The official "B" team thread........

[myboynoah]

BYU fan since high school. I remember listening every chance I had to Paul James on KSL. I was such a fanatic that BYU's chances of going to the Fiesta Bowl one year hinged on Wyoming losing its final game of the season (Wyoming had beaten BYU earlier in the season, the score was 3-0 I think). We were visting family in Boise and I spent the evening trying to get the Wyoming game on the radio so I could hear whether or not the Cougars were going bowling. Wyoming won and ruined my night.

My wife says I have brainwashed the kids. Once my daughter was asked who her father's favorite NFL team was and she responded, "BYU!"

[FN Phat]

This is not one of the rules. I have shared this story before.

The year was 1986, I was 5 years old and in the first grade (I started school at 4 years old). I was on the playground at Mills Elementary school in Benicia, California. My best friend Nick Jordan (still my best friend to this day) and I were having our daily conversation about sports as we scoured the sports page and box scores of the Vallejo Times Herald. They had a feature on life long fans and long time season ticket holders in the bay area. Including a story on a Chicago Bears fan that had lived in the bay for 20 years but had never relinquished his season tickets.

That day Nick and I decided to pick our teams and never waver. Life-long sports fans seemed so cool.

Nick decided to go with all local teams and chose the Giants, 49ers, Warriors and Cal bears. He has been strong with the Giants and niners. For a short time in 1993 he started to waver from the Warriors and bought an Orlando magic starter pullover. But he is back.

Being Mormon I chose BYU even though I was rarely able to watch them. I was also a huge fan of Will Clark so naturally the Giants were my team. I have never wavered from those two however I admit after Will left SF, I followed him very closely as a byproduct I ended up following the Rangers. I was never a fan but I knew that team inside and out and always rooted for Will.

I also chose the Miami Dolphins for two reasons: Dan Marino and the orange and teal. I didn't want to be too much like Nick and my dad grew up in Minnesota and was a Vikings fan that hated the 49ers. I needed to go a different direction.

Over the summer my Aunt, Uncle and Cousin had moved in with is for a few months as they had a house built. They had moved from Texas and my cousin who was 8 years older and someone my 5 year old self idolized was a huge Spurs fan. I decided to follow his lead and chose the Spurs. It helped that the next year they drafted David Robinson.

26 years later I have been a fan of the exact same teams. My fandom runs deep as I live and die with all of them. I have broken things (quite a bit over the last 4 years thanks to Utah, Ray Allen and in the past you piece of shit Pete Stoyanovich) and shed tears both happy and sad (thank you 2time world champion Giants and 4 time champion Spurs).

My kids, my wife, my parents and my friends all know my loyalties and not a birthday or christmas goes by without them feeding my addiction and adding gear or memorabilia to my collection.




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and you are waiting to verify my claims

My pro sport loyalties are easy, I am a product of my childhood memories...

Da Raidahs - My ol' man grew up in Yerington, NV and represented the state of NV in Punt, Pass and Kick. He went to the Conference Finals in Oakland, representing the Niners (he claims them as his NFC team; I don't believe in that team/conference bs). The Oakland Raiders became his AFC team after watching the game. Growing up, my dad bled silver and black. It is the only team that he would take an hour to sit and watch a bit of the game. We never watched any NBA or MLB...only the Raiders. We have watched the Raiders play numerous times, in various stadiums across the states.

To this day I don't have a favorite NBA team. I like to root for any team that plays the Lakers when I am in the presence of my in-laws.

My ol' man and I went to a game in Camden Yards when I was 10. To this day, it remains my top live game experience. I will always have a soft spot in my heart for the Orioles. Then the strike came in 94/95 and I lost all interest in baseball. Living in NOVA when the Nats came to town I started paying closer attention. I am a casual fan at best.

I have only watched one game of NHL and that was the Whalers against the Bruins in the Hartford Center. Awesome experience but never got into hockey. I find it unbearable to watch on TV but would watch in person in a heartbeat given another opportunity.

I don't, nor will I ever, understand the appeal of professional soccer. That is a club sport.

[Applejack]

This is a great thread, but it should be entitled "Bandwagoners."

I would also have only one rule: if you changed allegiances after the age of 11, you better have a damn good reason.

As a proud son of the SLC, I've been a Ute fan since age 7 (my friends and I would sneak over to the student section because you could always find empty 40 yard line seats in the "MUSS" in the 80s), and a Jazz fan since about that time. As a free agent in the other sports, I adopted the S.F. Giants because of Will Clark (, Junkie); the Redskins because of Doug Williams/Art Monk; and no hockey team because hockey is boring.

[TripletDaddy]

This is a great thread, but it should be entitled "Bandwagoners."

I would also have only one rule: if you changed allegiances after the age of 11, you better have a damn good reason.

Applejack basically calling out every red sox fan on this board! :box:

[wally]

I know that this fails the criteria, but here goes:

College sports:

A team: Utah
B team: BYU

I like the Aggies, but I will be going for BYU this week.

In rugby it goes:

A: Springboks
B: All Blacks

[creekster]

I know that this fails the criteria, but here goes:

College sports:

A team: Utah
B team: BYU

I like the Aggies, but I will be going for BYU this week.

In rugby it goes:

A: Springboks
B: All Blacks

The SPRINGBOKS over the ALL BLACKS?!?!?!? You know all those mean things I have said to you but told you I was kidding. Maybe I wasnt.

[MartyFunkhouser]

My college sports loyalties have already been discussed. Contrary to Mark Grace new slanderous claims, I have the Utes as the A team and Ducks as the B team.

NHL: Chicago Blackhawks. When I started getting into hockey my brother was a Blackhawks fan. I was also a huge fan of Chelios, Belfour, and Jeremy Roenick. The Blackhawks also have the best sweater in hockey. It was an easy choice. Little did I know the evils of Bill Wirtz at the time. I lived through the dark ages and am now going to live up the Rocky Wirtz Renaissance.

MLB: Oakland A's. I wasn't a baseball fan until I read Moneyball and got into Sabermetrics. I corrected the errors of my ways and adopted the A's as my team. If not for the anti-Sabermetric stance of the Mariners, I may have become a Mariners fan because I started following baseball while in Portland. As a kid, I had an affinity for the Orioles, but that did not go into my adulthood.

NBA: Utah Jazz. I agree with Mark Grace that if you have a local team you are a fan of that local team. junkie will justify his violation of this rule, but there is no getting around this rule. I had a brief flirtation with the Blazers when I thought that I would settle long term in Portland. I still like the Blazers and follow them outside the Jazz.

NFL: Atlanta Falcons. Never really settled into an NFL franchise for most of my life. When I finally decided that I had to pick an NFL team and stick with it, I went with the Falcons because Jamal Anderson was on the team and started to carries.

[MartyFunkhouser]

This is a great thread, but it should be entitled "Bandwagoners."

I would also have only one rule: if you changed allegiances after the age of 11, you better have a damn good reason.

As a proud son of the SLC, I've been a Ute fan since age 7 (my friends and I would sneak over to the student section because you could always find empty 40 yard line seats in the "MUSS" in the 80s), and a Jazz fan since about that time. As a free agent in the other sports, I adopted the S.F. Giants because of Will Clark (, Junkie); the Redskins because of Doug Williams/Art Monk; and no hockey team because hockey is boring.

I feel sorry for you. I hope that someday that you see the light and recognize the greatness of hockey.

[TripletDaddy]

College sports:

A team: Utah
B team: BYU

This is impossible. You fail in every facet. You cannot be a fan of rivals. In essence, you are a fan of neither. You are a confused nerd.

[MarkGrace]

My college sports loyalties have already been discussed. Contrary to Mark Grace new slanderous claims, I have the Utes as the A team and Ducks as the B team.

NHL: Chicago Blackhawks. When I started getting into hockey my brother was a Blackhawks fan. I was also a huge fan of Chelios, Belfour, and Jeremy Roenick. The Blackhawks also have the best sweater in hockey. It was an easy choice. Little did I know the evils of Bill Wirtz at the time. I lived through the dark ages and am now going to live up the Rocky Wirtz Renaissance.

MLB: Oakland A's. I wasn't a baseball fan until I read Moneyball and got into Sabermetrics. I corrected the errors of my ways and adopted the A's as my team. If not for the anti-Sabermetric stance of the Mariners, I may have become a Mariners fan because I started following baseball while in Portland. As a kid, I had an affinity for the Orioles, but that did not go into my adulthood.

NBA: Utah Jazz. I agree with Mark Grace that if you have a local team you are a fan of that local team. junkie will justify his violation of this rule, but there is no getting around this rule. I had a brief flirtation with the Blazers when I thought that I would settle long term in Portland. I still like the Blazers and follow them outside the Jazz.

NFL: Atlanta Falcons. Never really settled into an NFL franchise for most of my life. When I finally decided that I had to pick an NFL team and stick with it, I went with the Falcons because Jamal Anderson was on the team and started to carries.

It is the one true and living rule of being a fan. Some of the other rules tossed out in this thread have some applicability, but this one trumps them all.

[cougjunkie]

It is the one true and living rule of being a fan. Some of the other rules tossed out in this thread have some applicability, but this one trumps them all.

So by rule you have to either follow the Sonics to OKC and continue to cheer for them. Or switch allegiances to Portland as they are your closest team.

[Applejack]

This is impossible. You fail in every facet. You cannot be a fan of rivals. In essence, you are a fan of neither. You are a confused nerd.

Agreed. It's like being in the War 'n' Heaven and having your allegiances thus:

A: Team Jesus
B: Satan's hosts (unless they are playing Team Jesus).

[Applejack]

Applejack basically calling out every red sox fan on this board! :box:

Wasn't there a dude from Maine on CUF? He can call himself a Red Sox fan.

[TripletDaddy]

Wasn't there a dude from Maine on CUF? He can call himself a Red Sox fan.

Possibly. One guy on CUF said he chose to like the Red Sox because one day in the late 70s he saw some fireworks on TV.

[TripletDaddy]

Agreed. It's like being in the War 'n' Heaven and having your allegiances thus:

A: Team Jesus
B: Satan's hosts (unless they are playing Team Jesus).

Those ratios would be about right, as well, given that there are far more BYU fans around the world than Utah fans.