Sports Evolution

Growing up in the Washington, DC area you would think that my sports loyalties would all lie with the local teams. Redskins, Capitals, Bullets (I hate the Wizards name), and the Baltmore Orioles were the "big 4" teams of my youth, yet the only team I follow and root for is the Redskins. Dad was a big fan, and passed that onto me. The rest of the sports teams in the area never appealed to him for various reasons, so they never appealed to me until later in life. In that vein, here are the reasons I like the teams that I do (and perhaps one or two for teams that I despise):

Pro Football - Washington Redskins - number one in my heart. 'Nuff said.
College Football - I don't have a specific team that I root for all the time. If pushed to make a decision, though, it's between Michigan and Tennessee. Michigan because I liked their helmets when I was a kid, and Tennessee because their mastcot reminded me of Davey Crockett.
MLB - Chicago White Sox - I used to watch TV on an old black and white TV in the basement when I was a kid. Channel 20 (WDCA) would show Oriole games at night sometimes, and the first baseball game I watched was the White Sox/Orioles. Greg Luzinki hit two home runs, and the Sox beat the Orioles. In addition, I was a kid and I liked their uniforms better.
NHL - St. Louis Blues - I thought the name was clever, and Brett Hull was a scoring machine with Adam Oates feeding him the puck. Curtis Joseph came along later and cemented them as my team.
NBA - Utah Jazz - Pro basketball was the last of the four sports that I started watching, and I found out that Grandma Haslem was a big Jazz fan. I had no idea that Utah had a professional sports team, and it seemed like as good a team as any to root for.

A gentle nod of appreciation to the following teams that I subliminally root for:

Pittsburgh Penguins - that's all living with Jim for six years, then hanging out with him and his family in the space between then and now. I saw many a Pens game at the Cap center, and almost got into a few fights for cheering too loud. This is the main reason I hate the Capitals now, and their fair weather fan base.
Anaheim Ducks - Chris Pronger became my favorite Blues player, once Curtis Joseph and Brett Hull both played for the hated Red Wings at some point in their careers. Why not?
Washington Nationals - I still hate the name this many years later, but figure I can root for them since I wanted baseball back in the Nation's Capital for years.
Miami Heat - I liked Glenn Rice when he won the National Championship for Michigan, and he was drafted by the Heat for their inaugural season. I also thought their marketing department came up with a really sweet logo that survives to this day. Dwayne Wade is my favorite NBA player, anyhow.
San Diego Chargers - the late games in the NFL took place on the west coast, and San Diego's uniforms were very cool for the younger me. The lightening bolts on the helmet and pants were the best.

Now, a few teams I hate -- besides the Dallas Cowboys, which everyone who reads this blog should already know I consider the anti-Christ.

The Oakland Raiders - I don't mind people being passionate about their teams, but these people are just annoying. I hate watching the silver and black face paint, the shoulder pads with spikes, the skulls, outfits and general mayhem of the fans. I admit, part of this hatred is due to the spanking the Redskins took in the Super Bowl from them -- I am adult enough to admit it.
The NBA teams as a whole - I really just don't like much of the NBA at all, including the Jazz and the Heat, as their league is made up of wannabe "thugs" with their full sleeve tatoos, wearing their bling on the court, and the fact they allow teams to draft kids right out of high school. That just irks me for reasons that I have a hard time articulating without sounding partially racist, so I'll leave it at that.
Detroit Red Wings - they are the Yankees of hockey. They buy the players they want, and have a great team year in and out. Succeed breeds animosity, I guess. Plus, they always seem to beat the Blues - even when we had a great team a few years ago and were ranked higher in the playoff seeds. Fetchers. *mutter* Plus, they ended up signing Brett Hull and CuJo to contracts, which tainted their image in my mind ... Hull more than CuJo, though.

And there you go.