How did you become a fan of (insert team here).

[HeGone33]

Been taking a lot of heat lately, not so much because I'm a 49er fan, but more so for the bragging.........

 

Anyways, thought it would be interesting to hear how people ended up fans of certain teams...for me it get's asked all the time seeing as how I grew up in Chicago.

 

When I was young, I hung out with my two cousins all they time, they were my best friends. At the time, one was a 49ers fan and another a Broncos fan. I hung out more with the 49ers fan so whenever I watched football it was the Niners so they quickly became my favorite and essentally the only team I'd ever seen play...sadly my father wasn't around much so I never really knew much about the Bears.....

 

Anyways, the funny thing was my Uncle (father of these two cousins) was a die hard Packers fan. So when the 49ers and Broncos started to suck, they both became Packers fans....for me, I couldn't do it, the same feeling the Bulls, White Sox bring is the same feeling that only SF can bring to this guy....

 

Anyhoot, that's how I ended up a 49ers fan, now how did you end up a fan of an out of market team?

[flippedoutpunk]

I've been a Miami sports fan since i was about 5 years old. My grandparents lived in Miami and whenever id visit them they would tell me i should move with them where its nice and hot and i wouldn't have to worry about freezing cold or the snow, and i loved the idea but it just wasn't realistic obviously. Miami is my disneyland, even more so once i turned 21.

 

I turned into a Crimson Tide football fan in 4th grade all because of the movie Forrest Gump. I never really followed college sports but once i saw that movie and saw that forrest gump went to Alabama i became a big fan (I even wear my #44 Forrest Gump jersey to the bar for every Alabama game). What helped also was that obviously 90 percent of people from chicago are big 10 football fans and i hated getting these midwest teams shoved down my throat every day.

 

I guess i should include Syracuse basketball.. I was stationed at Fort Drum New York for 4 years which is about 55 miles away from Syracuse. On the weekends id make trips to Syracuse and catch as many Orange games as i possibly could as it was really the only live sports entertainment I had within reach unless i decided to make an even longer trip all the way to Buffalo New York.

Edited January 20, 2012 by flippedoutpunk

[GoSox05]

My dad is a Packer fan.

 

He started watching Packer games in the early 60's because they were really good and on TV a lot.

 

So that's how I became one.

[knightni]

I guess that I'm out of market for Chicago teams, but I live only 100 miles from Chicago and they're the main teams that are shown on TV.

 

I grew up on the old WGN and WFLD when they were standard with our cable company; this was pre- SportsChannel/Vision/FoxChicago/CSN. So, all Cubs and Sox games were on non-pay TV. Bears on CBS - the Colts were in Baltimore. No Bulls/'Hawks games on local TV of any significance until the Bulls championship years.

 

There was Fox Detroit later on for me (I live 6 miles north of CSN territory), but by that time, I was already a Sox fan.

[IlliniKrush]

Simmon's first part in "Now I can Die In Peace" has a great explanation of the only legit reasons to be a fan of the team. Wish it were the law.

[flippedoutpunk]

Simmon's first part in "Now I can Die In Peace" has a great explanation of the only legit reasons to be a fan of the team. Wish it were the law.

 

if it were the law then the only people attending the games would be a bunch of single guys wearing jogging pants with mustard stains on them.

[IlliniKrush]

if it were the law then the only people attending the games would be a bunch of single guys wearing jogging pants with mustard stains on them.

I don't think you've read what I'm referring to.

[flippedoutpunk]

I don't think you've read what I'm referring to.

 

I've read those 6 rules

[The Critic]

Red Wings - as a kid they were on the network Game of the Week all the time and I got hooked. My dad was not a hockey fan, so there was no one to tell me that it was "wrong" to like both the Blackhawks and the Red Wings. (Although at that time I don't think it was nearly as big a deal as some people make it now)

 

Packers - I don't care about football at all, and my wife is from Wisconsin and is a Packer fan, so I am too.

 

Cardinals - again, liked them as a kid, and like the uniform.

[SoxFan1]

The only out of market teams I'm a fan of are in college sports.

 

I like UNC basketball for obvious reasons with the Jordan connection. I'm a big Florida State football fan because I was a kid watching Chris Weinke and Peter Warrick absolutely annihilate the world. And I loved Bobby Bowden.

 

I was a HUGE fan of the Kings back when Stojakovic/Divac were there because I'm Serbian. They were above the Bulls for a while. I liked them up until they drafted Demarcus Cousins. Now they can f*** off.

 

My secondary teams that I kinda like/root for are the Giants in the MLB because of Bonds. I like the Ravens and 49ers for various players (Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Jerry Rice, Garrison Hearst).

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

Sox obviously aren't "out of market", but I AM the lone Sox fan in my family, and was constantly put in Cubs gear as a child. No idea how I broke away from that, but i'd imagine Frank Thomas and Magglio had a lot to do w/ it. Also, I think Joe Crede helped a lot too. My nickname was Joe Cool, and my favorite # was 24, and I always wanted to play 3B. his number was obviously 24, played 3B, and his intials were JC (Joe Cool), so I guess I got attached to him that way.

 

 

Cowboys - My dad is a Cowboys fan, and that's because HIS dad was a Cowboys fan. So that's how I am one. No idea how my grandpa became one, and he died before we ever met.

 

Rams - 100% bandwagon, and I would say I am probably a fair-weather fan. I root for them all the time, but I don't pay a whole lot of attention to them when they are bad. I only became a fan of them because they won the Superbowl, and I loved their jerseys and helmets. lol. My dad actually told me he also liked the Rams as a kid because of their helmets too.

Edited January 20, 2012 by JoeCoolMan24

[That funky motion]

Sox- Grew up on the North side but somehow became a Sox fan. Between Harry doing the games, red uniforms and the Sox just being a better team, I fell in love.

 

NY Rangers - Grandfather was a Rangers fan and he would take me to the games, when they came here. I remember asking him how he became a Ranger fan and he said, because they were the dirtiest team in the league.

 

Bulls- Jordan, Pippen ect.

[WilliamTell]

Kansas City Chiefs: Originally liked the Los Angeles Raiders because of Bo Jackson, then he retired so Marcus Allen became my favorite football player. In some year, probabably 1992 I was watching a Chiefs and Raiders game and saw some awesome dude on defense tearing it up against the Raiders. And his name was the same as mine, Derrick. So Derrick Thomas became my favorite player too, and when Marcus Allen went to the Chiefs it was a match made in heaven for me. Granted had I been older than 6 or 7 at the time I would've understood the rivalry they had but I didn't care.

 

Chicago White Sox: Originally liked the Minnesota Twins because that's the area I live in. I thought Kirby Puckett and Kent Hrbek were the best......same with Shane Mack for whatever reason. But then I heard Bo Jackson started playing with the White Sox so I switched over. Again I was only 7 so had I been older I might've never rooted for the White Sox because of the rivalry.

 

Utah Jazz: Originally liked the Los Angeles Lakers when Magic Johnson was playing, then I became a Bulls fan probably because of the awesome Micheal Jordan commercials along with the spectacular play of him. And B.J. Armstrong went to Iowa for college. Once Jordan retired I was pretty sad and I knew my cousin was a Utah Jazz fan. So I became a Jazz fan at age 8 or so because I looked up to my cousin. Little did I know I'd really start to dislike Jordan 4 years later.............then another 4 years after that like him again when he played for the Wizards haha.

 

Michigan Wolverines: I don't remember this but when I was 4 or 5 Michigan was killing Iowa in a football game and my mom and her brother and sisters and everyone else were getting so upset aboiut the game and I thought it was funny so I started going for Michigan in that game. Then the Fab Five came around a few laters in basketball and I loved me some Fab Five. Plus Wolverine was my favorite X-Men character.

 

So yeah I have some crazy reasons of being a fan for random sports teams.

Edited January 22, 2012 by WilliamTell

[ChiSox_Sonix]

Let me preface this by saying my father is not a big sports fan so I had no parental influence like many children do with sports

 

White Sox - I was living in Germany and my mom got my brother and I random sports shirts from store on the local army base. First shirt I can remember was the White Sox (brother was the Indians)

 

Kansas City Chiefs - Used to be a big 49ers fan when I was a kid and Joe Montana was my favorite player. When they traded him to the Chiefs I followed him there.

 

UConn Huskies - My "local" team should have been Syracuse, but there is a small UConn fan base in NY. I liked the mascot and they were on enough to be able to follow them.

 

Seattle Sonics (RIP) - When I started following the NBA (I no longer do - GFY David Stern) Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp were big so I began to like the Sonics.