There have been times when I rooted for the Cincinnatti Reds and Chicago White Sox (Reds because the Sounds were the Triple-A team for them when I was a kid and when they won the World Series in 1990 I saw a lot of their stars when they played in Nashville, White Sox cause they were the hip cool team in the early 90s). I never really rooted for the Braves like many that I knew. When I went off to college, I found my NL team in the Cardinals. In fact, the first MLB game I went to was at old Busch Stadium to see the Cards play the Reds. When I moved to Seattle, I adopted the Mariners and the same has been for the Royals. So here's the order of rooting for me in MLB

1) Boston, 2) Seattle, 3) Kansas City, 4) St. Louis

Teams I root against: New York Yankees, Anaheim (I refuse to call LA) Angels

NFL (who I root for now: Tennessee Titans, Seattle Seahawks)

I have been a huge NFL fan. Football is probably my favorite sport. Growing up, I didn't really have a team, just players I rooted for. I did like the 49ers back in the 80s, along with the Bears, Eagles, Dolphins, Oilers, Broncos. In the early to mid 90s, I kind of shifted to add the Packers to that list along with the Falcons and the Buccaneers. That all changed by the end of the 90s when the Oilers moved to Tennessee and became the Titans. The first professional franchise in the state of Tennessee became my first "home" team to root for and I've stuck with them ever since. When I moved to Seattle, I adopted the Seahawks as my NFC team. I have not (and don't plan to) adopted the Chiefs as a team to root for, out of respect for my Titans (and my former boss who's a Chargers fan). Here's the order:

1) Tennessee, 2) Seattle

Teams I root against: Baltimore Ravens, Jacksonville Jaguars, Oakland Raiders, San Francisco 49ers

NBA (who I root for now: Boston Celtics, Memphis Grizzlies)

Growing up, I was a huge NBA fan and why not? It was in a way a golden age of stars with Magic, Bird, Jordan, Barkley, Malone, Stockton and on and on. From the time I was way little, I was a huge Celtics fan. I did like the Showtime Lakers but when those two teams faced off, I went with the Celtics. Of course, like most kids my age at the time, I liked the Bulls. I had kind of a love/hate relationship with the Pistons. When I got to college, I rooted some for the Kings. My junior year of college was the year that the Grizzlies moved to Memphis and I began rooting for them. I liked the Spurs for a time too (the first NBA game I went to was an exhibition game in Nashville between the Spurs and the Knicks/regular season game was in Memphis). When I moved to Seattle, I started rooting for the SuperSonics. Since they moved, they have moved onto my root against list.

Order of rooting:

1) Memphis, 2) Boston

Teams I root against: Los Angeles Lakers, Oklahoma Thunder

NHL (who I root for now: Nashville Predators, Vancouver Canucks, Boston Bruins)

When it comes to hockey, I come a little late to the party sort to speak. I didn't really get into hockey until I was 8 or 9. I started watching because of Wayne Gretzky and it was a part time thing. I really didn't get hooked on hockey until I was in high school then it became one of my favorite sports. The first teams I rooted for was the Calgary Flames and the Philadelphia Flyers. I was also a fan (still kind of am) of the Boston Bruins because of guys like Ray Bourque. When Nashville got a team back in 1998, I had my #1 team and have stuck with them ever since. I usually root for one Canadian team and for now that team is Vancouver.

Order of rooting:

1) Nashville, 2) Vancouver, 3) Boston

Teams I root against:

1) Detroit Red Wings, 2) Colorado Avalanche

College Football

Another sport that I grew up on was college football. In the South, Saturdays are reserved for college football. Being from Tennessee, I grew up a Volunteers fan. I loved watching the games on TV and turning the volume down on the TV and tuning in with the radio to listen to John Ward call the games. The Vols have always been my #1 college football team. When I moved to Seattle and began working in and around the campus of U-Dub, I adopted them as my second team. Since moving to Kansas City, I haven't really decided if I'm going to root for any team in the Big 12.

Order of rooting:

1)University of Tennessee, 2) University of Washington

Teams I root against:

1)University of Florida, 2) University of Alabama, 3) University of Miami, 4) University of Michigan, 5) University of Southern California, 6) Washington State University

College Basketball:

I loved college basketball as well growing up, not as much as college football. For me, one of the best times of the year is March Madness. I love the upsets, love the storylines and love the fact that a champion is decided on the court. Growing up, I rooted for North Carolina. I kind of still do but in recent years, I've started rooting for Tennessee in basketball and also for Memphis. I also adopted U-Dub when I moved to the Northwest.

Order of rooting:

1) University of Tennessee, 2) University of Washington, 3) University of North Carolina

Teams I root against:

1) Duke University, 2) University of Florida, 3) UCLA, 4) University of Michigan

Well there you go, a semi-brief look at who and why I root for who I do